Can Wagon Wheel really be the nation’s favourite?
RTÉ are jumping on the country bandwagon with the inaugural Irish Country Music Awards which will be broadcast later this month. And all you country fans out there will have an opportunity to pick Ireland’s favourite country song – from a shortlist of four. The arrival of young country buck on the block Nathan Carter has ignited the nation’s appetite for country music in recent times – a hunger that showed its true scale with the outcry over the Garth Brooks Croke Park fiasco. The Irish Country Music Awards will air on Friday June 24, live from RTÉ studios with country favourite Daniel O’Donnell hosting. The nation will have the chance to choose Ireland’s All Time Favourite Country Song, a category that reflects an array of hit tunes over the past years. The four nominations in this category are: Pretty Little Girl From Omagh, One Day At A Time Sweet Jesus, Four Country Roads and – of course – Wagon Wheel.
And hoping to get the country into the swing of things, RTÉ are launching a call out for couples to dance on the show. Three jiving couples will be selected to dance to the music of Marty Mone.
Host ‘wee Daniel’ cannot be nominated for an award but the Donegal singer is thrilled to be at the forefront of proceedings.
‘I’m delighted to be presenting the inaugural RTÉ Irish Country Music Awards on RTÉ One,’ he said.
‘It’s a great opportunity for all the stars of the Irish country music scene to get together and for the music to be recognised. There’ll be 10 live performances on the night, including one from myself, so I can promise it’ll be a great show for audiences at home.’
In what promises to be a starstudded and stetson-stacked evening RTÉ are bringing out the big country guns for the live 90minute broadcast.
Nathan Carter, Big Tom McBride, Derek Ryan, Michael English, Mike Denver, Lisa McHugh, Jimmy Buckley, Jim Devine and Philomena Begley are all lined up to sing.
In recent years the Irish country music scene has experienced a massive resurgence in popularity.
While Daniel O’Donnell is still the most popular country star, new country crooners like honorary Irishman Nathan Carter have captured a new younger country music fan.
Last year Ryan Tubridy hosted a country music Late Late Show special which enjoyed a peak television audience of 1.3 million.
‘Nathan Carter has ignited the nation’s appetite’