6 July 2025

The Monday Moment

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British country trio Remember Monday made history at Eurovision 2025, proving that heartfelt harmonies and genre-defying grit can resonate far beyond Nashville’s borders. When Remember Monday were announced as the United Kingdom’s official entry for Eurovision 2025, a ripple of disbelief ran through the country music community — the good kind. For fans of the genre, long accustomed to living in the cultural margins of UK mainstream music, this wasn’t just a win for three talented women. It was a milestone. It was proof that British country music, long simmering beneath the surface, had finally taken the spotlight.  Eurovision, known for its glitter, drama and unapologetic pop excess, has never been particularly synonymous with pedal steel guitars or three-part harmony. Yet Remember Monday — a female country-pop trio armed with powerhouse vocals and emotionally resonant lyrics — managed to not only cut through the noise but to top the national vote, securing their place on the continent’s most flamboyant stage. For many, it wasn’t just unexpected. It was historic.  In the same way that Sam Ryder’s chart-storming success in 2022 reminded the UK how to take Eurovision seriously, Remember Monday’s 2025 entry reminded it how to do so sincerely. Their selection didn’t feel like a gimmick. It felt like the natural outcome of a movement — the rise of country music in the UK, the mainstreaming of a sound once seen as niche, and the sheer magnetism of three artists who refused to compromise who they were.  From open mics to arena stages, from The Voice UK to Malmö, Sweden — the journey of Remember Monday is not just a story about Eurovision. It’s about a band that brought British country music home, then took it to the world.  Meet Remember Monday  Before Eurovision, before national headlines, and long before their harmonies echoed across Europe, Remember Monday were three friends trying to carve out a space for country music in a land more familiar with Britpop and grime. Formed in 2018, the trio — Holly-Ann Hull, Charlotte Steele, and Lauren Byrne — met through a shared background in musical theatre and soon discovered a mutual love for storytelling, melody, and the Nashville sound.  To read the full article, see our last issue here. Never miss a story… Follow us on: Instagram: @Maverick.mag Twitter: @Maverick_mag Facebook: Maverick Magazine Media Contact Editor, Maverick Magazine Tel: +44 (0) 1622 823 920 Email: editor@maverick-country.com

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Picture of Shrewsbury Folk Festival - Photo by Steve Lacey - Maverick

Shrewsbury Folk Festival: Where the Fiddle Finds the Fire

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Set in the heart of Shropshire, Shrewsbury Folk Festival, taking place 22-25 August, blends tradition and twang in a four-day celebration of music, movement, and soulful storytelling. There’s something about the sound of a fiddle floating over open fields that makes your heart stand still. Not for long, mind you. Because before you know it, your boots are tapping, your hips are swinging, and some stranger’s pulled you into a reel without so much as a howdy. That’s the Shrewsbury Folk Festival—where folk meets fire, and a small English town becomes a stomping ground for sounds older than the hills but fresher than this morning’s coffee.  Nestled on the edge of Shropshire’s rolling countryside, the festival doesn’t shout. It doesn’t need to. Instead, it hums—steadily, soulfully—like a tune you’ve heard before but can’t quite place. Maybe it’s because this place knows its roots. You won’t find glitz or gimmick here. No neon stages or laser shows. What you will find is authenticity carved into every tent peg, every song lyric, every pint pulled under canvas.  A Festival Built on Spirit, Not Spotlight  Shrewsbury isn’t trying to be something it’s not. That’s its quiet magic. It’s not trying to catch trends—it’s just catching songs. The kind passed down over kitchen tables or hollered across Appalachian hillsides. Here, the festival pulses with the energy of storytellers, wanderers, heritage-carriers and the curious alike. It’s a celebration that wears its legacy lightly, but proudly.  The grounds feel less like an event and more like a gathering—like the campfire your grandparents talked about, where music wasn’t a performance but a pulse. Children run barefoot between craft stalls, teenagers discover old songs that suddenly feel new, and long-time festivalgoers nod knowingly over tankards and tunes. You’re as likely to see a mandolin circle break out next to the food trucks as you are to find a crowd two-stepping to some rhythm that tastes of Nashville and Norfolk all at once.  The site itself is a tidy sprawl: big enough to get lost in the sound, small enough to still feel like a secret. It’s the kind of festival that welcomes everyone, from the solo backpacker with a banjo to families three generations deep.  Where Folk Gets Grit, and Country Gets Roots  Musically, Shrewsbury Folk Festival is a map of tangled roots. Sure, the word “folk” might conjure finger-in-the-ear ballads and sea shanties—and you’ll find those here, sung with soul and honesty. But what surprises many is how far that word stretches. Shrewsbury doesn’t gatekeep genre; it gathers. It takes folk’s bones and dresses them in blues, in roots-rock, in gospel harmony and bluegrass twang.  To read the full article, see our last issue here. Never miss a story… Follow us on: Instagram: @Maverick.mag Twitter: @Maverick_mag Facebook: Maverick Magazine Media Contact Editor, Maverick Magazine Tel: +44 (0) 1622 823 920 Email: editor@maverick-country.com

