January 2019

C2C 2019 have announced that Abby Anderson, Runaway June, Michael Ray and RaeLynn will be taking to the stage at indigo at The O2 Arena in London for the Official Aftershow Parties. Anderson was named in CMT’s Next Women of Country Class of 2018 while Runaway June have been nominated for an ACM Award in their time – both of whom will be performing on the Friday. Ray will be performing on the Saturday in London for C2C 2019, who has had a lot of success from his debut album release in the shape of two No. 1 singles. On the Sunday, RaeLynn – who has supported Miranda Lambert and Rascal Flatts in the past – will close the Sunday before she heads off on tour to support Maren Morris’ UK leg. Every London C2C 2019 Aftershow will also feature a DJ set from Nashville’s DJ Hish, who regularly gets behind the decks at country music festivals and in-between sets all over the world. Meanwhile in Scotland for the Glasgow Official Aftershows, Ray will be starting things on the Friday before Logan Mize – who has opened for Lady Antebellum in the past – will headline the Saturday, Ingrid Andress and Travis Denning will close the Sunday Aftershows. In addition, the BBC Radio 2 Stage lineup for London has been revealed, with Mize, Sam Palladio, Jimmie Allen, RaeLynn, Travis Denning and James Barker Band being announced. Finally, Ray and Adam Hambrick have been added to the Spotlight Stage in London. Ray has also been confirmed as a Spotlight Stage artist in Glasgow, along with The Wandering Hearts and Caroline Jones.

Dan Stuart The Islington, London 28 November 2018 Dan Stuart, voice of long-lost alt-country rockers Green On Red, returned to these shores with an elegantly jaded, world-weary angst as he championed his album ‘The Unfortunate Demise Of Marlowe Billings’. Touring with guitarist (and album sidekick) Tom Heyman, he’s here joined by Long Ryder Sid Griffin for a show that ends up being almost three hours of biting, rootsy Americana. Heyman kicks things of with his own set featuring a lot of elegant fingerpicking, much of it on 12-string. From San Francisco, yet someone who studied in Reading, he throws in pub rock references as he plays numbers such as Out West – a figure described by Stuart as “Kris Kristofferson morphed with Stephen Bruton”. Griffin has made London his home, so much so that he’s wearing a sleeveless pullover, a rarity in roots-rock. Wielding a mandolin (and sometimes his proud possession, a gleaming new Grafton banjo), it’s a finely-crafted set that takes in the likes of Everywhere (a song written with Greg Trooper and covered by Billy Bragg), the Long Ryders’ If I Were A Bramble and You Were A Rose (a duet with wife Rhiannon), all ending in a pumping, stage-striding singalong of The Day The Last Ramone Died, a bluegrass(ish) tribute the New York’s finest. At this point, Stuart and Heyman arrive on stage, a semi-acoustic power trio of guitars and mandolin. Stuart, charmingly unkempt, a man out of his time, wears a brown velvet jacket, another thing you don’t see so much of in country these days. The deadpan delivery and bitter humour belies a craftsman’s touch, years spent living in Mexico or the deserts of Arizona inspiring an ethereal out-on-the-edge sound tinged with echoing Mexican motifs. Much of the set is worked around songs from the new album – the hard rocking Joke’s On Me, the angst of The Day William Holden Died, the chant-like venom of Tucson, the love song turned on its head of Why I Ever Married You and the bleakly beautiful Upon A Father’s Death. In-between, Stuart jokes and jibes, taking on ex-wife, politics and the world in general, someone who was an angry young man, but realises he’s still angry…but not so young anymore. Exquisite runs from both Heyman and Griffin create a soundscape of the big skies of America as the drama plays out, a work of art from three blokes in a pub – albeit a posh one. Nick Dalton  

