Clayton Mullen is an up and coming country singer who is also juggling a college education. He has come out with ten singles within the past two years: “My Guitar,” “South of Forever,” “Burnt Orange,” “Love Goes,” “Makers Mark,” “Wishin’ on an Airplane,” “Like That,” “You + Me Country Song,” “Whiskey On It,” and “Sell This Truck.”

Mullen was born in California, but he attended grade school in Pennsylvania and high school in Massachusetts at Weston High School. He is now a senior at TCU and is earning his degree in Marketing and Entrepreneurship with a Certificate in Sales. After graduation, Mullen is moving to Nashville to write for a publishing company while also continuing his music career. 

He toured TCU when he was in high school, and the campus left a mark on him immediately. Mullen put in immense efforts to ensure his admittance into the university. 

“I definitely didn’t have the grades or the test scores to come here, but I am so happy they let me in,” Mullen said. 

Mullen, however, hasn’t always known that he wanted to be a singer. 

“I’d say when I was 20 or 21 and I started releasing music is when I realized I enjoyed it. But, it wasn’t until this year that I realized I wanted to make a living out of it,” Mullen said. “I’ve been singing in the shower and stuff my whole life, but my first time singing in front of people was probably my freshman year here at TCU when I sang and played the guitar after a couple beers in Sherley,” Mullen said. 

Two of Mullen’s biggest goals are making a living out of doing what he loves and playing the opening slot on an arena tour within the next one to two years.

 “It won’t feel like work if I love what I do every day,” Mullen said. 

Mullen has opened for some cool artists in the past, including Josh Abbott at Billy Bobs.

“Playing with Josh Abbott at Billy Bobs was pretty dang cool,” Mullen said. “That venue has hosted every name in country music so to be able to share a stage with all of those legends and history of country music was super cool. Josh was also such a kind and inspiring guy.” 

He also opened for Corey Kent over the summer.

 “A close second would have to be opening for Corey Kent at a taco restaurant last summer, and then his song ‘Wild as Her’ went number one a few months after. That is really cool to look back on because of the growth that Corey has had since,” Mullen said. 

Artists like Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs are some of Mullen’s favorites. But, his favorite small artists are Mike Ryan, Corey Kent, Kolby Cooper, and Conner Smith. 

Mullen feels as though all stages at a certain size are surreal to perform, but if he had to pick one place as the coolest it would be Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado. 

“It would be awesome to play Red Rocks. I’ve never been but every video I see from there looks so dang cool,” Mullen said. 

The song “Burnt Orange” has been particularly popular on TikTok for the story behind it. The song details the TCU vs. Texas football game in 2021 when Texas beat TCU at home. It talks about a Texas PiPhi who made the trip up to Fort Worth and who captured the mind of a guy. The song left many fans questioning whether it was a true story or not. 

“You know this story is actually made up. There is obviously some truth and reliability but it definitely is a story my co-writers and I made up in the room that day. Funny enough I’ve had a girl tell me she ‘knows the story is about her.’ Of course, I had to go along with it so I didn’t burst her bubble,” Mullen said. 

All nine of Clayton Mullen’s singles are streamable on Apple Music and Spotify, so be sure to give them a listen.