County Derry singer is set to appear on hit Irish country music show
“I am an Oak Leaf man, I’m Derry through and through,” said county Derry singer John Mullan, who is set to perform on popular Country music show, Glór Tíre.
Country singer John has said that his upcoming appearance on Glór Tíre will be a very different kind of experience.
Although John is no stranger to the spotlight, the Derry native has built up a following on TikTok with tens of thousands of views of his posts.
“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 21st season of Glór Tire, the long-running Country Music show on Irish language station TG4. John said that his time in the spotlight could help get his music out to a broader audience.
“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’ ‘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.”
You can find John Mullan’s Tiktok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnmullanmusic
For more information see: www.tg4.ie