Derry singer Abbie Mac releases debut single 'Dead Inside' ahead of O2 London gig

Young Derry country singer Abbie Mac releases her debut single tomorrow (Friday, 8th March) ahead of her weekend appearance at Country to Country 2024 in London's O2.

Life has been a little bit crazy for 17-year-old Abbie who 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 Good Human, a music management company in London.

After a year of doing her take on popular Country songs she has garnered over 1 million likes on TikTok, 30,000 followers and has amassed over a million streams of her music.

Having grown up listening to Irish country music, Abbie is now influenced by the likes of Luke Combs, Zack Bryan and Megan Moroney and at just 17 years of age she is already achieving big things.

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 especially loved looking at the way Luke Combs and Zach Bryan wrote their music and I think they have been the biggest influence on writing my own stuff.”

So here we are four years later with the imminent release of Abbie Mac’s debut single, “Dead Inside” and it’s definitely something which sets her apart from the crowd. The vocal is instantly hers, it’s rich, warm and belays her 17 years with 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, so depressed, so sad and this song was me turning a corner and asking him the questions that I needed the answers for.”

Abbie continued: “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, it's 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” this weekend 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.

Abbie said: “I can’t wait to play the song live and see what people think about it. I’m nervous of course, it’s the biggest audience I’ve ever played, but there is nothing like playing live to an crowd and I am ready for it!”