February 2019

Singer-songwriter Hattie Briggs will support Alfie Boe on his 2019 UK Spring tour. It was a chance encounter for the two musicians after the platinum-selling singer spotted the 25-year-old multi-instrumentalist busking at Paddington Station in October. Hattie, who performs regularly at London Network Rail stations, had been a big fan of Alfie Boe ever since seeing him in Les Misérables a few years ago, so was understandably thrilled when he placed money into her guitar case. She was even more surprised when he messaged her on Instagram complimenting her voice and then invited her to join him on tour. Hattie will act as support artist on the 22-date UK tour, which starts on March 17 in Cardiff and finishes at The Royal Albert Hall on April 17. She will perform a selection of songs from her 2018 deluxe ‘Young Runaway’ album. In a recent BBC Radio London interview with presenter Jo Good, Boe said, “I found her busking at Paddington Station and she’s incredible – she’s very, very cool.” Megan Gnad

Elles Bailey has further teased her upcoming second album ‘Road I Call Home’ with the release of a double A side, which consists of the tracks Wild Wild West and What’s The Matter With You. The video for What’s The Matter With You can be seen here. In addition to the double A side, Bailey has also revealed that she will be performing at Ramblin’ Man 2019 in Maidstone, where she will be appearing on the Blues Stage. Bailey shot to prominence with her debut album ‘Wildfire’, which fused together country, Americana and blues in an expert manner, which has led to a lot of anticipation about ‘Road I Call Home’. The Bristol based artist is also heading on a tour of the UK and Ireland in the coming months, which will see Bailey perform 22 times. Elles Bailey will be playing: March 3 – King Tuts, Glasgow, Scotland March  5 – Eyemouth Hippodrome, Eyemouth, Scotland March 7 – Wheelan’s, Dublin, Republic of Ireland March 8 – Enlar Delta Blues Club, Belfast, Northern Ireland March 9 – JJ Harlows, Roscommon, Republic of Ireland March 12 – The Lexington, London, England March 13 – O2 Academy 3, Birmingham, England March 15 – Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek, England March 21 – Bar Brunel, Bridgwater, England March 22 – Jazz and Blues Festival, Bristol, England March 24 – 1865, Southampton, England March 29 – The Rec Rooms, Horsham, England March 30 – Chapel Arts Centre, Bath, England March 31 –Madding Crowd, Bournemouth, England May 10 – Old Clee Social Club, Grimsby, England May 11 – Lincoln Drill Hall, Lincoln, England May 23 – Ropetackle Arts Centre (special guest w/Jo Harman), Shoreham By Sea, England May 30 – Arts for Hungerford, Hungerford, England June 1 – Sodfest, Belfast, Northern Ireland June 14 – Boogaloo Blues In Torquay, Torquay, England June 15 – Blues On The Farm, Canterbury, England July 21 – Ramblin’ Man Fair (Blues Stage), Maidstone, England

Brad Paisley has announced that he will be returning to the UK in October, with a headline appearance at The O2 Arena in London pencilled in for the 12th. The gig at London’s biggest indoor venue marks the first time the multi-award winning artist – who has won three Grammy Awards and 14 CMA Awards in his career – has come back to UK shores since he headlined C2C back in 2017. There is a very strong chance that we could see new material from the 46-year-old at the gig, who released his latest single Bucked Off just before the 2018 CMA Awards, which has led to speculation that an album could be in the offering for 2019. Chris Lane will be supporting Paisley at the O2, whose stock only continues to grow following the outstanding success of his second album, ‘Laps Around the Sun’. Tickets for the Brad Paisley gig will go on sale on 8 Feb at 9am UK time and will be available here.