Photo and story by Janette Turner

When singer Michael Buble comes on the restaurant speaker and your dinner guest starts singing better than the recording, you know you are in the presence of talent.

This week I had dinner with Damian McGinty, who sang along with Buble’s ‘Feeling Good,’ playing on Giardi’s restaurant speakers. Over a dish of Rigatoni Bolognese, McGinty couldn’t help but harmonize and talk about his good fortune, including his upcoming EP release, which drops December 12 on iTunes.

“It’s hit number nine on iTunes even though it’s just pre-order,” said McGinty. “The EP is ahead of Justin Bieber and Ke$ha.” And McGinty’s Seattle-area show on Thursday night sold out in less than 24 hours. That would be enough success for most performers, but he is also appearing in the Christmas episode of Glee, airing Dec. 13, with his co-star Kevin McHale in a twist of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’

If you’re not yet one of the half-million ‘Empire of Damian’ Twitter followers, then you may not know McGinty resembles his Glee character, Rory Flanagan, with a fanaticism for Manchester United soccer that gets him up at 4 a.m. on weekends. “I grew up in Derry (Ireland) and love it,” said McGinty. Next year his hometown will be the U.K. City of Culture and McGinty plans to be in Derry a little more. When asked if he was the Justin Bieber of Ireland, he said, “When I go home, it’s insane.”

During his visit to Edmonds and the Seattle area, McGinty felt at home in the rain, but still missed his mum’s cooking. “I miss her potatoes, which are heavenly, and her lamb stew.” He currently lives in L.A., where he and his roommate Cameron Mitchell eat noodles, soup and dine out. Together they have a home recording studio, where Mitchell produced McGinty’s EP. The duo distributed it on TuneCore and the best part about going full-indie according to McGinty was “no one can tell me what to do.”

“I like challenge,” said McGinty. “I like risks. My risks paid off. If you play safe, you are never going to be as big as you could be.”  He says he is “nowhere near where I want to be.” He plans to be a “recording solo artist, tour the world, sell millions, and have my own sound.”

According to McGinty, it is “easy to create a good album, but you have to be current.” This EP features songs originally recorded by Coldplay, U2, Ronan Keating and Snow Patrol, with a bonus track of “That’s What Friends Are For,” which was done when McGinty was a “younger me.” Those younger years started with his first music win at age six, and by fourteen he was a member of the hit-group Celtic Thunder. “I won a local talent competition,” he said, which led to joining the group and a try-out in The Glee Project, which he also won. That contest led to a contract for seven episodes of Glee, which was extended.

But McGinty is not satisfied. “I’m a fairly ambitious person,” he said and pulled out lyrics he recently posted on Twitter:

Innocence was easy

Optimism free

You never know how lucky you are

Now I see

Looks like McGinty has a new career ahead as a song writer and Empire Damian couldn’t be more gleeful. But Michael Buble better watch out.