Kevin McGuire is fast becoming one of the favourite voices in the UK Country Music scene and the Scottish rising star has recently released his fantastic new single ‘As Good As It Gets’ which is his most personal track to date.
Here we speak exclusively to Kevin McGuire to discuss his new music and the UK Country scene:
You haven’t released original music for a while, how good does it feel to be back?
Yes, wow. It honestly feels incredible to finally be getting this music out. I don’t say this lightly when I tell you we’ve been working so, so hard on new songs since the start of the year, building up the new catalogue, and this new record will be the first of many. I’m so excited to finally give back to my loyal fans and followers who have been patiently waiting!
What inspired your new single ‘As Good As It Gets’?
In one word – honesty. When we previously spoke, I touched on the fact that this year I’ve been writing a lot more open and true about situations. I feel like that’s probably the most important thing that you can try to do as a singer/songwriter. There’s honestly nothing better than hearing a song that just relates to everything you’re going through, and those are the kind of songs I want to give others. The general message of this song is about putting your feelings out there for someone, but asking them to go easy on me if they don’t feel the same way.
How would you describe the sound of the track?
I’m really excited about this record as it’s got a lot more of an upbeat pop-rock vibe and, for the first time, is made up of entirely live instrument recordings. People associate me a lot with combining Country with more RnB/electronic elements (which I LOVE to do), but this time we’re giving you something a little bit different, but definitely staying true to my sound as an artist. I’ve been extremely lucky to work with such a talented group of people.
You have been in the studio working on new music for the most part of 2018, can we expect and album from you soon?
An album? I’m not so sure about that yet. I mean, we have enough tracks for about 4, but I AM working towards another EP (yay). An album has always been a bit of a strange concept for me and my music, as I feel it changes and develops so much year-on-year. I think releasing a body of work of around 4-5 songs works much better for artists in 2018. It allows us to really define our sound in that moment, and separate from work we’d maybe completed the year or 2 before. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good album, right now my focus is on an EP.
The country scene in the UK has grown even more in the past twelve months, where do you see yourself fitting in?
Yes – the UK scene is expanding, and more and more people are recognising Country music for what it is nowadays – extremely diverse, both commercial and traditional! I’ve never really made music to ‘fit in’, I’ll always try to stay true to myself and what I want to create, but in terms of the current UK Country scene, I’m trying to take things a little more commercial and break some boundaries, particularly between Country and mainstream, similar to what’s happening in the US. All I can do is keep writing and releasing music, and hope that we (myself and other UK artists) can push as hard as possible to make things happen here.
2019 is on the horizon, can we expect a tour from you next year?
Yes – live dates are being scheduled right this minute – and I’m so excited to be back on the road! Maybe even as a headline act. Watch this space!
And what else does 2018 have in store?
For the remaining month (and a bit) we want to keep building on the amazing start to the single release. I have a brand new music video to go with it, and I’m buzzing for people to see that. We SHOULD also be announcing live dates for 2019 extremely soon, so a very busy December is on the way!
Make sure you follow Kevin on Twitter @kevmcguiremusic to keep up to date with all his latest music and tour news!
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