Clayton Mullen Talks His New EP, “Varsity Blues”
Photo by Jordan Dziekan.
On a warm Tennessee night, Clayton Mullen is the kind of guy you’ll find strumming a guitar in the back of his F-150, laughing with friends, and singing about the kind of memories that only get sweeter with time.
There’s an easy, unpolished charm to him – equal parts recent college graduate and country star in the making. At twenty-four, Mullen writes with the heart of someone who has already learned how fast time moves. His songs are filled with snapshots of young love and moments lost to time.
Mullen’s newest project, Varsity Blues, out today, is a five-track time capsule that follows on the heels of his sophomore album, Start at the End. With its mix of nostalgic storytelling and breezy, radio-ready melodies, the EP fits right alongside the new wave of country artists like Dylan Marlowe and Conner Smith, artists who blend a love for the simple things in life with a modern edge, creating songs that feel both personal and universal. Mullen’s voice, like theirs, doesn’t shy away from emotion. Rather, it digs into the heart of a memory, balancing the ache of looking back with the thrill of what lies ahead.
“It’s kinda been something that’s been blowing up in me for a while,” Mullen shares of the inspiration behind Varsity Blues. “I like writing from a place of nostalgia and looking back. I also like songs that take you on a trip down memory lane, so a lot of that influenced the EP,” he says.
“As we go through life and the lessons we learn along the way, you start to realize it all comes back to those early moments – first loves and heartbreaks, Friday nights under the lights, small-town living where everything just seemed simpler,” he reflects. “Varsity Blues felt like a cool way to capture that chapter of life.”
The Varsity Blues EP cover. Photo via Clayton Mullen.
Mullen reveals that the title track, which was co-written by Ryan Hurd, was the last song to be added to the EP, but that it ultimately became the project’s emotional core. Built around the aching line, “We won the game, but I lost you,” the track reflects on the bittersweet intersections of youth – moments where victory feels hollow because one you love is no longer in your life.
The project’s “Love On The Radio” (about falling in love on country back roads against the backdrop of love songs playing on the radio) and “Nowhere, Tennessee” (inspired by Mullen’s girlfriend’s recent move from California to Tennessee) are bright, feel-good moments that contrast with additional heartbreak anthems “First Time Feeling Last” and “Blue.”
Mullen’s perspective as a songwriter comes, in part, from how quickly his life has shifted post-college. Just a few years ago, he was double majoring in marketing and entrepreneurship at Texas Christian University, unsure of what his future would look like.
“Songwriting really came to me while I was at TCU,” Mullen shares. “I always played the guitar growing up, but it wasn’t until I was around the music scene in Texas that I really fell in love with the songwriting of it.” Soon enough, Mullen found himself putting pen to paper in his beer can-littered frat house. Upon graduating from TCU, Mullen moved to Nashville to actively pursue a career in music.
Photo by Jordan Dziekan.
Now, Mullen writes as if each song is a Polaroid – real and a little sun-faded, but vivid with feeling. “A lot of my writing is based around the times I had at TCU and all those memories. I got into writing so late in life, but I kinda stumbled into this fast-paced country music lifestyle, so it’s been cool to pivot from TCU into this role as a musician after college.”
Today, Mullen is continuously working on new music. “We’re already working on the next project, and even sometimes a project after that,” he shares. “We definitely have a big fall and winter in the works and maybe an extension off some of the songs on Varsity Blues for a bigger project.”
In the two years since Mullen moved to Nashville, he’s opened for acts including Warren Zeiders, Corey Kent, and, most recently, Sam Hunt.
Mullen’s momentum shows no signs of slowing. Later this summer, he will join Billy Currington, Randall King, and Aaron Watson on tour.
As Mullen gears up for more tour dates and new music on the horizon, one thing is clear: he’s capturing the fleeting moments we all wish we could hold onto and is turning them into songs that will last.
