Strangely mute, a gala in the country (9)
I believe the answer is:
guatemala
'country' is the definition.
(Guatemala is an example)
'strangely mute a gala' is the wordplay.
'strangely' is an anagram indicator.
'mute'+'a'+'gala'='muteagala'
'muteagala' is an anagram of 'GUATEMALA'.
'in the' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for guatemala that I've seen before include "Central American state" , "country south of the USA" , "Republic in Central America" , "Central American country" , "Latin American place" .)