Ashley Monroe has revealed that she will be releasing a five-track EP featuring five acoustic versions of songs from her recently released fourth album ‘Sparrow’, which will be available on 15 February and can be pre-ordered now. The Grammy-nominated artist has shared one track from the upcoming release in the shape of Wild Love, which is available on all streaming platforms as of now. ‘Sparrow’ itself peaked at #1 on the iTunes singer-songwriter chart upon its release, with a number of critics declaring the album as one of the best to come out of 2018. The Pistol Annie member is currently on a tour of the UK and Europe and being on UK soil added extra significance to the timing of the ‘Sparrow Acoustic Sessions’ EP announcement, with so much being inspired by Monroe’s first trip to London. “It means a lot to be releasing the acoustic version of Wild Love while I’m in the UK, because the song was inspired by my very first trip to London,” Monroe said. “The confidence everyone had made me feel so alive. The fans here in the UK really listen and appreciate music so deeply and it brings me such an energy to be back playing shows here.” Ashley Monroe will be playing: January 27 – Saint Luke’s (Celtic Connections), Glasgow, Scotland January 29 – Bush Hall, London, England (sold out) January 30 – Bush Hall, London, England (sold out)

Kelsea Ballerini has released a deluxe version of her second album, ‘Unapologetically’ – which features four new songs – and also released Miss You More  as her latest single. The four new songs in question are Fun and Games, I Think I Fell In Love Today, a live cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide and her track with The Chainsmokers, This Feeling. Speaking about the collaboration with The Chainsmokers for This Feeling, Ballerini said that she is a huge fan of The Chainsmokers as people and as musicians and that they were her number one choice for a potential collaboration. “I’m such a fan of these guys as people, artists and songwriters,” Ballerina said. “I’ve covered a few of their songs on different tours and as far as collaborators, they’ve always been at the top of my list. I’m really excited for people to hear our worlds blend in This Feeling. The track listing for the deluxe version of ‘Unapologetically’ is: 1. Graveyard 2. Miss Me More 3. Get Over Yourself 4. Roses 5. Machine Heart 6. In Between 7. High School 8. End of the World 9. I Hate Love Songs 10. Unapologetically 11. Music 12. Legends 14. Fun and Games 14. I Think I Fell In Love Today 15. Landslide (Live from Nashville – Fleetwood Mac cover) 16 This Feeling (ft. The Chainsmokers)

Maren Morris has released a new single called Girl and has also revealed that she will be going on a world tour in 2019, which has been named after her most recent offering. The song is available on all streaming platforms. The song was written by the Grammy winning Morris, Sarah Aarons – who has worked with the 28-year-old in the past for Grey and Greg Kurstin, who produced Girl. The song is Morris’ first from her upcoming album, which is the follow up to 2016’s critically acclaimed record ‘Hero’. Girl made its world premiere on 17 January, which is almost three years to the day that Morris was introduced to country music airwaves with her debut single My Church. That single arrived on Country radio on 20 January 2016. In addition to the new single, Morris has also announced a world tour spanning 40+ cities and begins on 9 March. Her tour includes a UK and Ireland leg, which consists of seven dates – including one at Royal Albert Hall in London. RaeLynn will provide the support and tickets go on sale on 22 January at 10am. Morris will be playing: May 24 – The Academy, Dublin, Republic of Ireland May 25 – O2 Academy Leeds, Leeds, England May 26 – O2 Academy Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland May 27 – Albert Hall, Manchester, England May 29 – O2 Academy Bristol, Bristol, England May 30 – O2 Institute, Birmingham, England May 31 – Royal Albert Hall, London, England

Upcoming UK country music duo Holloway Road have announced that Get the Girl will be their second single from their recent EP ‘Broke’ and that a new radio edit will be be available to stream and download from 8 February. The song was co-written with Phil Barton (Catherine McGrath, Dustin Lynch and Lee Brice) and Brian White (Rascal Flatts, Jason Aldean and High Valley) and kicks off Holloway Road’s 2019 in a big way, with the band looking to continue their momentum from 2018. Last year, Holloway Road appeared at C2C, The Long Road, Bestival, Carfest and Nashville Meets London among other, while the duo were also announced as Lauren Alaina’s support act for her debut UK headline tour in July. Speaking about the single, Jack Cooper and Rob Gulston – the duo that make up Holloway Road – expressed their delight for the single release and how it made a lot of sense to get Get the Girl out as a single. “We are so excited to be dropping this tune. As soon as we sat down with Phil and Brian in Nashville to write, we knew we were onto something awesome! “It became a fan favourite at all the festivals last summer, and we love playing it live. It just made so much sense to release this one, and we’ve freshened it up with a radio edit for the new year.”

