"I'm just a guy from Ormskirk." That's what Jake O'Neill said to me during our first conversation at a festival this year. Since then, he has rapidly become one of the most talked about country artists emerging from the UK.
O’Neill joined me after a stint of tonsillitis and a week in bed, having to cancel his shows and rest – something musicians hate to do. But, back in the land of the living, we chatted about his recent run of shows opening for Canaan Cox and 49 Winchester, playing at Buckle and Boots and what lies ahead this year.
I’d last seen O’Neill at Whitebottom Farm after his set with the Country Orchestra, performing a knockout cover of Chris Stapleton’s ‘Tennessee Whiskey’. O’Neill was part of an all-star line-up, showcasing the talent of UK country artists like Kezia Gill and Matt Hodges, alongside our American guests like Maggie Baugh and Dan Smalley. The Country Orchestra closed the festival as the final set of performances on the Sunday night, with a carrousel of artists performing well known country covers. However, for everyone there watching that night, Jake O’Neill was the one they were talking about.
As he left Stockport on a high from that weekend, O’Neill was re-setting and re-packing ready to head to Scotland on Tuesday and open for Canaan Cox on Wednesday in Glasgow. Having prepared for this for months, and watched Cox put on a great show at Buckle and Boots on the Friday night, O’Neill was eager to finally get to perform in these shows.
However, amidst the excitement of the Canaan Cox shows, O’Neill received a message on his off day that would be a pivotal moment in his career – he was asked to open for 49 Winchester.
49 Winchester were last over in the UK in October 2023 where they opened for Luke Combs on his world tour. A tour that O’Neill went to see in Manchester and fell in love with the band. Fast forward seven months and O’Neill got the opportunity to fill a last-minute vacancy and open to their 2500+ crowd in Glasgow.
After seeing a post in a Facebook group asking for a support act that night, O’Neill threw his hat in the ring. “The Artist Liaison for the evening messaged me on Instagram and said ‘they like you’re stuff, they’ve got a few options, they’re gonna let you know’,” O’Neill says as he recounts the story, “so I was twiddling my thumbs for two or three hours.”
The anxiety of not knowing set him on edge for the day but, as we know, fortune favours the brave – and Jake O’Neill was chosen to open that night.
With different bands and crowds to adapt to, O’Neill had to think on his feet and deliver the best possible performance he could.
“I did three different sets for the three nights I was in Scotland,” he says about his experience, “Canaan Cox was a bit more stress free because I’d had months to prepare but 49 Winchester was a bit a longer. I had to do two or three more songs, so I was thinking in my head on stage, like, oh crap, what song am I doing here?”
“I did a Zach Top cover and people seemed to like that,” he goes on to say, “and I just put a few more originals in but it was hard because I didn’t have a set list on me and I wasn’t going to get my phone out on stage.” We laugh as he relays the stress and excitement that bubble up when he’s on stage - especially performing for a crowd that were perhaps expecting someone else. O’Neill remembers the night with an engaged, packed out crowd. “From a crowd like that, sometimes you probably feel like it’d be just a bit chattery and loud but honestly…they’re a very attentive audience and really kind.”
O’Neill has also supported Twinnie in her sold-out hometown gig at 45 Vinyl in York – a venue that’s fast becoming the UK’s answer to The Bluebird Café.
Also in the throes of planning his own tour, O’Neill is hoping to put together a run of acoustic shows across the UK hitting cities like Glasgow, Manchester and London with some others to finalise. “A little acoustic café tour,” he says about the style of show he’ll be doing, “I like that vibe and I feel like it goes well with my voice.”
O’Neill can sing, there’s no question around that, so much so that his fulltime job is singing – weddings, parties, funerals, you name it, he’s sang at it. But his country style? That’s something he saves for his own music. “I don’t put it on too much because I feel like it would just be a little bit too…cringey? I don’t know what the word is…non-authentic?” He goes on to talk about how he can turn it on and off and how it is perhaps needed for some songs as they “would sound weird in a very vague scouse accent”.
“I feel like everyone does it in the country scene in the UK…it’s because of your influences and what you listen to and when you listen to American people every day, you’re going to get a little bit of a hint of an American thing when you sing.”
As is always the case in any conversation with a UK artist, we get on to the topic of UK vs US country. “We can have our own type of country,” O’Neill says, “it doesn’t have to be like sitting on a porch drinking beer…it can just be our own type of country.”
O’Neill’s latest song, 'Leave This Town’, combines country music’s storytelling nature and southern drawl to create a sound synonymous with newer bands like Muscadine Bloodline or the old classics like Keith Whitley.
“It’s not ‘full on in-your-face finger picking country,” he says about his track, “it has hints of it within the melodies and the instruments,” and of course, O’Neill’s distinctive take on country vocals.
Taking inspiration from artists like Zach Top, Ernest and Kameron Marlowe, O’Neill is continuing to write and release music this year. His next single, teased over on his Instagram, looks like it follows the same sound.
Praised by American country artist, Dan Smalley, as ‘one of the best voices from across the pond’, Jake O’Neill is certainly someone to keep your eye on this year. He may be ‘just a guy from Ormskirk’ but his music, warmth and endearing personality will certainly see him succeed far beyond the realms of the Lancashire Plains.
Follow Jake O'Neill through his website here to keep up to date with his music and shows.
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