After a stunning live set at The Savoy in Cork last night, Waterford's Gorbachov were crowned 2008 winners of the Murphy's Live music award, following the success of Ilya K in the same competition last year. As we've said before....Waterford rocks !

The lads are headlining a celebratory gig at Electric Avenue this Friday 23 May with support from Derry's finest hard rockers Fighting With Wire and the always brilliant Deaf Animal Orchestra. The Friday Club's Rob Carey will be playing all that's cool, new and alternative before and after the live action. Admission is free before 9pm and just €10 after.

Oft described as reckless, irresponsible and brilliant, Gorbachov are a five-piece guitar rock outfit from Waterford. The band have been together for four years, performing across Ireland and the UK, supporting bands such as The Frames and The Blizzards. They have spent the last year in Liverpool putting their debut album together, following on from the acclaim that has greeted their increasingly catchy singles, including "Mr. Fahrenheit" which has been featured extensively on XFM in the UK and "Go On My Son" which is included on the CD given away with this month's Hot Press magazine. Gorbachov have been described as a cross between Queens Of The Stone Age and Talking Heads and are buzzing about winning the Murphy's Live.

"Man Vs Monster" the debut album from Derry trio Fighting With Wire is 45 minutes of razor sharp riffs colliding full force with huge melodies. Recommended for fans of Jimmy Eat World, Foo Fighters, Husker Du and Biffy Clyro the band emerged from the ever creative Northern Ireland music scene in 2003. An idealistic bunch, they've since done what rock bands are meant to do: they wrote a bunch of killer songs, and took to the road. The last three years has seen them play shows with the likes of Reuben, Biffy Clyro, Million Dead, Seafood, YCNI:M and Future Of The Left, racking up hundreds of miles and honing their live show into a ferocious explosion in the process. Hard Rock bible Kerrang said "as debuts go this is an absolute corker, Fighting With Wire sound like they're already headlining stadiums" !

The Deaf Animal Orchestra have been playing together since early '06 and are fast gathering a reputation as one of the country's most promising new acts. Alan Jacques of Limerick's Live 95FM has boldly declared them "the best new band in Ireland!". The band are already on their third record release. Recent single, 'Falling Asleep/Morning Running' is currently doing the business for them and previous single, 'All Together Now/The Madman' received airplay all over the country and received Jackie Hayden of Hotpress' 'Pick of the Fortnight' award (something any Irish band worth their salt should pick up along the way!)

See you down the front.

Yesterday saw the publishing of the latest round of quarterly Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) figures. I'm delighted to report that Irish Beats went up from an average listenership of 11,000 people to 12,000! To the extra 1000 who've joined us in the last three months - welcome to the supercoolhappyfuntime club!!!

I won't get the detailed breakdown on the figures until later, but I'm dead chuffed with this. When I took over the show in September '06, the average figures were 9,000 for Saturdays show and 7,000 for Sundays. Since taking over, we seen steady increases each round of JNLR figures - we've almost doubled figures for Sundays!

I think there are a number of factors out there for this:

1. The quality of the music being produced by Irish acts is way above average. One of the hardest part of the job is deciding which tracks to leave out! Last night, I spoke with Roddy Cleere from WLR who's being doing an Irish show for 20 years. He talked about how years ago, you'd be hard pressed to get an hour together of new Irish music together. I do 4 hours a week - but could easily double that!

2. The lads at Beat are very supportive of the show. Most Irish shows are relegated to graveyard shifts and receive very little promotion. They're often seen as an annoyance by station managers - a requirement from the Broadcasting Commision. However, Leigh and Gabrielle at Beat have always been great champions of Irish Beats, give great feedback, help out with guests and allow me go off on flights of fancy. This kind of support is vital to growing the show.

3. Finally, there's the listeners. People know good music when they hear it and respond in kind.

So thanks to everyone for listening and I look forward to playing you more great homegrown music over the next while. Now, I shall celebrate this result with another cup of coffee. No expense spared here for merrymaking ...

There was much celebration in Cork's Savoy Theatre last night when Waterford's Gorbachov were announced as winner's of this year's Murphy's Live competition. With a blistering performance, they narrowly pipped Dublin's The Bravado at the post to walk away with €10,000 prize.

I recorded heaps of audio down in Cork last night which I'll edit together into a piece for Saturday's show.

Now, it was quite late when I got back to Waterford last night and it's relatively early now, so I'm off for a cuppa ....

So the final of 2008's Murphy's Live competition is being held tonight in The Savoy in Cork. Naturally, I'll be heading down to hear The Bravado and Waterford's Gorbachov slug it out. UK chart-toppers The Enemy are headlining, although my interest mainly lies with the two acts in competition. I also look forward to sampling some of Murphy's hospitality!

If you have a few minutes to spend arsing around on the internet, it's well worth you taking a trip over to the Murphy's Live website. They have MP3s of all the bands who made it through to the heats this year as well as pearls of wisdom from various industry professionals. If you're stuck in an office on a gloriously hot day, there's worse ways to waste some time ....

