Jack Devlin
Jack Devlin has been an unstoppable feature in Northern Ireland during the pandemic – playing gigs when the venues will have him and taking to the streets when the doors have been closed. With venues being closed he has traveled with a guitar busking on the streets of Ireland, writing constantly and using initiative to win over friends.
In the summer of 2020 he realised that a caravan battery could power up a busking session and so he was active with musician friends in Sligo, Galway, Westport, Dublin and Galway.
The income was healthy and the surge in social media supporters was proof that the effort was worth it.
Jack has ventured on from his busking routes now supporting the likes of David Keenan, Dea Matrona, Skinny Living, Malaki and Hudson Taylor over the past year. His first release, the track ‘Lies’, recorded at home in rural Ireland this song contrasts from its birthplace, a three minute power house with a sound that aims for bigger places. For fans of Sam Fender, Cold War Kids and Jeff Buckley.. Since it's release it has landed an international record deal with Rude Records (Sydney Sprague/American Hi-Fi) and has garnered media attention with plays on RTE 2FM, BBC Introducing and TV appearances on UTV.
Jack comes from Hilltown, by the Mourne Mountains. He was learning guitar at school and was also embarked on a mountain bike adventure, excelling on a competitive level.
In 2018 he was the Ulster Elite Enduro Champion. He rode in Italy and Austria and following a flight mishap at Whistler, British Columbia, he took to busking between rides to raise the extra cash for the journey home. This music/mountain bike connection was celebrated in a video, Busk to Ride (2017). His other legacy from bike riding is a broken pelvis and a fractured wrist. “I’ve got plates in all sorts of places.”
Music claims his energies now. He has over 100 songs recorded in various states of readiness. All to be revealed in the coming months.
“The song is always the foundation of where I judge my success,” he reckons.
