He may be a rising name in Irish country music, but David James has already made his mark, first by duetting with Daniel O’Donnell, and now by being a mentor on Glór Tíre.
TG4’s hit series, Glór Tíre, is back this Tuesday with eight more contestants competing for the chance to be Ireland’s next country music star.
Two of the contestants – Tyrone’s Jamie Donnelly and Mayo’s Sean Fahy – will be advised and supported on their Glór Tíre journey by Donegal’s David James. All three will appear on the Tuesday January 17 episode of the show.
“I grew up watching Glór Tíre and never envisaged that, all these years later, I would be here in the capacity as a mentor,” says David. “I always promised myself that if I ever made any headway in the business that I would do my best to help other artists out.”
David, who is also a presenter with Highland Radio, came to national attention when asked by none other than Daniel O’Donnell to duet with him on the 2021 hit single, ‘Don’t Take The Good Times For Granted’ – a sure sign the young man had truly arrived.
Prior to that, he had “put in a lot of work, gigging around pubs at home since I was 15, I’ve worked very, very, hard at my music over the last seven or eight years”. David is well aware of the importance of having the right people in your corner when starting out, and he takes pride in being a Glór Tíre mentor.
“I’m thrilled, as an artist, to be able to give Jamie and Sean this opportunity, an opportunity I would have been looking for not so long ago,” he says.
David James performing for Gael Media’s Glor Tire 2023 Season. David is mentor to two contestants, Jamie Donnelly and Seán Fahy.
Indeed, David will be drawing on his own experiences when advising his charges.
“What I’ll be telling them is work hard, keep your head down, and do as much as you can on getting your name out there,” he says. “As regards Glór Tíre, I think it is very important to be confident. Obviously there is a fine line between confident and cocky, so if they judge that well enough they will be great, Moreso, just embrace this opportunity. They are both in the infancy of their careers and to get an opportunity in front of all these TV cameras is great.”
Now in its 19th season, Glór Tíre has become the central platform for Country & Irish music. It represents a huge opportunity for emerging artists to gain wide exposure, and make their face, name, and sound known to the audiences across Ireland who love this music.
“Glór Tíre is invaluable to Country music,” says David. “Money couldn’t buy the exposure the contestants will have on this show. Glór Tíre has been such an asset to Country music over the last decade and more.”
Indeed, looking at Jamie and Sean, and indeed the other six contestants on the show, David feels very optimistic about the future of the genre.
“As Irish people, we all have a bit of Country music in our blood,” he says. “We had Garth Brooks here last year, and 400,000 people of all ages went to see him. Country music is one of those things, that, no matter what else is going on in the world, it’s still going to be there, and looking at Jamie and Sean, I think the future of Country music is in safe hands.”
Glór Tíre – Season 19 is on TG4 at 9.30pm every 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.
