County Galway may not have a contestant on the new season of Glór Tíre, but Galwegians will be enormously influential in who goes on to win the title of Ireland’s Glór Tíre Country Music champion.
Glór Tíre, TG4’s hit Country & Irish music series, returns to our TV screens for its 19th season on Tuesday January 10 at 9.30pm, with eight contestants taking part.
Mentoring two of those contestants will be Mike Denver, one of Ireland’s most popular singers. The man from Portumna in south-east Co Galway will be watching over Fermanagh singer, Billy Mac, and Longford singer-songwriter, Bríd Shaughnessy. Indeed, mentoring Glór Tíre contestants is something Mike has long experience of. “We’ve done a good few mentorships over the years,” he says, “it must be 14 or 15.”
Mike describes himself as “very lucky” to be working with Billy and Brid, who he describes as “great, great singers”.
“If they want to know something on the recording end of things, the PR end, or radio, or what songs to pick for the show, I can advise them,” he says of his mentorship role. “I wouldn’t have been familiar with Bríd before the show, I would have heard some of her stuff on the radio, seen the videos she did. Billy has been working with me and the band for a number of years, and even before that I would have been familiar with him at gigs.
“It’s a great competition for both of them. Hopefully the two will be in the final, battling it out against each other, and then I can just be in the middle, not shouting in either direction.”
As well as Billy Mac and Bríd Shaughnessy, the other contestants on season 19 of Glór Tíre are Jamie Donnolly (Tyrone ) and Seán Fahy (Mayo ), mentored by Donegal singer David James; Tex Deegan (Limerick ) and Florence Given (Tyrone ), mentored by Derry singer John McNicholl; and Noel Boland (Wicklow ) and Molly O’Connell (Tipperary ), mentored by Country & Irish legend Louise Morrissey.
All eight contestants will have to face scrutiny and a final decision by the judges. Here again, Galway will have a big say in the outcome, with Glór Tire’s resident judges being Connemara natives Jó Ní Chéide and Caitriona Ní Shuilleabháin. What will they be looking to see in each of the performers?
“Two things,” says Caitriona, “someone who touches your heart as they sing, who has lived the song, and believes in what they sing; and someone who is an individual, not copying 10, 15, 100 other singers. You will be inspired by others, that’s natural, but it’s about exploiting the best of what you have yourself. Authenticity and credibility are the words, and a great voice and a good stage presence doesn’t hurt either.”
“You need to have a fantastic voice,” says Jó, “but you also need to have a really good personality and to be able to deal with the public, and have that relationship with the audience. As one well-known singer said to me, ‘My fans are my future.’ It’s a package deal when it comes to making it.”
Jó also wants to see a performer who knows “what Country music is about and what is at the root of it.”
“You need to understand that to become a Country singer here in Ireland,” she says. “I’m looking for someone who is steeped in it.”
Glór Tire is one of the very few outlets on national television where the thousands of people across Ireland, who follow and love Country & Irish music, can see and hear it. For the artists in the genre, the show is a crucial platform from which they can gain exposure, and make their name more widely known.
It is because of this that Mike Denver, Jó Ní Chéide, and Caitriona Ní Shuilleabháin argue that Glór Tíre is more than just a music show.
“Glór Tíre has been a key show for giving young Country Music singers a platform,” says Caitriona. “It’s grown and grown over the years, and to see so many of the former contestants and how well they have done - Olivia Douglas, Lisa McHugh, Sabrina Fallon, Noreen Rabbitt, Chantelle Padden, Sinead Black - it’s very gratifying. if you go through the big names in Irish Country, there are very few who haven’t been either a mentor or a contestant.”
Jó describes Glór Tíre as “unbelievably important” for “showcasing over the 19 years, the talent we have, but might not have seen” if it was not for TG4.
“For these performers, being on the show is a major boost,” she says. “Having that time with established performers on the scene is a major bonus. We have all become a close knit family and see many of the same established singers coming back to the show and they have new talent with them.”
For Mike Denver, Glór Tíre is no less than “the backbone of Country music in Ireland”.
“There is a huge fan base for Country music from every generation,” he says. “People expect to turn on TG4 and see Country music on it.”
Glór Tíre is a national show, but one very much rooted in Co Galway. It is produced by the Galway based production company, Gael Media; the series was shot in Studio Telegael An Tullach, Baile na hAbhann, Connemara; and it is broadcast on the Connemara based station, TG4. It is also the station’s longest running and most successful country music series.
“It’s great that TG4 is based in County Galway,” says Mike. “You’d be surprised. No matter what part of the country you are in, from up top from Donegal to Antrim or down to Cork, somebody will say, ‘I saw you last night on Glór Tíre on TG4'. TG4 is our national station for Country music.”
Glór Tíre - Season 19 is on TG4, starting at 9.30pm on Tuesday January 10 2023. It will be broadcast each Tuesday with the final taking place on February 21. See www.tg4.ie and follow @glortire on social media for all of the latest news and updates.
