2 March 2020

Dixie Chicks will be releasing their first single for close to a decade and a half in the shape of Gaslighter, which will be shared on March 4. Gaslighter will be the first single that the trio – made up of Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire – have released since 2007’s The Neighbor, though they did feature on Taylor Swift’s Soon You’ll Get Better, which was released last year. The song will operate as the title track of the upcoming album of the same name, which is due for release at some point in 2020. The group posted a very brief clip of the song on their social media, along with the dictionary definition for the word ‘Gaslighter’. Speaking to Rolling Stone about the record, Maines said that it is partially inspired by her on-going divorce with Adrian Pasdar and while she finds songwriting difficult, she felt she had a lot to say on the matter, while this will resemble the most open Dixie Chicks record yet. “I had a lot to say,”  Maines said. “Songwriting is really hard for me and I think for many years, I didn’t want to analyse my life or my relationship. I was just in it and dedicated and devoted and if I had started writing songs about it … I don’t want to say I was in a ‘survival mode,’ but I was just not ready to open up like that. Our last album was the most personal and autobiographical we’ve ever been and then this one is 10 times that.” As of yet, there is no indication that the trio will seek to tour the album, but in the same Rolling Stone interview, Maines did suggest that it was a strong possibility.

Millport Country Music Festival will be returning once again and will take form as a two-day festival for 2020, with it taking place on August 21-22. The festival, which has seriously helped grow country music within Scotland, was previously a three-day festival, but will be aiming to maintain the quality of previous years and condense that into two days, making for an exciting line-up. Last year, for the 25th anniversary of Millport Country Music Festival, the likes of Cam, American Young, The Adelaides, Remember Monday, Morganway, Elles Bailey, Zoee and Katee Kross appeared throughout the three days, making for a tremendous three days of music. The reason for the dates this year is to avoid other festivals and to enable country music fans to go to multiple if they so wish in the process. As of yet, there is no line-up news, but that is expected to follow through in due course. Reviewing the 25th edition of the festival in the September/October 2019 issue of Maverick, we said that: “The level of organisation and attention to detail shown by the Millport organisers – people who genuinely care and take great pride in what they do – makes this a must attend festival for anyone who has an interest in the genre. “While the bar has been raised this year – bigger crowds and bigger acts – if anyone’s up to the challenge of topping this, it’ll be the Millport staff.”