Kiernan McMullan, the opening act for Mat Kearney when he performed at the SGA-sponsored spring concert, sat down with Lumination, offering a look into his past, his new album, Two Years, and his new organization, American Cadence Records.McMullan was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Boston and Ireland. While in the UK, McMullan began his journey into music.
“I moved up to Dublin, and I started doing lights and sound for a living. And, so, in doing that, I met a lot of people who worked for the studios.”
McMullan had songs ready to record and got free studio time in which he could improve his skills. After that, McMullan was ready to go on tour.
“From there, it was just an instant wanting to go on the road,” McMullan said.
McMullan toured all across Ireland. Then he signed a record deal with 111 Records. After this, McMullan moved back to the states to pursue a new career as a musician.
During his time as a musician, McMullan has opened for such musical acts as Sheryl Crowe and Colbie Caillet.
“I was lucky enough to open for both of them in the same night,” McMullan said. “I did a lot of touring where it was a huge venue one night and a coffee house to fifteen people the next night.”
McMullan finds inspiration from all types of music.
“I’ll sit and listen to hours of classical music, and I’ll sit and listen to heavy metal and everything in between,” McMullan said.
Songwriting plays a huge part in McMullan’s music. Many aspects fuel the words in his songs.
“Life, travel life, people, things I see, things that happen to me… I feel like that’s what everyone should write about,” McMullan said. “[Songwriting] keeps me sane. Writing music keeps me happy.”
On his new album, Two Years, McMullan takes a look at the two-year stretch he spent on the road, touring the nation.
“Well, Two Years is a concept record,” McMullan said. “It’s Nov. 2, 2008 to Nov. 2, 2010. I just was going back to Ireland to record an album. I had a first song and a last song for the album, and I thought ‘That’s strange.'”
“My flight back is on the same day exactly two years later. The same airports, the same time from Shannon to Boston, which is where I started with the hitch-hiking two years before that, and I just realized ‘Well, that two years was insane’. Let’s not kind of forget about it, let’s write about it, and then that chapter’s done and written about.”
McMullan found Nashville during his two-year continuous tour.
“When I was touring, I had a few stop-offs here and met a lot of really cool people,” McMullan said. “It was just a nice town. It was a nice vibe. [Nashville] had everything I loved about Austin, without I everything I hate about New York and Los Angeles, but with the musical richness of towns that big.”
McMullan said he feels that Nashville welcomed him and that he will always have a home in town.
“The minute I came here it was like – open arms,” McMullan said.
McMullan’s first concert in Nashville was in the back room at Café Coco. The show lasted for an hour in front of nine people.
McMullan said students who would like to pursue a career in music need to know that practice is the key to success.
“Practice. That is the one key. Hone what you do,” McMullan said.
Per tradition, we asked McMullan what his musical taste and smell would be.
“I think it would taste like strawberries and smell like Saturday morning,” McMullan said.
McMullan’s work stretches past a musical career.
McMullan, alongside friend Logan Buerlein, founded American Cadence Records in 2011.
American Cadence works to provide the W.O. Smith School of Music a portion of all their record sales. W.O. Smith provides those less fortunate with music lessons and instruments.
“The initial idea was a non-profit, then we sort of realized that there’s no need to limit yourself. You do a non-profit, you can give to charity, and you can try and release good records as well,” McMullan said.
The organization hopes to not only give children a chance to learn music; McMullan and Buerlein also wish to give unknown talent a chance to record their material.
“There’s so much talent out there, and there’s so much stuff that doesn’t get heard,” McMullan said. “So, what we’re trying to do is use whatever contacts we have and experience we have from the years we’ve been in music to help out people we like.”
“The bigger picture is that these kids can learn an instrument, become good at it, and from that experience, enrich their lives and the lives of their community,” Buerelin said. “We would love to put out a record from a child that went to W.O. Smith.”
“Could you imagine? You give a kid his first guitar when he’s 8 and can’t afford it, and then 8, 10, 15 years later, you record an album with him,” McMullan said. “I just think that would be the coolest thing.”
McMullan said he believes that music can play an extremely positive role in a young person’s life.
“Music is one of the most underrated assets to youth in general,” McMullan said. “Music is forever. You don’t ever have to put out a record. You don’t ever have to sign with a record label. You don’t ever have to make or spend any money doing it. But, you will have the ability to write songs and get what you need out and vent that way for the rest of your life. I think that’s really cool.”
From Lipscomb, McMullan ventured to New York and then played at the SXSW convention in Austin, Texas. From there, McMullan will continue to tour across the nation and the UK.
If you would like to become involved with American Cadence, you can contact the group at americancadence.org. The group also wishes to note their involvement with Warm Blankets, a non-profit organization.
To see photos from the concert click here. Photo Credit: Whitney Jarreld