20 November 2019

One instrument that our Lifestyle Editor Eric Dahl has been wowed by is the Kunkel Banjo, as he explained for us as part of our Tools of the Trade segment If you’re tired of the standard heavy banjo that is the norm with production models, you might want to consider a light weight Kunkel Banjo. Handcrafted by master luthier Bruce Kunkel in his Nashville, TN shop, each banjo has a hand carved wooden tone ring instead of the typical metal. Kunkel developed the machines to make his banjos and he has a variety of models to choose from that offer a warmer, less metallic sound that is created from beautiful tone woods. Bruce achieved national recognition while creating art guitars for Gibson’s Custom shop and now he develops his own guitar design innovations and the Kunkel Banjo!   www.kunkelguitars.com

The nominees for the 2020 Grammy Awards have been announced and Ashley McBryde, Dan + Shay and Eric Church have been nominated for two gongs each Recent CMA New Artist of the Year Award winner McBryde has been nominated for both Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song with Girl Goin’ Nowhere, capping off a very special 2019 for McBryde. In the Best Country Song category, she will be up against Brandi Carlile (Bring My Flowers Now), Miranda Lambert (It All Comes Out in the Wash), Church (Some of It) and Dan + Shay (Speechless), while in the Best Country Solo Performance, she will be contending with Tyler Childers (All Your’n), Willie Nelson (Ride Me Back Home), Blake Shelton (God’s Country) and Tanya Tucker (Bring My Flowers Now). Church and Tucker are also up for Best Country Album for ‘Desperate Man’ and ‘While I’m Livin” respectively, where they go up against Reba McEntire (‘Stronger Than the Truth’), Pistol Annies (‘Interstate Gospel’) and Thomas Rhett (Center Point Road). Meanwhile, Dan + Shay are also in the Best Country Duo/Group Performance category with Speechless, where they face Brooks & Dunn (Brand New Man ft Luke Combs), Brothers Osborne (I Don’t Remember Me (Before You)), Little Big Town (The Daughters) and Maren Morris ft Brandi Carlile (Common).  Elsewhere, Lil Nas X has been nominated for Best New Artist, his album ‘7’ has been nominated for Album of the Year, Panini has been nominated for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Old Town Road (Remix) ft Billy Ray Cyrus has been nominated for Record of the Year, Best Music Video and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The awards take place on January 26 2020.  

Ahead of her recent one off London show at The Grace, Maverick spoke to Lindsay Ell – celebrating her first Number One – to find out what she has planned for the near future Congratulations on your Number One, you must’ve felt like it was a long time coming for you? It feels surreal, honestly. I’ve dreamt of having an Number One ever since I was a little girl and the fact that it just happened the week of the CMA Awards in Nashville, where I was nominated for my first CMA ever…it felt like everything happened at once and I’m really grateful. Just how rewarding is it for you to see all your hard work pay off in this way? It’s crazy – like, you want these things for so long and you just dream about them so they become like they’re almost fantasies. They don’t feel real. I’ve been playing since I was 10 and living in Nashville, I would see all my friends celebrate Number Ones and it just became this thing that I saw all my friends celebrate. I celebrated with them of course, but to finally have one of my own is just amazing. I’m so grateful. You certainly made the CMA Awards memorable by performing as part of the second medley, how did that come around? You know, I love Little Big Town as a band and hearing them sing acapella acoustically is one of my favourite things – they are so talented, so sweet as human beings, so generous and so beautiful inside and out. They wanted to do a really special moment at CMA Awards, which I felt was about celebrating women in country music anyway and they wanted to sing Girl Crush as not only a tribute to girls, but a tribute to the future of country music with the new female artists. The fact that they wanted me as part of that group and the fact that the CMA and Mr. Robert Deaton wanted me a part of that group…I just felt incredibly humbled. The cool part was I got to kick it off with my friend Kelsea Ballerini – my good buddy – and the fact that we got to share a special moment on a satellite stage, kicking off Girl Crush and then meeting the rest of the group on stage…ah. It was a cool experience, one of my faves. To hear Karen Fairchild stand up on that stage and say that this is the future of country music, it means a lot. It really means a lot. I was just so happy to be part of that performance. The last time we spoke, you told me you were working on a new album and that it was coming along really well – I trust that’s still the case? It still is! We’re going into the studio in January to finish recording it and we might have a couple of tracks after, but I’m so excited about this new music. I haven’t had any new music out for a minute and it feels like forever – it’s been a couple of years since ‘The Project’, so I am ready to get music out. Having What Happens in a Small Town with Brantley Gilbert this year was amazing, but I’m really excited about everything I’ve been writing. The last couple of years I’ve gone through a public break up, I’ve gone through all different facets of moving on from that break up, I turned 30 and I’ve embraced that in my life and I’m finally happy with where I’m at. I’ve kind of gone through the whole process of the ups and downs, come through the tunnel, done the work and come out the other side and I’m ready to take control of my life. I’ve been writing about every stepping stone that you go through and I Don’t Love Youis the brand new single that just came out, which is the first part of that process. Lots to write about then! One thing you also mentioned last time was that you were discussing a Christmas album – is that still on?  It is! I really wanted to do it this year, but because of the new song, we decided to just focus on the new single and have that be the thing. Next year, for sure though…my manager just walked in the room to hear this, but next year for sure, we’re going to do some Christmas songs. You’re off to Germany now and you’ve got European dates for C2C – could we see you at the UK version? We were just talking about that earlier actually – I’m really excited to play the Berlin and Amsterdam shows at C2C and then we are hoping to plan something in London around that. If not, we’ll do something very shortly afterwards!

