2019

United Wire BLUE ROPE Self-released **** Quickfire songs that pack a punch  ‘Blue Rope’ marks the second studio album from United Wire, which was recorded in Edinburgh, Scotland and is a very unique and enlightening listen. Mixing up the softer side of things with an acoustic guitar to rip roaring tremolos on electric guitar, United Wire seem to have found a blend that works very well for them on their second outing. Real Winteris one of the picks when it comes to the slower ones, while Station A.M. could be seen as a rock track, but in the context of the album and the band’s sound, it comes across as a real highlight. Meanwhile, Tried My Hand seems to take heavy inspiration from the ‘Is This It’ era of The Strokes, making for a very compelling all round listen. Five of the 11 tracks on the album are under three minutes, so it can feel like a blitz listen of sorts, but it really suits it and leaves you appreciating the longer songs even more. All in all, this is a very strong release from a group that is clearly on the up. Rob Ramsey https://unitedwire.bandcamp.com/  

London-based country/Americana brother-and-sister duo The Luck, otherwise known as Max and Esmay Luck, are continuing an exciting year with storming, anthemic single Ready To Run. It’s their second release of 2019, and alongside a UK tour, the start of their front page slots on Twitch, and their performance as one of the showcasing artists at the AmericanaFest, 2019 has got off to a busy start for Max and Esmay. Formed in 2011, the pair have spent the last few years split between England and the States, but have now returned to London to release their debut album, which was recorded in LA in collaboration with three-time Grammy award winning engineer-mixer, Ed Cherney. The new single was born out of a break-up and its aftermath. “Ready to Run was written in Northern California a year after we wrote [previous single] If This Is Love”, explained Max when asked about the origins of the single, “We were staying at a friend’s house at the time, a home that reminded Esmay of all the happy times with her ex. It was here that Esmay realised that something needed to change; she had to lift herself up and try to move on – and so Ready to Run was born.” Head to their website for more information on their weekly Twitch slot and to check if The Luck are coming to a city near you. <span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”></span>

Hand Media International, publishers of bi-monthly country music magazine Maverick, are delighted to announce that they have acquired Country Music magazine from Anthem Publishing. Maverick, the leading international independent country music magazine, has a 17-year history and specialises in covering new and upcoming musicians, as well as more established stars. It has recently featured big names such as Taylor Swift, Keith Urban and Billy Ray Cyrus and has strong links with many festivals and music organisations, both in Nashville and across Europe. Country Music, launched two-and-a-half years ago by Bath-based Anthem, has a strong heritage in classic country music and the legends that made the genre famous as well as shining a light on the new stars. “We’re very pleased to have been given the opportunity to take on Country Music,” explained David Rossiter, Managing Director of HMI. “We’ve long been friends and admirers of the publication, so we’ll be incorporating as much of its DNA into Maverick as we can over the next few issues. We’ll be keeping its archive alive and trying to make as much of its content available as we can.” Anthem CEO Jon Bickley added, “Country Music magazine has been a wonderful publication for us over the past two and half years allowing us to deal with some brilliant individuals and cover outstanding characters. Although it hasn’t quite worked out for us as a business, we’re pleased that Hand Media International can take it forward and continue to serve our valued readers and advertisers.” For more information please contact Lauren Mitten on 01622 823920 or email lauren.mitten@hand-media.com or for our Managing Editor Chris Maillard, please email chris.maillard@hand-media.com.

