A POPULAR young singer from Beara is among eight emerging country and Irish singers who will be competing for the title of Ireland’s Glór Tíre Country Music Champion 2024.
Effie Neill from Ardgroom, Beara, in West Cork, will appear on the 20th season of TG4’s long-running, hit country music show, and it will be the realisation of a dream for Effie.
‘It was always my goal to be on this show, as it’s a great platform to build on your musical profile,’ she said. ‘I am really excited for the coming weeks and to have this opportunity to perform alongside very talented musicians.’
Effie will appear on the first episode of the new season of Glór Tíre on TG4 on Tuesday March 12th at 9.30pm. Her mentor will be Michael English, a respected voices in country and Irish music.
Effie has been gigging since she was 14 years old, and cites Philomena Begley, Big Tom, and Dolly Parton as her inspirations.
Indeed, she will enter Glór Tíre with considerable momentum. In 2023 she won the Star of the Cowboys and Heroes Festival and released two singles, which have notched up more than 100,000 views on social media.
She is a popular figure on the local music scene, and is touring venues in West Cork, having performed in The Travellers Rest in Caheragh last weekend, the Bantry Inn on Feburary 18th, performing in Twomey’s in Castletownbere on February 24, and the Huntsman on March 3rd, and further gigs planned in Cork city and around the country, including performing at the Hot Country awards in Letterkenny next month.
Glór Tíre, broadcast on Ireland’s national Irish language station, TG4, and produced by Galway production company, Gael Media, is widely regarded as the premier platform for new and emerging country and Irish talent. Season 20 will be presented by Aoife Ní Thuairsig.
The judges will be RTÉ Raidio na Gaeltachta’s Jó Ní Chéide and Caitriona Ní Shuilleabháin, along with guest judges, music journalist Eddie Rowley and Trudi Lalor, singer and editor of RSVP Country.
The broadcast dates for Glór Tíre Season 20 are March 12th, 19th, and 26th March, and April 2nd, 9th, 16th, and 23rd at 9.30pm on TG4.
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