New six-part country music show

Just a week after the sensational success of The Late Late Show country special, RTÉ is heading down country roads again this Sunday evening when they launch a new six-part series, Stetsons and Stilettos. The show airs on RTÉ One at 7.30pm.

Over the course of summer 2015, camera crews have been travelling the roads of Ireland, catching up with many of the people involved in the country scene, from artists to the dancing public. The series aims to capture the emerging vibrancy of a scene that is such an integral part of the lives of many thousands of people for whom country music is a way of life.

It is a genre that now extends across the generations, with aficionados ranging in ages from 10 to 90, all sharing an amazing bond for the various forms of country music.

Ulster has always been the spiritual home of country music and the scene is buzzing. A visit to any of the country gigs in the province reveals a much younger audiences than further south. Up here, jiving is the king and classes in the art of the jive are much in demand.

The new RTÉ series delves into various aspects of the scene and features on the road with Nathan Carter during the build up to one of his major shows. It also includes attending the country-themed wedding of Dervla Burke of Crystal Swing from Cork.

Viewers will get a sample of what to expect when the show debuts this Sunday night. The crew head out west to Leitrim where they visit the Cowboy and Heroes weekend at the western-themed ranch, Drumcoura, located just outside Ballinamore. Many of the big names from the Irish scene played the festival and devotees love the sense of the western frontier and nights beneath the stars.

Simon Power tells the story of the family ranch and how it has become a popular attraction, as well as a major centre for shooting country videos.

The production team meet Longford man Paul Duffy who lives the life of the traditional cowboy. They cruise the N4 to the festival with the Kennedy clan in their big American trucks all the way from Kildare. And they chat to the glamorous jiving girls from Tyrone that find sleeping under canvas a bit of a challenge. The second episode a week later features some top jivers as they get ready for the biggest jiving show of the summer at the Monaghan Town Country Music Festival.

Another of the episodes takes a trip to Bundoran for a country bank holiday weekend of dancing in the Allingham Arms Hotel. The final in the series focuses on the people for whom country music has meant a new start in midlife. These personal stories are sure to resonate with so many people all over Ireland.