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Encore: Ian Flanigan

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Ian Flanigan was the runner-up on the 19th season of The Voice USA. Flanigan then released album ‘Strong’ and there’s a song on there that features Blake Shelton, and more recently, new single “Second Chances”. First song that you learned all the words to?  My memory and brain is so fried these days, I can’t remember the first one. I remember that with my guitar teacher one of the first songs I learned when I was like 12, was Green Day off the record Dookie. I remember pretty much every song on that. I know. I learned, I think almost every song on that record.  A song that makes you think of touring?  For me, it would be Blaze Foley, probably ‘Clay Pigeons’. Just because when I personally think of touring I’m always thinking of like West Texas. I got my start out there and those long highways and Blaze Foley on the radio, for me that’s what it is.  A song that reminds you of growing up?  This is where my brain has it’s limits. I gotta say probably Hotel California or D’yer Mak’er by Led Zeppelin. I think I played that song more than anybody.  A live show that changed your life?  I was fortunate enough to be on the TV show, The Voice. But before that, the show that changed my life was, I did a guest appearance for Bob Schneider at Austin City Limits. And that was my first time as an independent artist on a really big stage like that.  A song you can no longer listen to?  Probably some random song from high school. I think I can listen to any song at any time though.  An album that made you want to be a musician?   I grew up with two records that my father played a lot. I had the box set of Creedance Clearwater Revival as a kid and John Fogarty and I’d say I had an Eric Clapton album unplugged when I was a kid that really guided me to be an Acoustic Guitarist.   How did The Voice shape you as a musician?  It was such a humbling experience. It was a real learning experience for me, because I’d been touring for so long but it gives you an insight into the working on a whole different level. Normal touring, where you’re just doing live shows, it’s a whole different world than like TV or production. So I think it changed me as an artist by getting a better perspective of the back end of it, and all that’s going on.  To read the full article, see our last issue here. Never miss a story… Follow us on: Instagram: @Maverick.mag Twitter: @Maverick_mag Facebook: Maverick Magazine Media Contact Editor, Maverick Magazine Tel: +44 (0) 1622 823 920 Email: editor@maverick-country.com

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Pug Johnson: The Texas Troubadour

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Beaumont-born singer-songwriter Pug Johnson channels the rich musical tapestry of Southeast Texas into a distinctive blend of country, Cajun, and Tex-Mex. On the outskirts of Beaumont, Texas, where the humid air carries the echoes of blues, zydeco, and honky-tonk, Pug Johnson was born into a world steeped in musical tradition.   Growing up near the Louisiana border, he was immersed in a diverse musical landscape that included Cajun rhythms, swamp pop, Tex-Mex, and honky-tonk. These genres, prevalent in the region’s cultural fabric, naturally seeped into Johnson’s consciousness.   Johnson credits this cross-genre exposure with forming his musical instincts, describing the blend as not only a background sound but a cultural inheritance. Southeast Texas, long overshadowed by Nashville or Austin in mainstream country narratives, plays a starring role in his songwriting. Whether it’s the rhythm of a Tejano groove or the pathos of a honky-tonk ballad, Johnson uses regional flavour to anchor his stories in place.  His musical education also extended into his adult life, where he spent years playing in bars and dancehalls across Texas. This period gave him a close-up view of working-class life, further sharpening his narrative instincts. It was during this time that Johnson began experimenting with bilingual lyrics and borderland themes, a hallmark that would distinguish his later work.  Hard luck, stubborn pride  Much of his writing is driven by character sketches – figures drawn from barstools, street corners, and kitchen tables. These personas, shaped by hard luck and stubborn pride, reflect the reality of the Gulf Coast in a way that avoids nostalgia while still being deeply rooted in memory. Johnson doesn’t mythologise; he observes.  This commitment to capturing lived experience is evident in how Johnson navigates his own cultural positioning. While steeped in Americana traditions, he refuses to align too neatly with genre expectations. He has expressed scepticism about genre labels, preferring to focus on the stories, arrangements, and emotions that drive a song rather than its marketing category.  Johnson’s initial foray into the music industry culminated in the release of his debut album, Throwed Off and Glad, in 2022. Credited to Pug Johnson & The Hounds, the album showcased his penchant for blending traditional country sounds with narratives reflecting personal trials and tribulations. The record was noted for its unfiltered portrayal of life’s complexities, delivered with a mix of high spirits and sharp humour.  Reviewers praised the album for its live feel, a rawness that underscored the unvarnished charm of Johnson’s delivery. Thematically, it celebrated the outsider, the misunderstood, and the unapologetically flawed – a recurring theme in his work. With songs chronicling barroom brawls, messy relationships, and late-night soul-searching, Johnson carved out a niche that felt rooted in tradition yet unafraid of irreverence.  He also demonstrated a keen ear for arrangement, bringing in fiddle, accordion, and pedal steel in ways that nodded to classic honky-tonk but felt resolutely modern. The album’s blend of danceable rhythms and introspective lyrics offered an early glimpse into Johnson’s skill as both a crowd-pleaser and a storyteller.  To read the full article, see our last issue here. Never miss a story… Follow us on: Instagram: @Maverick.mag Twitter: @Maverick_mag Facebook: Maverick Magazine Media Contact Editor, Maverick Magazine Tel: +44 (0) 1622 823 920 Email: editor@maverick-country.com  

