27 February 2020

Country in the Afternoon will be returning to the Half Moon in Putney for a third time between May 16-17, with Blake O’Connor and John Gurney headlining. Tickets are on sale for the Saturday here and the Sunday here. The first Country in the Afternoon premiered in 2019 and was a huge hit, to the point that the two-day daytime event has been allowed to continue and to provide fantastic entertainment in the process. This time around, there are four international artists and four UK artists, but all four of the continental acts will be making their London debuts at the event. The four acts in question are O’Connor, who won the Toyota Star Maker award in Australia last year, multi-million selling artist Jeremy McComb, Ruthie Collins and Gurney. O’Connor and McComb will perform on the Saturday, while Collins and Gurney will be performing on the Sunday. As for the UK acts, three-time Grammy winner Sandy McLelland will be performing, as will upcoming dup Gasoline & Matches, Scottish singer/songwriter Chris Mossop and 17-year-old prodigy Megan Louise, who impressed many with her performances at Millport Country Music Festival 2019. Tickets are priced at £17.50 per day and the event takes place between 12:30 and 5pm.  

The Rising have released a studio version of their cover of Love Machine by Girls Aloud, which represents the first phase of a new strategy from the trio. You can listen to the song here. Made up of Chantelle McAteer and Chris Logan, the band are now operating predominantly as a duo and their new strategy is to release a new single a month for the foreseeable future. The song came about after they were asked to come up with an unexpected cover for a BBC Introducing session, which subsequently received a very positive response, to the point that they have opted to release it as a single. The re-imagined version of the 2004 Girls Aloud song, which peaked at Number Two on the UK charts upon its release, features cowbell and banjo and is a totally different version to the original, while Pete Maher (U2, Rolling Stones, The Killers, Snow Patrol) mastered the song. Later on in 2020, The Rising are planning to embark on a UK and Ireland tour, with one date already pencilled in for March 2020 and with many more set to follow. Full dates can be found on the band’s website, which can be accessed here.