- Esmeralda Road, the Belfast-based indie five-piece, have signed with global independent booking agency ROAM for global representation across Europe, Mexico, South America, Asia, and Australia, excluding Africa, Canada, and the United States.
- The band are two-time NI Music Prize winners, having previously supported Liam Gallagher in front of 40,000 people in Belfast and completed a UK/Ireland support run with Irish indie act Basht in early 2026.
- ROAM, formed in September 2025 from the merger of ATC Live and Arrival Artists, is the world's largest independent booking agency, representing 800+ artists across six global offices.
- The deal positions Esmeralda Road for their most ambitious international push yet, with new music expected and live dates already confirmed into summer 2026.
Esmeralda Road have signed with ROAM for global live representation spanning Europe, Mexico, South America, Asia, and Australia under agent Jess Kinn. The Belfast five-piece had previously operated independently, self-releasing their early music before their rapid rise brought wider industry attention.
The band’s debut single “To U” won the NI Music Prize in 2023, with follow-up “I Think” (2024) earning them a second NI Music Prize win and growing traction online.
They were handpicked to support Liam Gallagher in July 2024, then invited back a month later at Boucher Road Playing Fields in Belfast in front of 40,000 people, before going on to win an Introducing Artist of the Year Award in late 2024.
In early 2026, Esmeralda Road completed a UK and Ireland support run with Basht., playing dates across Cork, Glasgow, Southampton, and Brighton, before being confirmed as support for Paul Weller at Custom House Square Belfast on June 24, 2026. London headline shows at The 100 Club and The Castle Hotel follow in July, with a debut album expected later this year.
ROAM launched in September 2025 from the merger of ATC Live and Arrival Artists, with over 800 artists and 80 staff across offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris, and Glasgow.
The agency has been aggressively developing emerging acts, recently signing Scarlet Demore and Liam St. John for representation, a pattern that signals a deliberate strategy of building out an internationally scalable indie roster.
Takeaways
Esmeralda Road have moved fast. From self-releasing singles out of Belfast to supporting a 40,000-capacity Liam Gallagher show, winning back-to-back NI Music Prizes, and now landing global representation with one of the most talked-about independent agencies in the world, in just a few years.
The ROAM deal is not just a booking arrangement; it’s a signal that the industry sees Esmeralda Road as a long-haul act built for international stages, not just UK and Ireland rooms.
The territories covered (EU, Mexico, South America, Asia, and Australia) suggest a deliberate plan to build a global fanbase before any North American push. That’s a calculated, artist-first approach that ROAM has become known for.
With a debut album reportedly on the way, could Esmeralda Road become the next Belfast band to truly break across Europe and beyond? Does the success of Belfast indie acts internationally signal a broader shift in how the industry views music from Northern Ireland?
