Bart Whelan is from Ardara Co.Donegal and well known throughout the county and beyond. A witty man with great character, with many interesting stories who has experienced so much from the various jobs/roles he has had down through the years. He spent 35 years working as a teacher, for the vast majority of that, he taught woodwork. In GAA circles he was chairman of his local club Ardara for a spell and would go on to become county secretary for 10 years too. Bart is also a fellow colleague of mine on Owenea FM radio where he hosts a programme called 'The History Corner'. As well as talking about all mentioned so far, Bart also recalls building his own house in the mid 70's. I hope you enjoy the interview.

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Helena Gallagher's career story so far is a great example of why I do podcasting. Having failed her leaving cert, her reaction could have been a negative one, however it was quite the opposite. It made the Arranmore native more determined to never experience that feeling again. After 17 years working experience at the BBC on production, Helena then went solo and decided to set up her own company HG Productions in 2009. With invaluable experience behind her, she has built up a successful business. Amongst her accolades she is a Gold International award winning documentary maker. She has produced shows for TV and radio across Ireland and Scotland. Helena continues to come up with new ideas for documentaries, I talk to her about forming her own production company, her upcoming projects and much more.

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Michael English began his Country Music singing career in the late 90's. Since then the Kildare native has steadily built his reputation and today is one of biggest attractions in Irish Country Music. I talk to him at the opening weekend of the 58th Mary From Dungloe International Festival. Michael talks about his memories of his previous appearance at the festival. We talk about some of his biggest songs and the Castledermot star also mentions influences on his career when he was starting out.

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It's here. Episode 100. As it's a special milestone interview, I decided to go big. 18 guests featured. All guests are voluntarily involved in presenting shows with Owenea FM radio station who are based in Ardara Co. Donegal. A local community station who broadcast each weekend on Saturday and Sundays. Fittingly for this episode number, Owenea go out on 100.8FM across South West Donegal and can be heard throughout the world online at oweneafm.ie. I myself am glad to be a part of the Owenea team. Hosting a country music show there since August 2023. Its a radio station with something for all. Various genres played, chat shows on different topics which include looking at local events and sport. I hope these interviews help in getting to know the DJs and Owenea FM's story better. Hope you enjoy it.

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Anne Biddie hails from Fanad, Co. Donegal. A well known singer songwriter in Irish Country Music. To date she has released three albums, two of which are completely self penned. Her latest single 'Missing You' is a song with very personal meaning to Anne, as sadly in the last number of years, both her parents passed away. In the interview Anne talks about the song in detail. Elsewhere in the interview I talk to Anne about how some of her other songs came about and she reflects on memories of growing up in Fanad.

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Tom Comack has decades of experience working as a broadcaster/commentator on radio. From Highland Radio since the early 90's, through the noughties etc to now occasionally being heard on Ocean FM. Tom has a great passion for GAA in particular, and down through the years has helped cover radio coverage on big matches across various levels and codes. He also had a long running weekly GAA programme on Highand Radio. During this interview I talk to Tom about some of his early radio experiences and we look ahead to the big matches this coming weekend in the All Ireland series as the group stage matches reach their conclusion. In particular we talk in depth about the huge clash in Dr Hyde Park this Sunday evening between Donegal and Mayo.

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Shunie Crampsey from Culdaff Co. Donegal is one of the finest singer songwriters in Irish Country Music. A man who has numerous albums released himself while also having many of the top Irish Country Music artists cover what he's penned down through the years. It's an extensive list which includes the likes of the late Big Tom, Daniel O'Donnell and his sister Margo, Mick Flavin and lots more. I talk to Shunie about his music career to date. Amongst that in the early 80's he joined the well known band, Brian Coll And The Buckaroos. The late Brian Coll was also great friends with Shunie and during our interview Shunie recalls fond memories of Brian. Elsewhere we look back at the stories behind some of Shunie's biggest songs and he speaks to me about his love of farming.

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Stephen Bennett Jnr from Ardara Co. Donegal is fastly making a name for himself in Irish Country Music as a young talented singer songwriter. Travelling to perform at gigs in his own county and is also taking to the stage across many venues throughout the country. The now 24 year old entered a Donegal's Got Talent competition in 2017, and came 2nd place with former X Factor judge Louis Walsh involved in assessing the talent. Stephen's singing career its fair to say took off from there and since then he has built up a fine repertoire of songs, the vast majority of them self penned. He has a debut album coming out in the opening quarter of next year. I travelled to his home to chat to him about this new album plus much more including who he likes to listen to in music himself.

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