The latest Glastonbury announcement has come in the shape of the Acoustic Stage line-up, which will have Catherine McGrath, Lucy Rose and Gabrielle Aplin performing on. In addition to those three, the likes of J.S. Ondara, Madeline Peyroux, Tom Speight and The Mavericks will be performing, with Keane, Hawkwind, Rickie Lee Jones and Nick Lowe’s Quality Rock & Roll Revue starring Los Straitjackets will be headlining the stage. Given how diverse Glastonbury is as a festival, fans of any genre can attend and find something that they like – and country music fans had been eagerly anticipating the release of the Acoustic Stage lineup, which has featured the likes of Kacey Musgraves and The Shires in the past. The Glastonbury Acoustic Stage Lineup is: Friday (headliners in bold) Ryan McMullan, Rob Green, Grace Petrie, Lucy Rose, Julie Felix, Michael Eavis (talk), Gabrielle Aplin, Eric Bibb, The Mavericks, Nick Lowe’s Quality Rock & Roll Revue (starring Los Straitjackets) Saturday Tommy Stewart, Catherine McGrath, Tom Speight, Rodney Branigan, Fun Loving’ Crime Writers (Mark Billingham, Chris Brookmyre, Doug Johnstone, Val McDermid, Staurt Neville & Luca Veste), John Illsley (The life & times of Dire Straits – “an afternoon of music and memories”), Marti Pellow, Keane, Hawkwind Sunday Marie Winter, Amy Montgomery, J.S. Ondara, Hackney Colliery Band, Dervish, Keb’ Mo, The Bootleg Beatles, Madeleine Peyroux, Albert Hammond, Rickie Lee Jones

On May 17, Liv Austen will be releasing a double A-side, which is her first batch of new music since ‘A Moment of Your Time’ was released in October 2018. Maverick caught up with the talented artist to find out more about the tracks. You’ve got Detour and Whole Heart coming out very soon – were they recorded at the same time as ‘A Moment of Your Time’ or as part of a separate project? They are recordings from the album, but they have been remixed and edited to be single edits. They were part of the process of making the album, so it’s all kind of come from that same time. So are these B sides that have been revisited then? Yes exactly! We had the two songs and they had something different about them and they fitted together. There’s a bit of a story connection between them as well, so we wanted to something special with them basically. We were kind of playing around with the mix and talking about how we could make them sound a bit different and how we could edit them down so we could send them to radio as well, then we had a conversation about it and said ‘well, if we want to release two songs, we have to do something a bit old school like a double A side’ – that’s where that idea came from! Was it your idea to get it out on vinyl? Me and my label came up with the idea together. We were talking about it and I’ve always wanted to do vinyl – my idea was to do the album on vinyl eventually, like a deluxe version with the tracks, but when we were talking about doing it like this, it just made sense. Obviously we’ll release them digitally as that’s where most people get their music, but it’s just something different and when I went on tour with Sarah Darling, she had one of her albums on vinyl and people really love it – people love vinyl so it’s just something that we all wanted to do. The songs themselves are incredibly personal to you – what are they about? Detour is the one that was born first and it’s a story that spans way back. I wrote it about a situation that happened to me years and years ago with my first love that broke my heart – so many songs are written that way! As for Whole Heart, I wrote that as I was falling in love again and I was just really, really scared that the same thing was going to happen again. Whole Heartreferences back to what happened in Detour, so it’s a bit like a sequel – you understand it better if you’ve heard the first one. It’s about me changing and growing. Looking ahead to the summer, you’re keeping busy and you’ve got a set at Long Road – how are you feeling about that? I’m really excited about The Long Road, I was so happy to get offered to play there. Last summer I was at Millport Country Music Festival, so I didn’t get a chance to go to Long Road as they overlapped, but I couldn’t believe how well it was organised – especially for its first year. It looks amazing and everyone’s spoken so, so warmly about it, so I’m very happy to be playing. I love that I get to my band as well and I’m playing on the Friday night, so I’m pretty sure it’s going to be one of the highlights of the summer.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd has given his fans a glimpse into his upcoming album ‘The Traveler’ – which is released on May 31 – with country inspired track Tailwind. You can listen to the track here. ‘The Traveler’ is the ninth studio album to be released by the  blues artist – who headlined the Country Stage at Ramblin’ Man Fair 2017 – and he has indicated it could see a shift from the guitar shredding that he’s famed for in favour of a softer approach. Speaking about the Tailwind itself, the 41-year-old opened up on how the song set the theme for the rest of the album and how he’s rather taken aback by all the animosity in the world at this moment in time. “The album title comes from the song Tailwind,” Kenny Wayne Shepherd explains. “We’re all travelling together through this thing called life. These are testing times for us as a society and it seems to me that it’s been a bit crazy in the world lately, with so much division. Without making any kind of political point, it’s like, ‘Let’s get through this together, appreciate one another and not always be trying to fight’.” ‘The Traveler’ is available to pre-order here, while Kenny Wayne Shepherd will be returning to UK shores in July for a handful of gigs. He will be playing: 17 July – Boiler Shop, Newcastle, England 18 July – Leadmill, Sheffield, England 19 July – City Hall, Salisbury, England  

