October 2019

It’s fair to say that Alex Milanian – otherwise known as L Protector – hasn’t had the easiest of lives, but the artist channelled those experiences and put them into his self-titled lo-fi album and spoke to Maverick about it At the heart of country music are songs that come from deep places, laying yourself bare and pouring out your emotions, feelings and experiences into tracks. It’s not only therapeutic for artists, but also allows for connection with the public who are going through similar things. For UK/Iranian singer-songwriter Alex Milanian, that was exactly what he was going for with his recent album under the moniker L Protector, which explores his darkest and most challenging moments. Ultimately, Milanian wants the album to be something to help the younger generation and that penning his experiences and life choices is something that he finds very easy and rewarding. “At the very core of it, I wanted it to be an anti-drug album – especially for young people and all the people that are thinking about that kind of road ahead,” Milanian says. “If I have one thing in my life that I will be proud of, it will be if a few people can get that message through it and they can avoid that kind of life. “It’s also about what it’s like to be a human being – to experience love, grief, joy, pain…all things like that. To me, the easiest thing is to write about what I’m experiencing and been through. I get something out of writing it down and kind of exercising it from my life.” The album itself has a very DIY feel to it and that is very much the case – as an independent artist, Milanian hardly has the funds to book out a studio in Nashville for three weeks to get everything right and instead had to do everything himself – meaning that every note and every word was composed by him. “I recorded this album in my front room with my friend, who built me a computer because I’m a real technophobe. I had one microphone and I recorded it all myself, wrote it all myself, played it all myself and arranged it all myself. “It was a real low profile thing in my front room and then I had another friend, who is a professional engineer, mix it for me. I love that type of music you know, I really love sparse, basic instruments from the heart.” Listening to the album and it is clear that Milanian is really opening out every part of his soul – it isn’t uncommon in country for people to be overly honest, but this takes it to the next level. Despite that, Milanian believes that while the content may be hard hitting for some, there is enough in there that everyone can relate to in some capacity. “There are some really heavy songs and very sad in there and I think that it’s a very powerful album. It might be too much for some people, but there’s a lot of redemption in there and a lot of joy and there are songs about love as well. “If anyone can get what I’m trying to get across about the album, it’s that it’s about the human experience. That kind of thing appeals to everyone as everyone experiences love, heartache and grief.” For those who like their music to be strong, heavy and completely honest, than you need to give L Protector’s album a spin.

Brothers Osborne have revealed that they will be returning to the UK in 2020 for what will be their biggest headline tour to date this side of the Atlantic. You can get tickets from 9am on October 11 here. Between December 2018 and June 2019, the duo performed a sold out show at O2 Kentish Town Forum in London and played Download Festival 2019, making them the first band to play both C2C and Download, but are clearly keen to become more of a household name in the UK. The special guests for the tour will be announced in due course. The news comes ahead of the next Brothers Osborne record to be released, which will be a live album in the shape of ‘Live at the Ryman’. This is scheduled for release on October 11, though an exclusive to the UK CD release will be on October 25. Brothers Osborne will be playing: May 10 – O2 Institute, Birmingham, England May 11 – Junction, Cambridge, England May 12 – Roundhouse, London, England May 14 – Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland May 15 – Albert Hall, Manchester, England May 16 – Stylus, Leeds, England

Upcoming UK artist Louise Parker has recently released her fifth single of 2019 in the shape of Story of Love, which is dedicated to her partner. You can listen to the track here. It’s been a very busy year for Parker, who is currently in Austin, Texas recording and writing new music, while this single is also the first to be released under her new management. Speaking about the song itself, Parker explained that she hasn’t always been lucky when it comes to finding love, but believes she has that now – even if she struggles to convey that on a daily basis, hence the inspiration for the track. “Story of Love is the love child of my Disney princess dreams and real-life happiness,” she said. “I’ve always fallen in love really easily, I wear my heart on my sleeve and more often than not, that has got me into a lot of trouble. “However, the further into my 20s I get and with the right partner, the more comfortable I am with myself. Even though I write songs, I can be a terrible communicator, so I wrote this for my partner to verbalise all the good and happiness they have bought into my life.” In terms of UK based gigs, Parker will be returning to her homeland near the end of 2019 to gear up for a run of performances in 2020.