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Picture of Justine Blazer "4th July" cover art - Maverick

Justine Blazer Celebrates New Country Pop Single “4th of July”

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Two-time Billboard award-winning producer, songwriter, and artist Justine Blazer is making fireworks of her own this Independence Day with the release of a brand-new collaboration titled “4th of July.” Out now across all streaming platforms, the song features rising country singer and actor Rob Mayes (best known for his starring role in the hit Netflix film The Neon Highway alongside Beau Bridges, Lee Brice, and Pam Tillis) and acclaimed Nashville songwriter Steve O’Brien, whose catalogue includes country staples like “Rock My World” by Brooks & Dunn. Written by Justine Blazer, Rob Mayes, and Steve O’Brien and produced, engineered, and mixed by Blazer at her own Ten7Teen Studios, “4th of July” is a mid-tempo country-pop gem that captures the electricity of a fleeting but unforgettable summer romance. With playful lyrics like “Was it the jar we were passing or the Delta 8 gummies we ate / Or that Hall and Oates song that somebody just played,” the track blends humor, nostalgia, freedom, and passion, with Rob Mayes’ magnetic vocals at the forefront. “This is kind of a crazy story, actually,” Justine shares. “The stars aligned, magic happened, and the timing was perfect. This surprise collaboration came together literally last week in just a two-day window, from concept to completion. We all got in a room not knowing what we were going to write or say. After talking about life and emotions, the ideas started flowing. We wrote the song, made a work tape, recorded it, produced it, and completed the mix and master – all within 48 hours. That’s not typical! But, we knew we had something special and didn’t want to wait a whole year to release it. We wanted it out this 4th of July.” As if releasing a summer anthem wasn’t enough, Blazer also continues to rack up industry recognition, earning an incredible 17 nominations at the 2025 Josie Music Awards, taking place Nov 2, 2025 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, TN, the largest independent music awards show in the world. The nods span multiple categories, including Music Producer of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, and Vocal Event of the Year for her soulful collaboration with Lauren Anderson on “Ain’t No Cure Like The Blues.” Beyond the JMAs, Justine’s talents continue to be recognised internationally. She recently co-wrote “Give God the Glory” by Jodie Leslie, which won a LIT Award for Best Canadian Contemporary Christian/Gospel Music and a Canadian Selah Music Award for Best Canadian Alternate Song of the Year. That same track is currently nominated at the CCA Canadian Gospel Awards for Best Rock Song. Blazer also received 5 Songwriter Achievement Award nominations for works like “We All Bleed Crimson Red,” “Paint Me In Your Colors,” “Wish I Could Love You,” “Shut Up,” and “Rock This Holiday,” among others. Additionally, Justine is a finalist in the 2025 InterContinental Music Awards for Best Blues Song (“Ain’t No Cure Like The Blues” with Lauren Anderson) and Best Country Song (“America – Rattlesnake Love” written by Tom Bender & Mike Bender). She also took home 2nd place for Producer of the Year at the 2025 Elite Music Awards. With a fierce work ethic, powerhouse vocals, and an uncanny ability to connect through story and sound, Justine Blazer is lighting up the summer (and the industry!) with equal parts heart and heat. To read more exclusive articles and latest news, see our last issue here. Never miss a story… Follow us on: Instagram: @Maverick.mag Twitter: @Maverick_mag Facebook: Maverick Magazine Media Contact Editor, Maverick Magazine Tel: +44 (0) 1622 823 920 Email: editor@maverick-country.com

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