Grammy-nominated artist to play intimate gig in Waterford

Ben de la Cour, from New York, is a songwriter whose songs can be described as American Noir. His latest album, New Roses, was Grammy Award-nominated in 2025.

Having just finished a European tour with Lucinda Williams, who says "we all need Ben De La Cour", he plays Subterranean Sounds at Phil Grimes Pub, Waterford, on Thursday, April 2. Doors open at 8pm and advance booking is recommended from powertik.ie 

De la Cour plays nearly every instrument on his new album and delivers what many consider his strongest vocal performance yet. 

The result is a razor-sharp album full of what he calls “night songs” - haunting, impactful songs that feel like the witching hour, a collection filled with juxtaposition and duality.

While much has been written of the darkness that permeates de la Cour’s music, he finds this emphasis exaggerated. 

“It is an optimistic record,” he says of New Roses. 

“You can’t be hopeful if you’re not willing to acknowledge the spectrum of the human condition. 

"You can be overwhelmed by beauty and you can be overwhelmed by the horrors and you can be overwhelmed by both.” 

De la Cour remains an optimist, hopeful that his tales can help the lost, the lonely, the doomed.

Raised in Brooklyn, de la Cour lived in London, Cuba and across the United States before making his home in the American south over a decade and a half ago. Drawing on inspiration from writers and musicians alike - Townes Van Zandt, Jimi Hendrix, Nick Cave, Nina Simone, Leonard Cohen, James Baldwin and Carson McCullers among them - de la Cour’s gothic folk songs are as heartbreaking as they are beautiful.

De la Cour’s solo tour of Ireland and the UK in 2024 was met with high praise, and included sold-out performances in Kilkenny and London.

He is headlining a tour of the UK in April 2026.