Country music now has its own 24-hour channel.

Keep it Country, the brainchild of Phil Mack, is broadcasting around the clock on Sky 389 and Freesat 516. It is also winning major audiences not just in Ireland and the UK but much further afield. They look forward to launching on Freeview across the UK in May.

Philip McLaughlin, known to all these days as Phil Mack, is the son of Donegal emigrants. Born and raised in London, he acquired an early love for country music and Irish ballads. The songs of people like Bridie Gallagher and all the other country legends of the late 1960s and 1970s were to have a seminal influence on the young man growing up in England.

ADVERTISEMENT

The songs of Johnny McCauley resonated in the Irish psyche on both sides of the Irish Sea. McCauley captured the longing in the Irish heart and he blended it beautifully with the themes of love and homeland. Phil Mack took it all on board.

With the advent of the Sky channels and the opening of new ways to promote the music he held dear, Phil made his television debut back in 2010 when the first Phil Mack Show was recorded in Heneghan’s pub in Westport. His guests were Frank McCaffrey and Bernadette Ruddy.

“It all started in Westport and our second show was up in Tyrone with Philomena Begley. It was a gradual thing and we later branched out into the format where we mixed both Irish and American artists. The show acquired its own following and Lisa Stanley from Sligo came on board as a co-presenter.”

Some months ago, Phil decided to take the plunge and go all out for his own channel. Keep It Country was born and the channel launched in recent weeks.

“The early response has been phenomenal. It has surpassed all expectations. In our first week of broadcasting, we outdid our projections for where we thought we should be in 10 months. People in the television business were amazed and word got around.

“Many of the major UK agencies have already come on board and this has been a huge boost and endorsement for us,” says Phil.

The Keep It Country channel is hosting a major variety of shows ranging from Ireland’s Country to the American Bluegrass Ridge. Numerous other shows are there too, hosted by some well-known people with strong links to the scene over the years.

“We will be adding news shows as the weeks go by,” says Phil. “We have been getting great support from Ireland as well as the UK. Because we have so much time on a channel dedicated to country music, many new artists are getting a chance to be seen and heard for the very first time.

“We are negotiating with folks in America and will soon be showing some classic country from back the years, which always goes down well. We have the bluegrass shows and will soon have a new country gospel show from America called Southern Glory.

“Jeff Mosely is working closely with us in America and he is the producer of many fine shows such as Bluegrass Ridge, Reflections, Country Classics and many more. Lisa Stanley now has her own show on the channel and Lynn McDowell is co-hosting my own weekly show. Justyna Kuklinski is the co-host of the American Country Show that I have also been doing for some time.

“We are being inundated with messages of goodwill. So many people have come on board. Paddy Cowan from The Irish World newspaper in England is so supportive of our efforts. He’s a great Longford man.

“This is a very exciting time to be associated with the country scene. The viewing figures for what is Europe’s only dedicated country music channel are proof that the market was always there for such a venture. These are truly exciting times for all of us,” concluded Phil Mack.