Derry singer John Mullan bids for country music fame on TG4’s Glór Tíre

Ballinderry country singer John Mullan is no stranger to performing on screen, having built a great following on TikTok, but his upcoming appearance on Glór Tíre will be a very different kind of experience.

“It’s weird as I’ve never done TV before,” he says. “It’s different for me, who has only been doing videos on TikTok, but now I’ll be going on nationwide TV and everybody will be seeing you. It will be a bit extreme.”

21-year-old John, born in Co Derry and now resident in Co Tyrone (“I am an Oak Leaf man, I’m Derry through and through,” he points out), will appear on the milestone 21st season of Glór Tire, the long-running, hit country music show on Irish language station TG4. John knows what this could mean for him as an emerging artist.

“Glór Tíre is a competition where people like myself, and the other contestants, who are into country music, can show what they do,” he says. “It is the greatest platform I can go on to show myself off to everyone in Ireland, to sing my songs. It’s the best platform I can use.”

John will appear on Glór Tíre on Tuesday, March 25 at 9.30pm, where he will duet with Tyrone Country star, Cliona Hagan, on Randy Travis’ much loved, ‘Forever and Ever Amen’. Cliona is also John’s mentor for this series, guiding him through the whole process.

“It’s mind-blowing having Cliona as my mentor,” says John. “There are massive country singers in Ireland and to be chosen by one of the biggest, and to have this chance to represent her, I feel privileged and honoured. It’s something special and something I won’t forget.”

John will perform a solo number, delivering his own rendition of Luke Combs’ ‘Loving On You’. “To me this is a special song because when Luke performed in Ireland, he opened with this song, that’s why I have to go with it,” he says. “He’s one of my biggest influences. He was 21 when he picked up a guitar. I’m that age now and I take that as an inspiration, as look where Luke Combs is now.”

As he gets ready for his Glór Tíre appearance, John reflects on why country music is such a phenomenon across the world.

“I can probably speak for a lot of people when saying this about country music,” he says. “You can connect to it because it’s not just a song, it’s more like a story you can relate to better. You can feel sometimes, listening to a country song, is he/she singing about me? Country music is a story and storytelling and that’s why it’s one of the biggest genres in the world.”

Tuesday's episode of Glór Tire will also feature contestant Erin Noone from Meath, presenter Aoife Ní Thuairisg, resident judges Jó Ní Chéide (RTÉ Raidio na Gaeltachta), singer Caitriona Ní Shuilleabháin, and guest judge, singer Louise Morrissey.

For more information see TG4 and follow @glortire on social media for all of the latest news and updates.