Fresh after headlining C2C 2019, Keith Urban will be returning to the UK in 2020 for a seven-date run as part of his European tour. Tickets are available from October 10 at 9am here. Prior to C2C – and the one-off special show at O2 Kentish Town Forum in London a few days prior – Urban hadn’t performed in the UK for almost 12 years, but now seems to be making up for lost time with his second UK appearance in two years. There were only four dates announced initially, but due to intense demand for tickets, Urban has now added a number of other dates to his UK leg. In addition to the UK, Urban’s European tour will also see him perform in the Netherlands (Amsterdam), Germany (Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin), Denmark (Copenhagen), Sweden (Stockholm) and Norway (Oslo). Keith Urban’s UK dates are: May 5 – Eventim Apollo, London, England May 6 – Eventim Apollo, London, England May 8 – O2 Apollo, Manchester, England May 9 – O2 Apollo, Manchester, England May 12 – O2 Academy Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland May 13 – O2 Academy Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland May 14 – O2 Academy Birmingham, Birmingham, England

At Millport Country Music Festival 2019, Maverick spoke to Kerry Fearon, who performed two sets over the course of the weekend.  How have you found Millport? I couldn’t see much of it on the first day because the rain was so bad yesterday, but the second day it looked a lot prettier! It’s really cute. You keep yourself very busy in the music world, how is the radio work going? Good! I just recently finished a show with Downtown Country – they are in Northern Ireland and in the same building as Downtown Radio and Cool FM. I was with them for four years, but now I’m doing my own show now on community radio, which has given me more scope to do whatever I want. At the minute, I’m pushing more into more rootsy stuff, Americana and even folk Bluegrass. These are all aspects of country music that I love and it means I can have guests in too, so I’m really happy to do that. Going back to your music, a new single came out in June – how’ve you found the reception to that? Yeah, I think it was June. It’s my version of the Bob Dylan track To Ramona and it’s been doing well, it’s been getting a good lot of airplay. It’s still getting airplay too, so I’m delighted with it. In terms of new music have you got anything on the horizon? Last year, I released my debut album and to me, it was very radio safe and very traditional country. I love traditional country and I love the honky tonk sound as well, but it was very radio safe, so To Ramonawas the first step of my next project. I have some more songs recorded and I will be releasing maybe a single again in maybe October/November time – I’m still going with country, but I’m leaning more towards rootsy Americana stuff, so I will see how it goes. Is there anything you’re working on at the minute that you’re finding very exciting? I have a few duets lined up and it’s exciting to be able to work with other artists, but apart from that, a cousin of mine called Dave Murphy is a songwriter from New Jersey and he has got six albums out already. I decided in March to send his music out and he got some airplay in Glasgow, so I’ve put together a two-week tour for him and another songwriter called Paul Sacks. I’m really excited about that.

Dan + Shay have released new music in the shape of 10,000 Hours and have the vocal talents of pop icon Justin Bieber featuring on the track. You can listen to the song here. Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney co-wrote the song with Bieber, alongside Jessie Jo Dillon, Jordan Reynolds and Jason Boyd, with Smyers also producing the track. It’s been a very busy and productive year for Dan + Shay, with the duo headlining O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London in January, performing at CMA Fest at the Nissan Stadium for the first time in June and being nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year, Best Album and Best Single (Speechless) at the upcoming 2019 CMA Awards. There’s still a lot of mileage left in 2019 for the duo as well, with the pair set to open for Shawn Mendes in Australia later this autumn.

Tenille Townes has released a video for her latest single Jersey on the Wall, which will appear on her upcoming debut album. You can watch the video below. [wpdevart_youtube]79TC7281xnU[/wpdevart_youtube] The song – and video – was inspired by Townes’ experiences meeting people in Grand Manan, who had just experienced tragic loss as five students at a high school were involved in an accident and lost their lives. Townes stayed in close contact with that community and was even there for the high school graduation, watching as one of the students – Danielle – had her jersey hanging on the gym wall. Speaking about the video, Townes opened up about the meaning of the song and how important it was to her for it to be shot in a way that could allow viewers to channel their own emotions and remember people that are important to them. “Leaving space in this video for people to insert their own emotions and think of people in their own stories was so important to me,” Townes said. “There’s an anchor of light coming in through the gym window, across the lockers and in the hallways that represents the ever-present hope that is still there, even in the darkest of losses. “We were able to use the actual jerseys of Danielle and Drayton, who were both the inspiration behind this song. It was so emotional seeing both of their #9s hanging there during the video shoot and it means so much to have their jerseys be such a big part.” Jersey on the Wall is the fourth single that Tenille Townes has released from her upcoming album, following in the footsteps of White Horse, I Kept the Roses and Somebody’s Daughter. As of yet, there is no definitive album release date, though it is expected to arrive in 2020. Townes will also be in the UK in October, with a few dates pencilled in around Country Music Week. Tenille Townes will be playing: October 21 – Thekla, Bristol, England* October 22 – O2 Academy Oxford, Oxford, England* October 23 – Colours Hoxton, London, England October 26 – Bush Hall, London, England^ October 27 – Arts Club Loft, Liverpool, England* October 28 – Stereo, Glasgow, Scotland* *supporting Striking Matches ^part of Country Hits Radio Hub