A 26-year-old Donegal country singer, David James, has struck a chord with the farming community, north and south, with his cover of ‘God Bless the Farmers’.
The song which was originally penned by Porter Wagoner, tells the story of a young farmer and his wife in Ozark, Missouri:
“I couldn’t help but think: ‘Isn’t this also the story of so many young couples in rural Ireland?’,” said David, who is managed by John Farry, who was Nathan Carter’s manager in the past.
“Those couples have embraced the rural way of life by working hard on the farm, the daily struggles that they face, but most of all, their love of the land. I was raised on a farm also, so this song has connected with me in so many ways.
“Our family home is 50 yards from the farm where my uncles and cousins now keep cows and sheep. I have got great reaction from farmers to the song.
“They are really glad that their hard work is recognised. More often than not, it can be overlooked and we have tried our best to fix that. Often when we would be coming home from shows at 4:00a.m to 5:00a.m, we would see them heading out to work,” he continued.
David said he is currently working on a new album, and ‘God Bless The Farmers’ is the new single taken from that.
Having worked with the Ryan Turner Band as his backing band over the last couple of years, he will launch his own backing band in Bundoran in February.
David lives and breathes country music. The spark was when he attended the Country Fest in Letterkenny with his brother Gerard:
“I was bitten by the showband bug and ever since that day, I knew it was exactly what I wanted to do,” he said. He started performing at the age of 14 around the local pubs and clubs in counties Donegal, Derry and Tyrone.
Ever since, he has been busy honing his craft throughout Ireland and the UK. He has recorded two studio albums: ‘Country Heart’ and ‘The Promise’ to date, and is currently working on his third album.
One of David’s career highlights has seen him perform on the Gertrude Byrne Caribbean cruise along with Daniel O’Donnell and Nathan Carter, Celtic Thunder, The New York Tenors and Irish tenor, Ronan Tynan.
The Donegal entertainer has also travelled the world as a competitive Irish dancer. He has competed in the World Championships in Philadelphia, Montreal, Glasgow and Dublin.
His biggest success was when he became world champion in Dublin in April 2017. David and seven of his team mates took gold in the Senior Mixed Céilí competition.
David’s star continues to rise, with recent successful radio singles ‘Happy Street’, ‘Waltzing An Angel’ and ‘Drops Of Brandy’ all receiving prominent airplay on Irish radio.
The new video also features the 2024 Donegal Rose, Niamh Shevlin, a lifelong friend and neighbour of David’s, who took the role of the farmer’s wife in the video shoot.