December 2019

The end of year Top 100 Radio Airplay stats for the Americana Music Association are now in, with Hayes Carll and The Lumineers being played most. Carll’s album ‘What It Is’ secured the Number One spot on the Americana Radio Airplay Albums Chart with the most plays for the year, while The Lumineers’ single Gloria was top of the Americana Radio Airplay Singles Chart. The data is taken from the period of December 18 2018 to December 17 2019 for the Americana Music Association, who are behind the hugely important festival that is AmericanaFest. The Top 10 Americana Radio Airplay Albums of 2019 were: 1. ‘What It Is’ – Hayes Carll 2. ‘Fever Breaks’ – Josh Ritter 3. ‘III’ – The Lumineers 4. ‘Turn Off the News (Build a Garden) – Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real 5. ‘Signs’ – Tedeschi Trucks Band 6. ‘Jade Bird’ – Jade Bird 7. ‘We Get By’ – Mavis Staples 8. ‘American Love Song’ – Ryan Bingham 9. ‘Walk Through Fire’ – Yola 10. ‘Closer Than Together’ – The Avett Brothers The Top 10 Americana Radio Airplay Singles of 2019 were: 1. Gloria – The Lumineers 2. Old Black Magic – Josh Ritter 3. Bad Case – Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real 4. Stay High – Brittany Howard 5. High Steppin’ – The Avett Brothers 6. Hard Case – Tedeschi Trucks Band 7. Change – Mavis Staples 8. Jingle and Go – Ryan Bingham 9. All Your’n – Tyler Childers 10. None’ya – Hayes Carll

Kenny Chesney has delighted his American fans by announcing a special amphitheatre tour for the summer of 2020, adding to his ‘Chillaxification Tour’. Tickets for these shows go on sale in January 2020. The nine-time CMA Award winning artist will be hitting the road at the start of May, taking with him Michael Franti & Spearhead on tour with him. Given that Chesney is predominantly a stadium touring artist in America, the shows in amphitheaters have already whipped up a lot of excitement across the Atlantic, with the chance to see Chesney in a smaller environment proving to be very popular. Speaking about the decision to play such venues, Chesney said that he wanted to feel the vibe of playing in those venues once more and genuinely believes that the shows themselves are very different. “As crazy and awesome as the stadium shows are – and there’s nothing like them – there is a vibe to the amphitheater shows that only happens in those places,” Chesney said. “You look out at the lawn, you see everybody coming together, singing the songs – and it’s this community that feels so close. “I think everyone likes when we change things up. The shows are different. We make sure we play all the same songs, but there’s a looseness in the amphitheaters – and with only two acts, there’s also a different kind of intensity. Bringing Michael Franti & Spearhead is going to keep the energy up in a big way and No Shoes Nation is going to really love them.” You can find a comprehensive list of all of the US Kenny Chesney dates here.

Iconic country music star Crystal Gayle has digitally reissued her classic Christmas record ‘A Crystal Christmas’ for the very first time. You can listen to the remastered album on all streaming platforms. Much like Gayle’s recent album ‘You Don’t Know Me’, her son Christos Gatzimos worked in a production capacity and was uncharge of remastering the album, which features a number of classic Christmas tunes. Speaking about the album, Gayle recalled the mood going into the studio the first time around as well as some of her Christmas memories as a child, while also expressing her excitement that the album is now available in a digital capacity. “I recorded ‘A Crystal Christmas’ with my producer Jim Ed Norman in the early summer of 1986 for Warner Bros. Records,” Gayle said. “To help us get in the spirit we decorated the studio with candy canes and ornaments. This album is filled with my favorite traditional Christmas songs that we all grew up loving and singing. I’m excited that ‘A Crystal Christmas’ is now available digitally for the first time.” “When I was a little girl I always looked forward to Christmas. Being the last of eight children, I loved it when all my brothers and sisters came home to visit. I saved my money all year long so I could buy presents for them. “One Christmas I went to Woolworths and bought all my sisters hair nets. The only problem was I bought gray hair nets. I didn’t know you were supposed to match their hair colour. I just picked the prettiest ones. I even had money left over for candy!”