Nashville Meets London festival has added Twinnie, Foreign Affairs and Noah Guthrie to their stellar line up, which will take place on July 27 in Canary Wharf, London. Twinnie has been dubbed a standout act by Rolling Stone magazine and is very much tipped for big things within the country music genre, while Foreign Affairs have made a big name for themselves as a country rock duo. Guthrie will be well known by fans of ‘Glee’, given that he played the role of Roderick Meeks, while he also reached the semi-finals of the 13th series of America’s Got Talent. The trio join the likes of Lauren Alania, Sarah Darling and Robert Vincent on the bill, with the one-day festival – which is free to attend  – being located at Canada Square Park in Canary Wharf.

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real have announced that their second studio album, ‘Turn Off The News (Build a Garden)’, is to be released on June 14. The record – which has been recorded at Shangri-La in Malibu and the Village Studios in West Los Angeles – will mark the follow up to the self-titled debut album that was released in August 2017. Speaking to Maverick back in October 2018, Nelson revealed that he never wants to stand still when it comes to creating music and that he had a fair amount of songs for ‘Turn Off The News (Build a Garden)’ ready and waiting to be mixed. “I’m always moving in a different direction. I’ve never really been an artist that stayed in one place, so it’s always some new interpretation, always something new to test my vocals, always something new for my guitar work and that reflects in my songs. There’s nothing stagnant about what we’re doing. “There’s new inspiration all the time and it changes as time goes by, so for the new record – we just finished the new record, we’ve got 13 or 14 songs done and we’re going to go in and mix them and will hopefully have something for a spring release – might sound completely different.” Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real will also be entertaining UK audiences this summer – on June 27, he will be performing at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London with The Wandering Hearts as support, while the next day (June 28), he will be appearing at Glastonbury Festival. Also, on July 14, Nelson will be performing at Hyde Park in support of Neil Young.

Millport Country Music Festival have announced that their secret headliner for the Saturday (August 31) will be none other than American artist Cam. It’s shaping up to be a rather busy summer for Cam on UK soil as she was recently announced for The Long Road Festival in early September, but in Scotland she will be taking to the stage as headliner. Cam was last in Scotland for C2C 2019 as a Main Stage artist and to date, she hasn’t properly toured north of the wall – only venturing into Scotland for C2C and now for Millport. The Diane singer joins the likes of American Young, Lockeland, Remember Monday, Morganway, Jade Helliwell, Laura Oakes and many, many more. There are still a number of names yet to be announced for Millport, with the festival organisers to drip feed the last remaining names to the public over the coming weeks. Millport Country Music Festival takes place between August 30-September 1. Tickets are available here. The Millport Country Music Festival lineup so far is: Cam American Young Lockeland Sydney Devine Remember Monday Sarah Jory Laura Oakes Danny McMahon Hotel Caledonia (Eagles tribute band) Izzie Walsh Morganway Gasoline & Matches Jade Helliwell Stevie O’Connor Kezia Gill Stuart Landon & Angels With Dirty Faces Backwoods Creek Kerry Fearon (from Keep It Country) Simon James & The Deep River Pilots The Scoundrels Elaine Lennon Zoee Have Mercy Las Vegas Carson City James & Wood Rick Lambert Greyhound Express Rodeo Stomp Disco

Birmingham based group The Adelaides will be one of a handful of UK acts that appear at CMA Fest 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee between June 6-9. The trio, consisting of Abi Phillips, Paris Georgia and Alicia Alba, will also be releasing a single titled Good Love in early June to coincide with the festival. Earlier this year, The Adelaides performed a staggering four sets at C2C 2019 and were also announced as support for Charles Esten’s UK tour, which includes a date at the fabled Royal Albert Hall in London. Speaking about the announcement in a band statement, the girls expressed their excitement to get to perform in America and believe it represents a huge chance for the group. “This is an incredible opportunity for us to play in the home of Country and at the world’s biggest Country event,” the girls stated. “We can’t wait to take to the CMA Fest stage. This is a huge endorsement of who we are as an act and we are so grateful.”