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Ward Thomas have announced a second date at the Union Chapel in London after selling out the first date in remarkably quick fashion. The twin duo are going on an intimate tour around the UK starting in April 2020, where it’ll just be them and an acoustic guitar. The tour is being called the ‘Unfiltered’ tour and comes hot on the heels of Ward Thomas’ recent third album, ‘Restless Minds’, which was released in February 2019. Earlier this year, the twins did embark on a UK tour in direct support for the album, which saw them headline O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in April and in addition to that, the twins won the Global Artist CMA Award  at C2C 2019 and were also brought out to perform with Brad Paisley at his recent gig at The O2 Arena, with the two joining Paisley on Whisky Lullaby. Tickets are also selling well across the nation, with the date in Glasgow also selling out. Ward Thomas will be playing: April 24 – Grand Central, Liverpool, England April 25 – Mackintosh Church, Glasgow, Scotland* April 26 – Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland April 27 – RNCM Concert Hall, Manchester, England April 29 – Forum, Bath, England April 30 – City Varieties, Leeds, England May 1 – Forum Theatre, Barrow, England May 2 – Engine Shed, Lincoln, England May 4 – Union Chapel, London, England May 5 – O2 Academy Bournemouth, Bournemouth, England May 6 – Assembly, Leamington, England May 7 – Union Chapel, London, England* May 9 – St Georges, Brighton, England May 10 – Palace Theatre, Southend, England May 11 – Epic Studios, Norwich, England May 13 – New Vic Theatre, Woking, England * denotes sold out show For more Ward Thomas news, click here.

Thomas Rhett has released not one, but two Christmas songs in the shape of Christmas in the Country – an original – and a cover of The Christmas Song. You can listen to both songs here. 2019 has been a hugely productive year for Rhett, who only released his fourth studio album ‘Center Point Road’ at the end of May, which has gone on to be nominated for both CMA Awards (Album of the Year) and Grammy Awards (Best Country Album). On the back of that success, Rhett has now opted to delve into Christmas music and worked with David Garcia, Ashley Gorley and Chris Tomlin for the writing of Christmas in the Country, before deciding to cover the classic The Christmas Song, which was famously covered by Nat King Cole. Speaking about the songs, Rhett said that the festive period is the time of the year he most looks forward to, while also adding that his wife Lauren has been hoping that he makes Christmas music for quite some time. “Christmas is hands-down my favourite time of year,” Rhett said. “We have so many Christmas traditions in our family that include a lot of festive music, but I’ve never recorded anything myself. “Lauren has wanted me to make some Christmas music for a long time, so this year felt like the right time to finally take a stab at writing something and to put my own twist on one of the all-time classics.” Though nothing is confirmed, it seems possible that Thomas Rhett will be back in the UK next year to tour ‘Center Point Road’, with his last appearance this side of the Atlantic being in 2018 when Rhett headlined the Eventim Apollo in London.

Logan Mize has offered fans a glimpse into his live shows by giving a performance of I Ain’t Gotta Grow Up the special treatment. You can see the video below. [wpdevart_youtube]NtwdnH0P4JA[/wpdevart_youtube] The footage was taken from Mize’s recent European tour,  specifically focussing on his dates at Bush Hall in London as part of Country Music Week and the Night & Day Cafe in Manchester and will act as the music video for the song, which was only released a few weeks ago. 2019 has seen Logan Mize regularly jet across the Atlantic Ocean to perform in the UK, with the artist performing multiple sets at C2C 2019, a main stage slot at The Long Road Festival and two European tours – including a headline UK tour that needed to be increased in size due to demand. At both of his festival shows, Mize brought his full band with him to give everyone the full live experience, but Mize is also known to perform with just his acoustic guitar, in order to give fans a much more intimate performance. As well as making an impact in the UK, Mize’s reputation in America continues to grow on a daily basis, with his single Better Off Gone continuing to gain traction. At time of writing, the song is currently sitting on 47 million streams on Spotify alone. Given that I Ain’t Gotta Grow Up has been released, it certainly seems as if the US artist is gearing up for a release of some kind in 2020 – but whether that’s an EP or an album remains to be seen for now.

The 2019 American Music Awards (AMAs) proved to be very fruitful for Carrie Underwood and Dan + Shay, with the pair both going home with two awards. Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney were up for Favourite Country Duo or Group, Favourite Country Song for Speechless and Favourite Country Album for their self-titled album – winning Favourite Country Duo or Group and Favourite Country Song. Meanwhile, Underwood was also nominated for Favourite Country Album for ‘Cry Pretty’ – which she won – and Favourite Female Country Artist, which she also won ahead of Kelsea Ballerini and Maren Morris. The other outright country award on the night was for Favourite Male Country Artist and was picked up by Kane Brown, pipping Luke Combs and Thomas Rhett to the award. The night very much belonged to Taylor Swift though, with the 12-time CMA Award winning artist – now very much a mega popstar – taking home five awards (Artist of the Year, Favourite Music Video (You Need to Calm Down), Favourite Female Pop/Rock Artist, Favourite Pop/Rock Album (‘Lover’) and Favourite Adult Contemporary Artist) in addition to being crowned AMA Artist of the Decade. Elsewhere at the American Music Awards, Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus took home the award for Favourite Rap/Hip-Hop Song for Old Town Road (Remix).

Temecula Road are gearing up for Christmas by releasing a cover of Alabama’s ‘Christmas in Dixie’ just ahead of their US support tour. You can listen to the track here. The song is the fourth release for Temecula Road in what has been a very eventful 2019 for the trio – made up of Dawson Anderson and sisters Maddie and Emma Salute – following in the footsteps of Fades, Never Knew I Needed You and Maybe Not. The group are also are about to embark on the upcoming Sara Evans tour (starting December 5) and have recently announced that they will be returning to the Grand Ole Opry on February 1 having made their debut there a few weeks ago. The tour with Evans will see the trio perform nine times across the States before Christmas. Back in October, the group were over in the UK for both Country Music Week and for supporting Scotty McCreery, who they also supported in various other parts of Europe. It remains to be seen whether the trio will return for C2C 2020, having appeared at C2C 2018 when they made their debut, but 2020 as a year is certainly shaping up to be an even busier one for the group than this current one.

Carly Pearce has released the new video for her latest single I Hope You’re Happy Now, which is a duet with Lee Brice and was directed by Sam Siske. You can watch the video below. [wpdevart_youtube]SBBhyMYnwCw[/wpdevart_youtube] Pearce is starting to roll out new content ahead of her second album release,  which is due to come out on February 14 and the video for I Hope You’re Happy Now is the latest step for her. Speaking of the video itself, Pearce said that the first time she watched the video it made her very emotional given that it is a very important and personal song for her, with Pearce feeling that the visuals match exactly what she wanted to convey. “The first time I watched this music video I cried,” Pearce said. “It is as real and honest as the Every Little Thing video was for me. This song is so personal and I wanted the visual to truly reflect that part of my story. “I feel like this song is the closing piece to this chapter in my life, so the ending is bittersweet, but it leaves things on a positive note. If I were to run into this person today, my hope is that things would play out exactly how the video ends.” Earlier this year, Carly Pearce performed at C2C 2019 as a Main Stage act, while she was also nominated for a CMA Award for ‘New Artist of the Year’.

Sarah Darling has release a brand new single in the shape of Divide, which features the vocals of UK CMA Award winning duo Ward Thomas. You can listen to the song here. The single lands just under two weeks before Darling’s Union Chapel gig in London, which will see the American artist rattle through her greatest hits, some Christmas favourites and bring a number of special guests on stage with her at various different parts of the set. Speaking about the song, Darling explained that the inspiration came to her when she was hiking at the Rocky Mountain National Park with her husband, which then led to her piecing together how the song would sound and the harmonies that she would require. “As I was standing at the continental divide, I felt something come over me,” Darling said.  “I realised that I was standing at the highest elevation and that would determine which direction water would run down the mountain.  It would divide and go its separate ways to the ocean. “I started to think of relationships in my own life, the way the world is and it felt like such a beautiful metaphor for how life works. Sometimes people or situations come into your life and you have to let them go. Other times, you see that person down the road, and you realise that time worked all things out.  So many things in life divide to come back together again. “I got the idea of asking Ward Thomas to join in once I heard the harmonies really syncing. This song has this interesting chant which I’ve never written before. It felt like it needed a group of angels, so I asked my dear friends Ward Thomas to join in.” In addition to the gig, Sarah Darling is also set to release her ‘Campfire Sessions’ acoustic album in the near future, while guests Ward Thomas are to embark on a UK tour next year.

Patrick Davis has had a glittering career as a songwriter, but has now turned his hand to being an artist himself as Megan Gnad finds out for Maverick He’s written songs for Jimmy Buffett and Lady Antebellum, but these days Nashville-based singer-songwriter Patrick Davis is the musician taking centre stage. In October, fans got a taste of what’s to come when he opened for the Hootie & the Blowfish ‘Group Therapy Tour’, which included London, Manchester and Birmingham dates. “That was rather incredible,” he recalls. “Darius (Rucker)is a dear friend. The Hootie guys been very close to me for a long time. The audiences were wonderful music fans so it’s always a pleasure. “I hope to come back soon, this has been a test run.” Also performing as Patrick Davis & His Midnight Choir – an impressive 11-piece band – the artist has recently released singles, L-O-V-E and Six String Dreams, which is set to be the title of an upcoming EP. Prior to setting up the band, the South Carolina-raised musician worked as a staff writer for Warner Chappell Music Publishing for 15 years, producing tunes recorded by the likes of Guy Clark, Robert Randolph, Jimmy Buffett and Imelda May. About four years ago, he started performing more and more and was invited by Darius Rucker to open for him in the UK. “They were very intimate shows, we did the London O2 Shepherd’s Bush to 1500 people and so now to see how the Nashville music scene has grown is amazing.” Patrick Davis & His Midnight Choir draws heavily on the influence of artists like Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen. “The long-term idea is to go to the UK and do Patrick Davis & His Midnight Choir big band shows, which would really move the needle on a whole another level, everywhere. I grew up listening to Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs & Englishmen, that’s the music I grew up loving and emulating, so for me, that’s what I’m shooting for. “I like writing songs, which is why I live in Nashville, but for me personally, my own music is a lot more in tune with the Bruce Springsteen-Van Morrison world and so I put together a band that sounded like that.” In the lead-up to the new EP out in January, Patrick will be releasing behind the scenes footage, live performances and new singles and he can’t wait to get the ball rolling. “For so long, I was the guy in Nashville who wrote songs for people and so I’m trying very hard to steer that towards something that’s more artist-driven. “Now I’m getting to play, it’s kinda like ground zero. I’m getting my feet wet and back into the game, but it’s been pretty extraordinary so far.” Another project that has been dear to Patrick’s heart is the non-profit he set up to raise more than $750,000 for Hope Town, Bahamas in the wake of Hurricane Dorian. He and industry veteran Eric Arnold (Sound Direction) recently organised a benefit concert at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium where artists such as Dierks Bentley, Darius Rucker and Mark Bryan (of Hootie & The Blowfish), Charles Kelley (Lady Antebellum), Lee Brice, Charles Esten and Randy Houser performed to raise funds and awareness. “I have a festival called Songwriters in Paradise (SIP) held in Napa, Cabo and Hope Town in the Bahamas. Hope Town was hit by Dorian and it was utterly destroyed. “These were people I considered to be like family members. I didn’t know what to do when I was watching the news coverage, so I started a GoFundMe page. We’re now close to $1 million for the charitable works. “It’s been humbling and heart-breaking, but the Nashville community came out, and people from all over The States, to show support. It’s proof there’s a big heart (out there).”

London based Israeli-American duo O&O have returned with a new single in Here We Are, which is their first batch of music since their ‘Truth Comes Out’ EP last year. You can listen to the track here. The track premiered on Country Hits Radio upon its release date (November 15) and the duo also had an appearance on London Live TV pencilled in to discuss further the meaning of the song. The duo have been very busy in the first half of 2019 making new music, which is now starting to be drip-fed into the world as Orian and Obadiah start to share their recent creations. In addition to the new music, O&O have also been working hard on their YouTube account by launching a series of collaborations on their channel, which is growing in popularity quite noticeably. O&O have been collaborating with a number of upcoming country and Americana artists, including the likes of Joe Martin, for their channel, while they are also stepping back into the live scene. Recently, the group had a headline date in London at the Finsbury, while they also performed at Country in the Afternoon  a sold out event – at The Half Moon in Putney.