Rising Canadian country rock artist Cory Marks has released his second single, Better Off, which also comes with a music video. You can see the video below. [wpdevart_youtube]yoNkYZYn0B0[/wpdevart_youtube] The single comes hot on the heels of the release of Outlaws & Outsiders, which was only released less than a month ago, with it being apparent that Marks is very much looking to generate some momentum in the country rock world. Speaking about the video itself, Marks said that he had a lot of fun recording everything and hailed his director Blake Judd for not only the finished product, but also for capturing the exact essence of what Marks wanted to convey. “I had a great time on set while making this video,” Marks said. “Blake did a great job showing love and loss while not being too obvious about but still capturing great moments in and out of the relationship.” It’s fair to say that Marks has made quite the impression in a very short space of time, with Outlaws & Outsiders – which features Ivan Moody, Travis Tritt and Mick Mars – debuting at Number One on the Billboard Top Rock, Hard Rock Digital Songs and Country Digital Song sales charts. In addition, the song peaked at Number One on the iTunes Country Songs Chart in Canada, while it reached Number Five in both the UK and Australia. Cory Marks is already pencilled in for a busy 2020, touring his home nation of Canada with fellow Canadian country artist Gord Bamford.

Ferris & Sylvester have brought the curtain down on a momentous year for themselves by releasing the music video for recent single I Dare You. You can see the video below. [wpdevart_youtube]WP1nIUVAmMs[/wpdevart_youtube] The pair – made up of Issy Ferris and Archie Sylvester – have had one hell of a year, performing at Glastonbury, SXSW(South by South West)  in Austin, Texas and Black Deer Festival among other high profile slots, while they also embarked on their own headline tour, selling out several well sized venues. I Dare You was released at the end of August and speaking about the video, the duo said in a statement that they wanted viewers to get a feel of what it felt like to play the song every night, while also offering a somewhat darker side to them that they wanted people to be aware of. “It felt right to create something bold and vibrant,” the duo said. “We shot the video whilst we were on tour and wanted to capture how it felt to play the song night after night. “The song is angry and aggressive and we were keen to throw all of that at it. It certainly shows a darker shade of us and we’re proud to have to out there.” Ferris & Sylvester have also been declared as ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris’ Emerging Artist for the 2020 UK Americana Awards, following in the footsteps of Robert Vincent, Wildwood Kin – who, coincidentally, Ferris & Sylvester supported on an Under the Apple tree Sessions Tour earlier this year –and Curse of Lono. There’s no let up for the pair either as at the start of 2020, they will be touring Europe with Jade Bird.

Carly Pearce has whipped up the anticipation for her self-titled second album by unveiling the tracklist in full for the 13 song record. Pearce’s second album is due for release on February 14 on Big Machine Records and it will feature her recent duet with Lee Brice in I Hope You’re Happy Now – which has Luke Combs down for a songwriting credit – as well as a duet with her husband Michael Ray titled Finish Your Sentences, with Kelsea Ballerini and Thomas Rhett helping write that song. The album was produced by the late busbee, who also contributed songwriting credits, while the self-titled affair will also feature Pearce’s lead single Closer to You, which opens the album. The tracklisting for the self-titled album by Carly Pearce is: 1. Closer to You (Hillary Lindsey, Gordie Sampson, Troy Verges) 2. Call Me (busbee, Emily Shackleton, Phillip Sweet, Jimi Westbrook) 3. I Hope You’re Happy Now ft Lee Brice (Carly Pearce, Luke Combs, Randy Montana, Jonathan Singleton) 4. Dashboard Jesus (Victoria Banks, Sara Haze, Shackleton) 5. Halfway Home (Pearce, Jimmy Robbins, Laura Veltz) 6. Heart’s Going Out Of Its Mind (Pearce, Joe Ginsberg, Veltz) 7. Finish Your Sentences ft. Michael Ray (Kelsea Ballerini, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley, Thomas Rhett) 8. It Won’t Always Be Like This (Pearce, Sam Ellis, Natalie Hemby) 9. Lightning in a Bottle (Hannah Ellis, Anna Vaus) 10. Love Has No Heart (Sara Haze, Shane McAnally, Trevor Rosen) 11. Woman Down (McAnally, Robbins, Veltz) 12. You Kissed Me First (Josh Near, Lindsey, Sampson) 13. Greener Grass (Lindsey, Jonny Price, Ben West)

