Mike Denver reveals how he met wife during a chance meeting at one of his shows

In our new My Country Life podcast, Denver reveals that he was instantly smitten when he first met his future wife, Liz, who had brought her mother to see his show at the start of his career.

"We were only going for a couple of months as a band at that stage and it was a small venue," Mike recalls. "We got chatting afterwards and we haven't looked back since. I think I tried to slip her my phone number that night, but we exchanged numbers."

You knew straight away there was a connection? "Ah yeah, she's magic, she's great. We have a great relationship. As they say, behind every good man there's even a better woman.

"We get on great. We're living in Portumna for the last 16 or 17 years. We get on like a house on fire all the time.

"I was always go, go, go, but I was very lucky that she was always very understanding and never minded that. The one good thing is that when we met I was at the music and I was very busy from day one."

The couple married in 2012 after Mike sprung a surprise proposal at the Grand Canyon while on holiday in Las Vegas. "We were in Vegas and we said, 'Sure we'll go out to the Grand Canyon for a day.' I had chosen the ring. She would always be giving hints when she'd be walking past different jewellery shops."

Their wedding was in Keadue, Co Roscommon, with Fr Brian D'Arcy performing the ceremony, and the reception was held in the magnificent Kilronan Castle.

If there's anything positive to come out of the pandemic, for Mike it was the time he was given to spend with his daughter, Mia, who was born on March 20, 2020.

"Timing-wise it was amazing," he says. I really enjoyed the first year. Anybody I talk to in the music over the years always says the one thing they always regretted was not getting time to spend with their kids.

"It [fatherhood] just gives you a different perspective on life that you say, 'hold it, these are the things I have to be here for and these are the things I want to do.'"

Listen to Mike Denver tell his life story on our podcast, My Country Life, on sundayworld.com or wherever you get your podcasts.