Grammy winning singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash is set to receive a special honour at the upcoming New Haven International Festival of Arts & Ideas, which takes place on 26 February at the Omni Hotel New Haven in Yale, America. The country and Americana artist – and daughter of Johnny Cash – is being awarded the Visionary Leadership Award for her “trailblazing work” across the music industry. The award was established nine years ago in 2010 in honour of Jean Handley, who co-founded Arts & Ideas along with two other women back in 1996. Previous honourees for the award include Women for Women International founder Zainab Salbi, Goodwill ambassador and singer Angelique Kidjo, poet Claudia Rankine and journalist Sheryl WuDunn. The majority of people awarded the Visionary Leadership Award have appeared at the festival in some way, shape or form, with Cash appearing in 2012 to perform The List as the closing act of the festival.

Nashville singer-songwriter Olivia Lane has released her new song Hey 3AM ahead of her first ever trip to the UK as an artist, which consists of three dates. Lane has been dubbed as a ‘Country Artist You Need To Know’ by Rolling Stone and has amassed almost 20 million streams for her music at this time of writing. Speaking about Hey 3AM, Lane described the song as one of her more personal numbers and that is also highlights a new dawn for her. “Hey 3AM is one of the most personal songs I’ve written. I’m a night owl and sometimes it can be hard to turn my brain off at night because my thoughts are so loud in my head. This is song is an ode to that frustration but making the decision to just go to bed because what I’ve learned is stressing never does any good. “It feels so natural to me to release new music at the top of 2019 because this new music reflects a new chapter in my life as a songwriter and as an artist.” On visiting the UK, Lane said: “I’m thrilled to be coming over to a place I’ve never played before! It’s always amazing to me how far my music can reach. I’ve also been told UK fans are pretty amazing so I’m looking forward to seeing and meeting them!” Lane will be playing: February 5 – The Castle Hotel, Manchester February 6 – The Slaughtered Lamb, London February 7 – Colonel Fawcett, London (The Round Up w/ Jake Morrell, Foreign Affairs & Two Ways Home)

‘Nashville’ star Sam Palladio will be performing at London Roundhouse on 28 January for the fourth ‘In The Round’ series. The ‘In The Round’ series has been running since 2016 and consists of a number of shows that are devoted to intimate performances that are set in what is ultimately an iconic London venue. Palladio was initially raised in Cornwall but it was in Nashville, Tennessee that the singer/songwriter/actor really burst through after being cast as Gunnar Scott in 2012 for the hit show. The chance to combine being a musician and an actor was too good to refuse and the artist – who falls into Americana, folk and country – is now performing as a musician in his own name, much like Clare Bowen, who played the role of Scarlett. Recently, Palladio – who has an album coming out in the near future – supported Biffy Clyro on their acoustic tour and the ‘In The Rounds’ gig is set to be a special one. Doors are open from 7pm and tickets – which are available here – range from £17.50-£25 for the Sam Palladio event.

Upcoming country music trio Remember Monday made a huge impression on the UK public as they progressed to the next round of The Voice. The Surrey-based country pop trio, who recently released Drive – the lead single from their upcoming, as of yet untitled EP – made quite the impact on the show and their performance of Kiss From A Rose by Seal caused all of the judges to turn around. You can see the performance below. [wpdevart_youtube]https://youtu.be/zuoF6p2wppM[/wpdevart_youtube] Remember Monday – made up of Holly-Anne Hull, Lauren Byrne and Charlotte Steele – are The UK Voice’s first ever trio and eventually opted to go with judge Jennifer Hudson. You can read a feature with the group in the January/February issue of Maverick, which will be available very soon.