Rob spoke with Stephen from Murphy's Live finalists The Bravado about the band.

Download MP3 (3.8 MB)

The man with the houndstooth shirt himself, Ian Whitty was in studio to talk about playing in America, the scene in Cork and the release of his anticipated album.

Download MP3 (23.5 MB)

For one who used to be Ms. Ubiquity, playing and singing with virtually every performer in Ireland (including a certain D Rice), Lisa Hannigan has been very quiet as of late. Well, I guess that's because she's been working away on her solo material which she's about to unleash on the Irish public. She's announced a slew of live dates up and down the country, taking in every highroad and byroad in Ireland.

• Cyprus Avenue, Cork (June 6)
• Amphitheatre, Baltimore (June 7)
• Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh (June 8)
• DeBarra's, Clonakility (June 10)
• Siamsa Tire, Tralee (June 13)
• Sol Y Sombra, Kilorglin (June 19)
• Black Box, Belfast (July 17)
• Balor Theatre, Ballybofey (July 19)
• Arts Centre, Ballina (July 21)
• Campbell's Tavern, Headford (July 22)
• Arts Centre, Roscommon (July 24)
• Glen's Centre, Manorhamilton (July 26)
• Spirit Store, Dundalk (July 31)
• Thatch Rahan, Tullamore (August 4)
• Garter Lane, Waterford (August 7)
• Belltable, Limerick (August 8)
• Backstage, Longford (August 12)
• O'Keefe's, Clonmel (August 14)
• Upstairs At Whelan's, Dublin (August 18)

A busy summer on the cards for Ms. Hannigan!

Having just won the National Student Music Awards 2008, Waterford-based rock band Floyd Soul & The Wolf will not be resting on their laurels. June sees the release of their debut single 'Give It A Chance', recorded with Nashville producer Thom Jutz and the band will then take off on a nationwide tour throughout August and September.

Jackie Hayden of Hotpress says that "Floyd Soul & The Wolf play as if all our very lives depended on it, and when did you last think that about any Irish band?"

A great band, with a great sound and great charisma. They'll be playing the Sugar Club on June 1st. A perfect way to start the Bank Holiday weekend ...

The sun is shining again. Music is being played. That is all. Carry on.

6-7PM
01. Out of Our Hands - Gemma Hayes
02. After All That's Happened - Niall Colfer
03. Cradle Burns - Rollerskate Skinny
04. Bad Television - Ugly Megan
05. L'il King Kong - Simple Kid
06. Bad Seed - Jezzebelle
07. Odd Socks - Grand Pocket Orchestra
08. Any Other Way - Bravado
** Interview with the Bravado **
09. Beat Machine - Gorbachov
10. Cloudseekers - Autamata feat Cathy Davey
11. Wake Up - The Infomatics
12. O My Love! O My God! - The Dead Flags
13. Tuesday - Mark Geary

7-8PM
01. Some Kind of Girl - The Walls
02. Are You Not Wanting Me Yet? - The Aftermath
03. I Like Music - The Republic of Loose
04. People Walk Away - Robotnik
05. On the Right Track - The Blizzards
06. My Lovely Horse - The Divine Comedy
07. Breadcrumb Trail - Chaplin
08. Getchoo - Hybrasil
09. Jeta's Palace - The Jimmy Cake
10. Cailin na Gaillimhe - Mundy
11. The Honeymoon is Over - Whipping Boy
12. Last Dance - Orphan Code
13. Waking Up in America - Guggenheim Grotto
14. Hay Rap - The Saw Doctors

Lots of new tunes tonight. Republic of Loose, Cars in Walls, Giveamanakick, The Lullabees, Joe Chester, Autamata ... the list goes on (see below). Ian Whitty was the guest in studio and a very entertaining individual he was too!

6-7PM
01. I Like Music - Republic of Loose
02. Guitar = Magic Wand - Jinx Lennon
03. Borrowed Time - Giveamanakick
04. Lull - Lines Drawing Circles
05. Think Before You Think - Dali
06. Mr. Farenheit - Gorbachov
07. Any Other Way - The Bravado
08. Take Me Away - Pugwash
09. Back to Back - Cars in Walls
10. Not on Your Side - Ian Whitty
** Interview with Ian Whitty **
11. Houdstooth Shirt - Ian Whitty
** Interview with Ian Whitty **
12. While the Drunken Jailer Sleeps - Ian Whitty *LIVE*

7-8PM
01. The Bodies Start to Move - Joe Chester
02. The Day I Forgot My Mantra - Giveamanakick
03. Directions (on how to play) - Giveamanakick
04. Michael Grady Went to Mexico - Robotnik
05. Dead Record in a Vinyl Desert - Good Tiger
06. Cloudseekers - Autamata feat Cathy Davey
07. Skyscrapers - Fred
08. O My Love! O My God - The Dead Flags
09. I Wonder Why - The Lullabees
10. Magnet Line - Isan (Jeff Martin remix)
11. I Was a Man - Jape
12. Attention - Dry County
13. Fallen From the Sky - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova