December 2025

The Paper Kites - maverick-country.com

Paper Kites Announce New Album for January Release

Alternative folk favourites The Paper Kites have confirmed details of their seventh studio album If You Go There, I Hope You Find It, due for release on 23 January through Nettwerk Music Group. To mark the announcement, the band have shared a new single titled “Every Town”, a tender, wistful piece built on soft melodies and gentle lyricism. The track arrives with an official video, offering a first glimpse of the record’s tone — warm, melancholic, and quietly affecting. If You Go There, I Hope You Find It follows the same reflective spirit, featuring recent single “When The Lavender Blooms”, recorded at Melbourne’s Sing Sing Studios and mixed by multi-Grammy winner Jon Low. Early notes on the album describe it as intimate and healing-minded, shaped by themes of nature, hope and simplicity, with each song unfolding like a conversation rather than a performance. There is a sense of return threaded through it — of leaving, searching, and coming home changed. The band are currently back on the road in the United States, including their own headline dates alongside support slots for The Teskey Brothers. They are also scheduled to appear at Bourbon & Beyond in Louisville before heading to Richmond for Iron Blossom Music Festival later this month. Fans in the UK and Europe will have a longer wait — but not by much. The Paper Kites have announced an extensive 2026 headline tour across the region, with tickets on sale now. London is set for a show at the Roundhouse, following previous sold-out runs at Koko, Kentish Town Forum and a major summer performance at Somerset House. Additional stops include the O2 Ritz in Manchester and 3Olympia Theatre in Dublin. The Paper Kites now count more than two billion streams worldwide, their soft-spoken sound resonating far beyond folk circles. Their breakout track Bloom has gone multi-Platinum internationally and remains one of the most recognisable modern indie-folk singles of the past decade. It has since been covered on The Kelly Clarkson Show, while the band’s music continues to soundtrack television staples such as Grey’s Anatomy, This Is Us and Virgin River. Though their influence has grown, the group remain rooted in restraint and nuance — collaborators rather than chasers, working quietly alongside artists such as Lucy Rose, Nadia Reid and Rosie Carney. Their rise has been gradual, steady and built less on spectacle than on craft. It is that patience, along with harmony-rich songwriting, that has carried them to this seventh chapter. And if the new single is any indication, If You Go There, I Hope You Find It doesn’t mark a reinvention so much as a deepening — another page in a story written gently, thoroughly, and always in service of feeling.

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Big Valley Jamboree-Maverick-Country.com

Big Valley Jamboree Reveals 2026 Headliners

Big Valley Jamboree is gearing up for its 34th edition, returning to Camrose from 30 July to 2 August, and organisers have confirmed a powerhouse 2026 Chevrolet Main Stage line-up to match. This year’s festival places three major names at the top of the bill: eight-time ACM Group of the Year Old Dominion, multi-platinum hitmaker Riley Green, and four-time GRAMMY winner Keith Urban. ACM New Artist of the Year Nate Smith will open the weekend during Thursday’s Kickoff Party inside the Coors Original Saloon. “As we celebrate the incredible history of Big Valley Jamboree, this line-up feels like the perfect way to honour where we’ve been and where we’re headed,” said Troy Vollhoffer, CEO of Country Thunder. “Keith Urban, Old Dominion and Riley Green each bring something unique to the stage, and together they capture the spirit of what BVJ is all about: great music, great community and memories that last long after the weekend ends.” Urban, returning to BVJ after years away, brings more than two decades of chart success to the Alberta stage. The three-time Entertainer of the Year holds 20 number-one singles – including “Somebody Like You,” “Blue Ain’t Your Colour,” and “Long Hot Summer” – and remains one of the most recognisable live performers in modern country music. Old Dominion step into their headlining slot as one of the most decorated groups in the genre, with eight ACM Awards and seven CMA wins to their name. Their catalogue of fan favourites – “Break Up with Him,” “Written in the Sand,” “Make It Sweet” – has helped position them amongst country music’s most in-demand live acts. Riley Green will headline Big Valley Jamboree for the first time following his well-received Kickoff Party appearance in 2024. Known for hits like “There Was This Girl,” “I Wish Grandpa’s Never Died,” and “Worst Way,” Green arrives off the back of multiple ACM and CMA wins and continues to build momentum. More names join the 2026 roster, including Cameron Whitcomb, Noeline Hoffman, viral breakout Gavin Adcock and Chase Rice. The programme also features Robyn Ottolini, Sacha, Josh Stumpf, Morgan Klaiber, Travis Dolter, Sully Burrows, The Dead South, Mark Chesnutt, Billy Dean & Collin Raye and Logan Layman. Festival-goers can also expect two signature events: Thursday’s Kickoff Party led by Nate Smith, and the official BVJ After Party, complete with late-night surprise guests throughout the weekend. Further updates are expected in the months ahead. Tickets and camping packages are already on sale, with a new payment plan allowing visitors to secure their place for £20 down, followed by equal monthly instalments. A landmark summer for country fans is already on the horizon – and Big Valley Jamboree looks set to make 2026 one to remember.

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