Rising Canadian star Tenille Arts will release her much anticipated album ‘Love, Heartbreak & Everything In Between’ on January 10. You can pre-order the album here. The album follows in the footsteps of Arts’ 2017 release ‘Rebel Child’, which was also re-released last year as a deluxe edition, featuring four new songs. Arts has worked with five different producers on the record in Alex Kline, Grant Vogelfanger, Derek George, Adam Wheeler and Matt Rovey, with the album featuring I Hate This and her current single Somebody Like That. Speaking about the album, Arts said that the tracks within the record describe everything that she’s been through over the past 12 months, which include love songs, break-up songs and other songs that map out things that she’s experienced in her life. “I’m so excited about this album,” said Arts. “It’s everything I’ve been through this past year, so I decided to title it ‘Love, Heartbreak & Everything in Between.’ It’s four love songs, four breakup songs and four songs about everything else in life. I got to collaborate with new songwriters and producers and I’m so proud of the creativity on this album.” ‘Love, Heartbreak & Everything In Between’ by Tenille Arts will be 12 songs in length and is to be released on Reviver Records.

Lindsay Ell has made huge headway in America with her new track I Don’t Love You, with 54 radio stations putting the song in circulation. You can listen to the song here. As a result of the volume of radio stations endorsing the track, the single has become one of the most added tracks on Country Radio this year, which is a huge boost for the Canadian artist. Speaking of the song, Ell said that she realised the importance of the track – which she feels is something that everyone can relate to – to other people when she performed it on her recent tour in Germany and saw audience members visibly break down. “I feel that I Don’t Love You is a song that everyone can relate to,” said Ell.  “We all know what it feels like to fall in love with someone, fall out of love and then still miss them sometimes. The impact that I’ve felt with this single for the few short weeks it’s been out already has been crazy. “Even at our first few shows in Germany…here we are on the other side of the world, where English isn’t even most people’s first language and when I sang I Don’t Love You, there were two girls crying in the front row hearing it for the first time. I think it’s just a real song that hopefully can make everyone feel something.” During that tour, Ell spoke to Maverick about what she has planned for the near future, which you can read in full here.

Lee Brice will be touring in the UK in the summer of 2020, with four dates pencilled in for July – including one at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Tickets are available here from 10am on December 13. The Grammy nominated artist will be venturing into the major cities in the UK during his stay, with his tour starting in London and then finishing in Glasgow, with Birmingham and Manchester wedged in-between. At present, Brice is currently enjoying chart success with his duet with Carly Pearce, with I Hope You’re Happy Now making its way into the Top 30 of the charts, while he has also had five Number Ones in his career for A Woman Like You, Hard to Love, I Drive Your Truck, I Don’t Dance and Drinking Class. Brice’s last album – his self-titled fourth record – was released in 2017 and there is belief that new music will be available for fans to consume before he jets off to the UK. In his career, Brice has been nominated for two CMA Awards (New Artist of the Year and Song of The Year for I Don’t Dance), two Grammy Awards (Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song – both  for I Drive Your Truck) and four ACM Awards (Song of the Year and Single Record of the Year for Love Like Crazy, Top New Male Artist and Song of the Year for A Woman Like You). Lee Brice will be playing: July 7 – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, England July 9 – O2 Institute, Birmingham, England July 10 – O2 Ritz, Manchester, England July 11 – Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Scotland