For the November/December Tools of the Trade feature, Lifestyle Editor Eric Dahl singled out four things that took his fancy in his Accessory Roundup Phil the Tip Jar Many bands and musicians make their extra money thanks to a Tip Jar, but unfortunately these are usually low-tech buckets or pickle jars in Nashville. Thankfully, there is a new high-tech alternative named Phil the Tip Jar that is available now.  Once a patron puts their money into Phil the Tip Jar, they are provided a thank you card or – if you choose – the chance to win a t-shirt or something else from you. You can also control the lightshow inside of Phil to draw more attention to it! This is hands down the best tip jar tool I have ever seen – visit the website below to learn more and I believe you will see your tips increase thanks to Phil the Tip Jar. Plus, your audience will enjoy engaging with Phil and will hopefully fill him up with money for you and your band! www.tipfortipjar.com Dummiez This product is one of those why didn’t I think of that examples!  Dummiezare eye catching rubber 6.3mm (¼ inch) dummy plugs to designed to keep rust, moisture and dirt out of your music gear input jacks!  Available in diamond, alien or skull toppers designs Dummiez add some fun to your music gear while protecting it at the same time! They come in two, twelve or twenty-four packs depending on what your needs are.  Besides working great they are also a fun conversation piece! They are very flexible so if bumped on your amp, guitar or mixer they won’t break off. A dummy jack was once a cut off guitar cable now Dummiez has made them visually appealing and more effective! www.getdummiez.com Cordial Cables Maverick received two Cordial Cables for review, their CXI 6 RP-SKY-Silent instrument and the CPM 5 FM-Flex XLR mic.  Compared to standard duty cords these are both equipped with heavy duty Neutrik connectors.  The 6.3mm instrument cable has a tangle free fabric wrap and the right-angle jack features Neutrik’s “Silent Plug” sleeve so you can connect and discount instruments without the popping sound.  If you are like me a frequently changing instruments on a gig this is an incredible addition to a cable.  The microphone cable is of high quality also and features hand soldered connectors like the instrument cable.  The upgraded XLR lock on the male end of the cable has smooth operation when plugging in. Cordial Cableshas many other models besides the ones we reviewed. They exemplify quality craftsmanship. www.cordialcablesusa.com Kepma Guitars Kepma Guitarsare being seen on stage with Country and Americana artists in Nashville now.  What has gained Kepmathe most attention is their “AcoustiFex” system allowing you to produce room or hall reverb and chorus or delay with the guitar unplugged! For testing I spent time with the KepmaElite D-2 131A model which has a solid spruce top, African mahogany back & sides with rosewood fretboard.  This guitar comes with its own rechargeable battery that inserts next to the ¼ inch input near the strap button.  I was astonished by the sound effects you can achieve with the Kepma, but it also delivers when plugged in and in smooth playability.  I performed out with this guitar and everyone wanted to play it. Take a closer look at Kempa’s new guitars I believe you will be impressed as well! www.kepmausa.com