Live events

Scotty McCreery will be returning to the UK with his full band just a few months after his hugely successful October debut for Country Music Week. Tickets will be available at 10:00 on February 14 here, while an O2 and C2C pre-sale will commence on February 12 at 10:00. McCreery was initially announced for one date at Bush Hall, London and one date in Manchester, but as the London date sold out so quickly, another had to be announced to accommodate demand. You can read our review of the triumphant debut Bush Hall show here. This time around, he will be playing just around the corner from Bush Hall in Shepherd’s Bush Empire and there are more dates to be announced in other UK cities, which will be shared in due course. Speaking about his return to the UK, McCreery said that he had an absolute blast last time around and was patiently waiting to get his chance to return, while he also spoke highly about the chance to play north of the wall. “I had such a great time last October and have been looking for an opportunity to come back and bring the whole band,” McCreery said. “I’ve talked to everyone about how welcoming the audiences were and how they knew the words to every song. “I’m really looking forward to performing in Scotland on this trip as well as a few more new cities to be announced soon.” Scotty McCreery will be playing: May 18 – O2 Ritz, Manchester, England May 19 – O2 Academy Bristol, Bristol, England May 24 – Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Scotland May 25 – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, England

For the first time ever in the UK, the Nashville all female songwriter collective Song Suffragettes will be touring, with it due to commence in late April. Tickets will be available on Feb 7 here. Over the last five years, the collective has grown tenfold and has done wonders to combat the gender issues that occur with alarming regularity in America, with over 250 females appearing with the project – 16 of which have gone on to sign record deals. On this instance, Song Suffragettes will be made up of American artists Kalie Shorr and Candi Carpenter, alongside UK acts Vic Allen and Bellah Mae. In addition, there will be a local female singer-songwriter announced for each night. For those unaware, Schorr is tipped for huge things in the genre and was listed as a CMT Next Women of Country in 2018, performing at the Grand Ole Opry on 17 different occasions. Carpenter meanwhile has been grafting in Nashville for 20 years, but has very much established herself on the scene now – even appearing on an NBC Dolly Parton: 50 Years at the Grand Ole Opry special, while working closely with Brandi Carlile. As for the UK acts, Vic Allen is very much on the rise and has seen her work chart in the too five on the iTunes UK Country Chart in addition to receiving BBC Radio 2 airplay, while Bellah Mae is still just 18, but has seen her work picked up by celebrity gossip magazines for their video output. Song Suffragettes will be playing: April 26 – Oran Mor, Glasgow, Scotland April 27 – Glee Club, Nottingham, England April 28 – Glee Club, Birmingham, England April 29 – Band on the Wall, Manchester, England April 30 – Bush Hall, London, England

Morgan Wallen will be making his first ever trip to the UK as part of his May European tour, which includes headline dates in London and Glasgow. Tickets will be available from February 7 and can be picked up here. The Whiskey Glasses and Up Down star will have Hardy as his main support act, before he jets back off to America to support Luke Bryan on his upcoming summer tour, including dates at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville,  Madison Square Garden in New York and the Staples Center in LA. Speaking about his upcoming adventure, Wallen said that he is very much looking forward to jetting across the Atlantic and is excited to see what the fans are like. “I can’t wait to get over to the UK for my first time ever,” Wallen said. “I’ve always heard how amazing the fans are over there – looking forward to experiencing it for myself. Y’all get ready for a good time!” Adding comment in an exclusive interview with Maverick, which you can read the full feature of in our January/February 2020 issue where we have listed him as a One to Watch artist for 2020, Wallen also said that he is very willing to get his hands dirty, play the smaller venues and build his reputation in the same way he did in America. “I’m going to go there and kind of kick the process up a gear and try to build a real fanbase and try to do it the same way I did it here – we started headlining in the US when we didn’t really have any business to,” he said. “We didn’t have a hit, we didn’t have anything – we started just playing little bars in front of a couple of hundred people or whatever and I’m willing to do that same thing in the UK.” Morgan Wallen will be playing: May 14 – Gorilla, Manchester, England May 15 – The Garage, London, England May 17 – O2 Academy 2, Newcastle, England May 19 – SWG3 Warehouse, Glasgow, Scotland

Upcoming Americana duo Ida Mae will be heading out on a six-date tour in April, including a headline slot at Bush Hall in London. Tickets go on sale on January 31 at 10am here. The pair – made up of husband and wife Chris and Stephanie –have had success with their debut album ‘Chasing Lights’, which has been nominated for Album of the Year at the upcoming UK Americana Awards and the duo have also grown in stature and popularity, supporting the likes of Josh Ritter, Alison Krauss and Willie Nelson. It is an album that we gave a 5* review to back in our September/October 2019 issue, claiming that it is “a simply superb debut Americana album” and that “the quality throughout is remarkably consistent.” 2019 was very busy from a touring perspective and that doesn’t look like changing with the addition of new dates, but the pair played 80 shows in America in addition to 35 in both the UK and Europe. Ida Mae will be playing: April 21 – The Louisiana, Bristol, England April 22 – Bush Hall, London, England April 24 – Komedia Studio, Brighton, England April 25 – Arts Centre, Norwich, England April 28 – Cluny’s, Newcastle, England May 2 – Workman’s, Dublin, Ireland

Michaela Anne will be making her way over to Europe for a headline tour in the first few weeks of 2020, including three dates in the UK. Tickets are available here. Anne, who recently released an album in the shape of ‘Desert Dove’, which Sam Outlaw helped produce, has long held aspirations to venture to Europe for a headline tour after a number of successful support slots. Speaking to Maverick for our November/December 2019 issue, Anne said that she is expecting a very busy 2020 and that a stint in Europe will only be the beginning – something that she is very excited for. “The plan is hopefully to work everywhere,” Anne said. “I definitely want to go to the UK and Europe as I’ve never done my own headline tour in Europe. I’ve come over and supported quite a few different tours, but I’m really excited to play my own shows, so that’s definitely the plan for 2020.” As part of her tour, Anne will be performing as part of the UK Americana Association Showcase on January 29, which is the day before the association’s awards night, while she will also be touring around Scandinavia – performing in three countries in total. Michaela Anne will be playing: January 29 – Oslo, London, England* February 3 – The Bodega Social Club, Nottingham, England February 4 – The Louisiana, Bristol, England February 7 – Kulturens Hus, Luleå, Sweden February 8 – Droskan, Umeå, Sweden February 9 – Bryggarsalen, Stockholm, Sweden February 10 – Krøsset, Oslo, Norway February 11 – Pustervik, Gothenburg, Sweden *part of AMA UK Showcase, also including Mapache, DADDY LONG LEGS, Chatham County Line, Jonah Tolchin and Jack Klatt