Mayo artists feature in new series of Opry le Daniel ar Thuras on TG4
Opry le Daniel ar Thuras – TG4 television’s highest rating country music series of concerts – returns with a brand-new series on Tuesday, October 28, at 9.30 p.m.
The hugely popular series from Big Mountain Productions for TG4 will offer six music-filled shows and a further two compilation programmes across eight weeks.
It was recorded earlier this year before a live audience over three nights in Derry's Millennium Forum, featuring legendary host presenter Daniel O'Donnell and a variety of special guests – including Mayo natives Gerry Guthrie and Marc Roberts.
Gerry features in the first programme (Classic Country) alongside Lisa McHugh fron Glasgow and Derry's own John McNicholl.
Marc, meanwhile, is one of the artists featured in the fifth programme (The Songs of John Denver) on November 25. Denver's songs provide the rich musical content for Marc and fellow performers Gina (Co. Cork) and John Hogan (Co. Westmeath).
The second programme, Country 'n Irish (to be broadcast on November 4), features Dominic Kirwan (Co. Tyrone, TR Dallas (Co. Westmeath) and Claudia Buckley (Co. Galway), while the Country Folk programme (November 11) is the third in the series and will include performances from Tully (Co. Fermanagh), Ceol (Dublin) and The Henry Girls (Co. Donegal).
The fourth programme, New Country (November 18), sees Jack Keogh (Co. Wicklow), Patricia Maguire (Co. Tyrone) and Jamie Donnelly from Strabane (Co. Tyrone) all join with Daniel on stage.
The sixth programme in the new series, Celtic Country (December 2), welcomes Dan McCabe (Co. Kildare) and The High Kings (Dublin) to the stage in Derry, while the series rounds off with two special programmes (December 9 and 16) featuring a pick of highlights of some of the performances from across the six weeks.
Commenting on the new series, Daniel said: “It really was fantastic to be back on stage for this new series of Opry le Daniel. It is always a pleasure to perform in front of the great audiences in Derry's Millennium Forum. And what a line-up we had this time round! You won't want to miss it when the series begins on TG4 on October 28.”
Now in its 15th season, Ireland’s number one country music artist, Daniel O’Donnell, has hosted the biggest names in country music from the world stage, including Charley Pride, Crystal Gayle and Rita Coolidge, and not forgetting many of Ireland’s home-grown talent. Each programme in the new series of Opry le Daniel ar Thuras will also be available to view after broadcast on the TG4 player.