Abbie Mac

You could say life has been a little bit crazy for Derry girl Abbie McGlinchey. She has been juggling her A-Levels by day whilst recording and planning her debut release as Country Music's latest and most exciting new talent.

It was during the pandemic of 2020, in a video on a local talent Facebook page , that 13 year old Abbie was plucked from obscurity, gaining the attention of a management company "Good Human" in London.

"Abbie was so young when she first came to our attention but we could tell even then her voice was incredible. She got approached by all of the major television talent shows, but we kept turning them down, with the genuine feeling of "she's just too good." We could see she was more than a voice and had stories to tell. We wanted to nurture and grow her talent and it's been an absolute privilege to witness her become the artist we always knew she could be.

"Abbie was adamant from the start that she wanted to do country music and it was her amazing knowledge of the various genres and different artists and styles that made us realise she was deadly serious about it. We thought it was a brave choice at the time — she could so easily have chosen the pop route, but she stuck to her guns and has followed her passion and we can safely say its paid off."

After a year of doing her take on classic country songs she has garnered over 1 million likes on TikTok, 30,000 followers and has amassed over a million streams of her music. But for Abbie that was never enough:

"I've loved doing my covers, it was so interesting to really pick apart the songs — ask what made them so good? and find a way to re-record them in a style that represented me. I loved especially looking at the way Luke Combs and Zach Bryan wrote their music and I think they have been the biggest influence in writing my own stuff."

So here we are four years later with the imminent release of Abbie Mac's debut single and it's definitely something which sets her apart from the crowd. The vocal is instantly hers, its rich, warm and belays her 17 years in the hurt and storytelling it conveys.

"It came from a period when I was really hurt by someone. I was angry but didn't know what to do with that anger, so I went to the studio and the song just kind of came out of me. It was like therapy in a way. I had been so down, do depressed, so sad and this song was me turning a corner and asking him the questions that I needed the answers for."

And what about the style?

" I like to think that I'm doing country music in a different way — don't get me wrong, I love and adore Dolly Parton but I'm just not that bubbly, upbeat girl that everyone associates with Country. My music is darker, its more reflective of what's going on in my life and I think this single came from a very sad time. I can hear all my musical influences in it and I think that's the magic of what I'm trying to do, combine everything I love about Country Music and make a version of it that I would like to listen to. If I don't love it, why should anyone else?"

Abbie will be playing her new single "Dead Inside" at C2C at the O2 London, having been chosen to play the Icon stage after impressing with her recent live shows in London and Manchester.

"I can't wait to play the song live and see what people think about it. I'm nervous of course but there is nothing like playing live to an audience and I am ready for it!"

"Dead Inside is out Friday 8th March 2024.