RT 2FM has today announced the highly anticipated list of 2FM Rising Artists for 2026, kicking off 2FM Rising week for the eighth year on The Tracy Clifford Show from 12 noon to 3pm. Each year, a panel of experts choose some of Ireland's freshest talent to support with this initiative, and the 2026 artists are Aaron Rowe, Curtisy, Florence Road, Jessica Doolan, mischa and the bear, MOIO, New Spectrum, Post-Party, Roe Byrne and RuntheRed.
Each day this week The Tracy Clifford Show will highlight two of the chosen acts and introduce listeners to them and their exciting music. The ten acts chosen for 2026 will be championed and supported across 2FM for the entire year.
Adam Fogarty, Director of Music at RT 2FM said: Championing Irish music isn't just part of our remit at 2FM, it's in our DNA and 2FM Rising 2026 continues a tradition we're immensely proud of. The artists on this year's 2FM Rising list show exactly why this initiative matters, they represent the next wave of talent shaping the exciting and diverse future of Irish music. We're incredibly proud of the legacy 2FM Rising has built since 2018 and the Irish talent we have supported. Year after year it proves its power as a launchpad for some of Ireland's most important new voices and we're honoured to help these acts take their next steps.
Previous 2FM Rising artists also include Amble, Denise Chaila, Fontaines D.C, Gemma Dunleavy and Dermot Kennedy. For details on all of this year's artists visit: https://www.rte.ie/culture/2026/0105/1548398-2fm-rising-2026-irish-musical-acts-to-watch/
Director of Marketing & Membership Development with IMRO, Keith Johnson said, IMRO is proud to continue its support of RT 2FM Rising, an initiative that plays a vital role in spotlighting the next generation of Irish musical talent. Each year, RT 2FM Rising offers emerging artists a platform that can meaningfully accelerate their careers, and the 2026 lineup is no exception. These artists reflect the creativity, diversity, and ambition that define Ireland's music community today. We're delighted to champion their development and look forward to seeing their work resonate with audiences at home and beyond.
Tune in to The Tracy Clifford Show 2FM from 12 noon to 3pm to hear the Rising acts.
ENDS
Date: 5th January 2026
Further Information contact: Jade Carpenter, RT Communications Lead, Jade.carpenter@rte.ie.
Notes to editor:
Imagery is available to download here: 2fm Rising Images
About the 2FM Rising Acts 2026:
Aaron Rowe:
When you watch Aaron Rowe on stage, he anchors himself behind the mic, broad shouldered and wide eyed whilst telling stories. Song histories, personal anecdotes or just random thoughts and funny observations are blurted out with erratic but effortless charm. His smile is so sunny and wide it feels permanent, and his laugh is hoarse, warm and totally infectious. When he speaks his eyes glisten, but when he sings, they close as his head lulls onto his shoulder and tilts back. For Aaron, singing and playing guitar is not a choice, it's an extension of himself he has to do it. You can tell as soon as he begins it offers him not only freedom, but focus.
So far, the story of Aaron Rowe looks like what fate feels like: paths crossing and stars aligning. Almost exactly a year ago, Aaron was singing covers at his regular Saturday gig in The Dame Tavern when one of his future managers would walk in and discover him playing. A few weeks later, Lewis Capaldi would also stumble into Aaron's usual Sunday sessions at Cassidy's on a stag do. A few weeks after that, he bumped into Lewis again whilst performing at an open mic in Nashville, where Lewis introduced him to his best friend, now Aaron's manager, who just so happened to have listened to his demos that very morning.
Far from an overnight success, after several years of gigging five days a week, his moment finally came. Call it fate, call it what you will, a good story is the least you can expect from a generational voice like Aaron. His own life experiences leading up to this moment means there is an unmatched maturity and vulnerability to Aaron's songwriting somehow he can balance the heart wrenching with the heartwarming, all the while holding open the door into his very personal world. This dichotomy he often explores on upcoming releases lies not only in its sometimes frank, sometimes devastating lyrics, but crucially in the old soul of Aaron's voice, where he wears his influences on his sleeve; from Sam Cooke to Nina Simone to Paulo Nutini.
Curtisy:
Curtisy's ascent feels like the natural next chapter in Ireland's ongoing cultural purple patch. Since his breakout collaboration with Kojaque just two years ago, the Dublin rapper has become one of the most compelling new voices in a scene unafraid to blur lines between art, fashion, and community. His trajectory has been swift but deliberate: an RT Choice Prize nomination for his debut album What Was The Question, a BBC Radio 1Xtra debut with CassKid, a widely-circulated Dazed profile that labelled him one of the best rappers to ever come out of Ireland, and a growing catalogue that doubles as a personal diary - candid, witty, self-deprecating, and bracingly honest.
His music lives in the cracks between sharp humour and quiet melancholy, drawing comparisons to Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE but refusing to lose its Irish vernacular. Each track reads less like a performance and more like a conversation overheard, rooted in the working-class surroundings that shaped him. It's this voice - unfiltered, unpretentious, and emotionally transparent - that has turned Curtisy into a crucial documentarian of contemporary Irish life, the type of rapper who can capture both hopelessness and the flicker of light that cuts through it.
Live, he
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RT 2FM has today announced the highly anticipated list of 2FM Rising Artists for 2026, kicking off 2FM Rising week for the eighth year on The Tracy Clifford Show from 12 noon to 3pm. Each year, a panel of experts choose some of Ireland's freshest talent to support with this initiative, and the 2026 artists are Aaron Rowe, Curtisy, Florence Road, Jessica Doolan, mischa and the bear, MOIO, New Spectrum, Post-Party, Roe Byrne and RuntheRed.
