Noel Boland has reached the Grand Final of TG4’s hit Country Music series, Glór Tíre. It marks another big step forward for a songwriter who already worked with some impressive names. In a keenly fought semi-final broadcast on TG4 last night, Noel’s renditions of ‘Chicken Fried’ and ‘Stop The World and Let Me Off’, saw him make it through to next week’s Grand Final, and a chance to be crowned Ireland’s Glór Tíre Country Music champion.
“I’m shocked,” he says. “I’m really happy with how it has all gone so far and the massive amount of
exposure I’ve gotten out of it, so to be progressing further is amazing.”
Noel will perform in the Grand Final which will be broadcast live on TG4 on Tuesday 21st February at
9.30pm. He is now hoping he will get support from the three different counties he can call home!
“I’ve had great support throughout the whole competition,” he says. “I’m from Carlow originally, and some
papers are saying I’m from Carlow, others are saying I’m from Wicklow – I’m based in Blessington,
although my house is actually in Kildare, so I have three catchment areas. I hope everybody from each
of the counties votes for me!”
Even before making it through to this week’s semi-final, and next week’s Grand Final, Noel’s time on Glór Tíre already produced two unforgettable highlights – both on the same night. “Getting to do my original song, ‘This Thing’, on Glór Tíre, was pretty cool,” he says. “It was written with Johnny Brady, and on the recorded version, Chris Leuzinger, Garth Brooks guitar player for the last 30 years, played on it! After I did the song on the show, I got a video message from Chris. I posted that message on Facebook and that got a crazy reaction. It was an honour for me as I’m a massive Garth Brooks fan.”
Whatever happens at the Grand Final, the fans Noel has gathered on this season of Glór Tíre will be thrilled to know he has plenty of new music coming out this year. “I have a duet coming out next week with Bernie Heaney, ‘Everybody’s Reaching Out For Someone’,” he says. “It’s an old song from 1971. It was Bernie’s idea and we’ve revamped it and made it a bit more modern; my album is in the works, ten original songs and it’s nearly done; I’m writing with Johnny Brady; I’ve written with John Farry, Nathan Carter’s manager; I’m over in the UK a couple of times this year as well and Malta as well; so there’s lots of things in the pipeline.”
In the meantime, Noel is encouraging other aspirant Country musicians to enter the show and take
advantage of the great opportunities it presents. “I was that person last year, so I would say go for it,” says Noel. “It’s a great platform. You can’t go wrong and you’re getting national TV exposure. You can’t pay for that kind of exposure, so absolutely go for it.”
For more information on Glór Tíre, see www.tg4.ie and follow @glortire on social media for all of the
latest news and updates.
