Not since the late Nineties glory days of Shania Twain, The Mavericks and Faith Hill has country music been as ubiquitous as it is at this moment – unless you’re a Texas or Tennessee resident, I suppose.
You see, right now, country music in the UK is having what you might call a moment, and it’s time to dig out those cowboy boots and that fringed leather jacket as the sounds of Nashville are once again taking over British airwaves.
Earlier this month the UK’s first national country music station Country Hits launched, taking to the airwaves with Chris Young’s aptly titled Raised On Country as the very first track played. Then, last week the movie Wild Rose opened in cinemas across the UK, with Jessie Buckley’s portrayal of a Scottish convict intent on making it as a country singer in the bright lights of Nashville widely heralded as the UK’s answer to A Star Is Born, and the birth of a true star in Buckley. It’s a great film, whether you’re a country fan or not, and sure to win the genre many new curious fans.
If the growth in the genre is in any way in question, you need only to look at this summer’s festival calendar, a staggering nine country music festivals will take place up and down the country. After years of steady growth in popularity thanks to TV shows like Nashville and tours like Country To Country, 2019 is the year when country music truly returns to the mainstream in the UK.
To anyone already in the know, country music is “three chords and the truth”, a strapline that perfectly encapsulates the simplicity and heartfelt relatability of a great country song. Whether listening to the 1977 chart topper Lucille by Kenny Rogers or the heart wrenching original Dolly Parton version of I Will Always Love You, or present-day hits such as Carly Pearce’s Every Little Thing and pretty much anything by Brandi Carlisle, country music has always been about telling a story with heart.
Self-described “gateway drug” to country music Kacey Musgraves took home two Grammy Awards this year for her album Golden Hour, a beautifully timeless collection of heartfelt songs. If you’re curious about country and wondering where to start, you can’t fail to be moved by Kacey’s Rainbow or Oh What A World.
Of course, country can be silly too; you don’t have to dig deep to find no end of songs about having a wild time down at the honky tonk and getting drunk on whisky/beer/tequila (delete as applicable) if you want to get your Friday night off to a great start.
Wild Rose’s story of a Scottish country singer’s pursuit of stardom isn’t as unlikely as some might think, and in fact some of the most exciting artists in country right now are homegrown. The scene is thriving, with up and comers like Catherine McGrath, Twinnie and Sam Palladio busy winning the hearts of country music fans on both sides of the pond. Established acts like Ward Thomas, The Shires and The Wandering Hearts are drawing enormous crowds to sell out shows and enjoying regular rotation on Radio 2 and beyond thanks to long term champions of the genre Baylen Leonard and the inimitable “Whispering” Bob Harris.
It’s about 18 months since country music drew me in, so I’m deep down the rabbit hole at this point and there’s no sign of me coming back, much to the bemusement of some of my friends. To destroy any credibility I may have earned so far in the country music world, I’ll admit it all began when I was dating a guy from Canada, who played in a band and told me country music was actually pretty great and I should give it a listen. Well sure, I liked Dolly and Shania but didn’t know much more than that, so he made me a Spotify playlist. A playlist of country music songs curated just for me?! So romantic! I gave it a lot of listens. Long story short, the boy went back to Canada and that was that, but I was hooked. I discovered the radio station Chris Country on my DAB radio and started listening to country music 24/7.
When, some months later, the team behind AmericanaFest UK, a three-day celebration of the best Americana music from the UK, Canada and the US asked me to help produce the event, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. (Americana and country are not to be confused by the way – Americana is the ‘dirt under the nails’ alt version of country, a little less polished and more of a roots-oriented sound, although few agree on an exact definition. And whilst we’re clearing things up, it’s not “country and western” either, it’s “just country” as Jessie Buckley’s character in ‘Wild Rose’ points out with an exaggerated eye role).
Working on the event I received such a warm welcome into the country and Americana music communities, I realised that after 15 years I’d found the part of the music business where I belong. And when I left the AmericanaFest UK afterparty in Hackney on a snowy January morning at 3.30am, every single one of the board members behind the event were still there... You haven’t partied until you’ve partied with the country music crowd.
So if you watch Wild Rose or tune into Country Hits this month and feel the urge to grab some cowboy boots and join the party, do. I promise you’ll have a blast. I started by saying country music is having a moment, but it’s not really... the door has always been wide open. Come on in.