Janet Devlin

[Just Somebody]

Janet Devlin is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter who rose to regional fame in the UK after appearing as a contestant on X-Factor UK in 2011, at the age of 16. She's now 25. I've casually followed her since she first appeared on the show, but because of her feathery, Northern Irish accented, style of singing, I've never expected her to capture a wide audience. 

I'm posting this because I very often think about her when the subject of fan relations comes up in the main Jackie forum. I loosely keep up with a dozen or so artists across nearly as many genres, and only a few of them are as good at the care and feeding of fans as Janet. YouTube is a big part of her strategy of keeping fans interested and aware, and although her numbers aren't in the big leagues (around a half-million followers), they're respectable, and she seems to have a steady fanbase. 

This is an article posted yesterday in Music Radar, a UK magazine for musicians. In it she gives eleven tips for aspiring musicians on YouTube-ing:

11 YouTube Tips for Musicians from Singer-songwriter Janet Devlin

[Just Somebody]

Janet is releasing a new album, Confessional, this spring (pushed back to June due to COVID-19). The album is a concept record based on her desire to come clean about the demons in her life, including alcoholism. She also wrote a book called My Confessional (Omnibus Press, 2020) which is described on the her web store as follows:

In ‘My Confessional’ Janet reveals a life less ordinary, as unpredictable as it is true, as timely as it is vital. Chronicling her decade-long battle with demons in prose as enchanting as her lyrics, 'My Confessional' is a collection of 12 chapters that dive into the subjects that made her the strong and independent artist she is today.

The book is intrinsically linked to her second album Confessional, as Janet openly discloses the experiences which have inspired her latest songwriting, with her trademark frankness and honesty.

An excerpt of the book from the publisher's website:

"Believe it or not, you’re holding my life in your hands. Not the picture-perfect version we’ve all become accustomed to, thanks to social media. This is my life as I’ve lived it – no filters.

Each chapter in this book unlocks the truth behind a song from my album Confessional. They span ten years of intense self-discovery married with a lot of self-sabotage. My broken brain has taken me to dark places both in my own head and in the real world. But, with destruction comes creation. I genuinely hope that My Confessional does not personally resonate with you and that you’ve not been to the same Hell that I’ve come to call Home, but if you have let my life be proof that it all works out in the end. I see now that the world is truly what we make of it and that everything happens for a reason. Or, at least, that’s what I tell myself.

Here lyeth my confessional of the sins I want so much to be free from – and to finally forgive myself for.”

Today she posted the first of a series of YouTube videos called "I Confess" in which she will read an excerpt from each chapter.

I Confess - Confessional (Chapter 1):

[Hoosier Daddy]

May 2, 2020 0:48:02 GMT -5 Just Somebody said:

Janet is releasing a new album, Confessional, this spring (pushed back to June due to COVID-19). The album is a concept record based on her desire to come clean about the demons in her life, including alcoholism. She also wrote a book called My Confessional (Omnibus Press, 2020) which is described on the her web store as follows:

In ‘My Confessional’ Janet reveals a life less ordinary, as unpredictable as it is true, as timely as it is vital. Chronicling her decade-long battle with demons in prose as enchanting as her lyrics, 'My Confessional' is a collection of 12 chapters that dive into the subjects that made her the strong and independent artist she is today.

The book is intrinsically linked to her second album Confessional, as Janet openly discloses the experiences which have inspired her latest songwriting, with her trademark frankness and honesty.

An excerpt of the book from the publisher's website:

"Believe it or not, you’re holding my life in your hands. Not the picture-perfect version we’ve all become accustomed to, thanks to social media. This is my life as I’ve lived it – no filters.

Each chapter in this book unlocks the truth behind a song from my album Confessional. They span ten years of intense self-discovery married with a lot of self-sabotage. My broken brain has taken me to dark places both in my own head and in the real world. But, with destruction comes creation. I genuinely hope that My Confessional does not personally resonate with you and that you’ve not been to the same Hell that I’ve come to call Home, but if you have let my life be proof that it all works out in the end. I see now that the world is truly what we make of it and that everything happens for a reason. Or, at least, that’s what I tell myself.

Here lyeth my confessional of the sins I want so much to be free from – and to finally forgive myself for.”

Today she posted the first of a series of YouTube videos called "I Confess" in which she will read an excerpt from each chapter.

I Confess - Confessional (Chapter 1):
--- (video)---  see above

Tatted up. Yuck!   1980s hair. Totally awesome! .  Very talented though and I like her cover of "Behind Blue Eyes".

This might be a good cover idea for Jackie. She could show a darker side and relate it to her numerous hardship stories that she developed over the past few years.

[Just Somebody]

Janet mostly writes and records her original songs, but she has done a buttload of fantastic covers. She always puts her own unique spin on them. This one is a vastly different (and better) version of "All Star" (written by Greg Camp, Jackie's current collab):

All Star - Smash Mouth (Janet Devlin Cover)

[Janet Devlin Email]

Janet Devlin has never stopped directly communicating with her fans. Her latest newsletter updates fans on progress and next steps toward releasing her new album:

Happy New Year!

Hello friends and happy new year! 🎉 Sending you all my love as we venture into 2024 (can’t wait to write that down wrong for the next couple of weeks) I hope you managed to get some you time over the festive period and you’re feeling rejuvenated.

Me? I’ve been offline for the last two weeks - enjoying some time in the Outernet before I dive head first back into a year where my phone won’t be out of my hand due to releasing music!


This year I went home to my family in the motherland and ate, slept and galloped my way through the holidays.

I spent time with my nieces and nephew, and got to catch up with the most important man in my life - Bean!


As always I’m excited and giddy to get back into “work”. I’m no psychic but I know it’s going to be one heck of a year! I’m jumping straight into finishing the album vocals and sprinkling the last bits of production dust! Then that baby is DONE!!

But… the work truly begins when all that’s completed; release plans, gathering a team, strategies, planning content - THEN actually making it happen 🤪 Trust me though - I cannot wait! I’m so excited for you to hear it - more than anything I’ve ever worked on. I want every mother trucker to hear this album because it’s great (if I do say do myself). I also really want to play these songs for you and hopefully hear you sing (or type!) them back to me! 😉


It’s going to be intense but one thing’s for sure - it’s going to be fun! I’m ready for you, 2024 - and hopefully you guys will join me on another crazy year!


Much love, J x