From creative growth to homegrown pride, Dylan James Tierney shares the energy, evolution and community spirit fuelling his Belladrum 2025 set
Having played various stages at Belladrum Festival over the years, Dylan James Tierney returns for Belladrum 2025 with his biggest performance yet. This Garden Stage appearance marks a milestone moment for the artist, who describes himself as “a big stage band” driven by crowd energy and creative camaraderie.
In this interview, he shares how the group’s evolution has shaped their sound, how local venues like An Séomar inspire their live shows, and how the Highlands’ thriving music scene continues to push them forward—with passion, caffeine, and a whole lot of hard graft.
Your Garden Stage debut at Belladrum is a milestone—how are you preparing to meet that moment without losing the rawness your fans connect with? Over the years I have played various stages at Belladrum and I’m honoured to have been given the opportunity to perform on the big stage. We are a big stage band and the preparation for this gig is just the same as all the other shows we do, we’re looking forward to getting up there and doing our thing.
Dylan Through The Years
What’s something the band—Kenna, Adam, Ben, Ashley, and Marc—have pushed you to try musically that you might never have attempted solo? Since the band has been formed I have came on so much as a musician, I’ve grown so much in confidence and my stage presence etc has improved a lot. The band are always full of great ideas and we try to take new ideas into the shows we do. We are a very creative group.
The An Séomar show feels like a statement gig in your hometown—what’s riding on it for you personally and for the scene around you? I wouldn’t put it down as a statement gig, it’s just a venue in our hometown (An Séomar) that I want to play with my band. I enjoy doing big shows and I love the thought of having close local friends performing with us on the night—what a gig it’s going to be. Tickets for the gig can be found here
You’ve built a loyal fanbase over the years. When you’re shaping a setlist, how do their reactions and expectations influence what makes the cut? When it comes to set lists I try to keep the fans’ favourites in there! A couple that fans love to hear. This time out we are focusing on what is going to be on the second album. It’ll be a set list that’ll be fresh to many people’s ears with a few new songs in there.
You’ve worked closely with other artists —do those collaborations shift how you hear your own material or how you want it to evolve? It’s always helpful working with another set of ears, you learn new things from various people and I’m totally open to other artists having an input in the progression of my songwriting skills and techniques.
Belladrum and An Séomar offer very different spaces. How are you crafting a set that journeys between high-energy and emotional pause? We are more or less sticking with the same set for the rest of the year—second album material—as we rehearse these songs like clockwork so that we become very tight as a group. We put in a lot of hard graft to make sure that our sound impresses a lot of people in our upcoming shows.
With Highland music carving out a voice beyond its borders, how do you hope your September shows signal what’s possible from this scene right now? I feel this town is thriving at the moment with exciting musical talent—it’s really amazing to see. Personally, I do it for the love of performing and I just hope that our September show in An Séomar goes really well and people come along, enjoy themselves and support the local trio of excellent bands that are on offer.
Pushing forward with album two, a dialled-in setlist, and a deep love for performance, Dylan James Tierney approaches Belladrum 2025 with creative clarity and renewed confidence. His commitment to local roots and collaborative growth anchors every show.
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