Editor

With less than two months to go, the C2C team are thrilled to announce that there will be a whole host of new activity across the country music filled weekend at The O2, London on 7 & 8 March 2015, including music on Pop Up stages from 11am and After Show Parties running until late. Satellite Stage In the arena for the very first time, we’ll be introducing a Satellite Stage which will be located behind the sound desks at the opposite end of the arena to the main stage. Four acoustic artists will be performing in-between the main stage acts (two on each day). The first names to be announced are: SAM HUNT – one of the hottest new artists to emerge in Nashville last year and whose debut No.1 was ‘Leave The Night On’. The former college football player was previously best known for writing hit singles for Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban and others. THE SHIRES – the British duo who made their C2C debut as relative unknowns have had a great year, which included their debut single Nashville Grey Skies being playlisted on BBC Radio 2. Their debut album will be released in C2C week, on Mon March 2. Pop-Up stages Fans will get a rare chance to discover a broad range of artists as they play free intimate shows on pop-up stages around the venue, showcasing their talents and proving that country music has a strong future in the UK. There will be 40 performances for C2C ticket holders each day on various stages including the newly named Big Entrance stage and Music Mile stage. There will also be special performances on the Pop Up stages by name artists, including The Shires, CMA Award winning songwriters Jon Randall and Jessie Alexander (who are also featured in Friday night’s CMA Songwriters Series at indigo at The O2) and Ward Thomas -who made their C2C debut as a relatively unknown duo in 2014 but have since had a great year with singles playlisted at BBC Radio 2 and their first album, ‘From Where We Stand,’ entering the UK Top 50. Pop-up artists (in alphabetical order): Acoustic Journey, Ann Doka, Aubrie Sellers, Balsamo Deighton, Callaghan, Carolynne Poole, Case Hardin, Chloë Chadwick, Claydon Connor, David Bradley, Dexeter, Ellie Dibben, Emma Jade, Emma Swindells, Fitzwallace, Flats & Sharps, Hannah Jane Lewis, Harper J, Holloway Road, Honey Ryder, InBlauK, Jeannine Barry, Jess & The Bandits, Jess Roberts, Jon Randall & Jessi Alexander, Katie Armiger, Katie Nicholas, Laura Oakes, Lewis & Leigh, Lisa Redford, Liv Austen & The Banned, Luke and Mel, Lucy May, Megan O’Neill, Mim Grey, Paul Carella, Pauper Kings (formerly McKay), Raintown, Sam Hunt, Sasha McVeigh, Sonia Leigh, Stephanie Manns, Talia Simone, The Cains Trio, The Dirty Beggars, The James Clode Band, The Shires, The Tuesday Syndicate, Ward Thomas, Winters Hill. The Saloon Another first this year is our new venue, The Saloon, which can be found in the WM Jazz Club at The O2 and will feature an intimate space for singer songwriters to perform and talk about their song-writing. C2C ticket holders are invited to come along, sit back, relax and enjoy the programme. The Saloon will include a Bob Harris curated programme by Under The Apple Tree Sessions with legendary Texan singer-songwriter Kimmie Rhodes, the up-and-coming Nashville singer-songwriter, Angel Snow, Ward Thomas and American singer Katie Armiger plus Woody Pines, Worry Dolls, Loud Mountains and the Goat Roper Rodeo Band. C2C After Parties As previously announced, the official C2C after parties will take place at Brooklyn Bowl at The O2. A surprise guest will perform each night and country music fans are invited to continue the festival spirit into the small hours. Hosted by country music DJ and radio/TV presenter; DJBaylen Leonard, the doors to Brooklyn Bowl will open once the final main stage artist has waved goodbye to the crowds each night. Tickets for Country to Country are available from www.axs.com/c2c 08448 24 48 24 and www.gigsandtours.com / 0844 811 0051.

The Bandits met Texan favourite Jessica Clemmons, the opening act during a 2012 tour while playing with The Overtones and instantly bonded over their mutual love of country music. As they began to play together more and more, their chemistry became clear and Jess and the Bandits were born. Made up of brothers Ricci and Louis Riccardi on drums and guitar respectively, Dave Troke on bass, Steven Reid Williams on keyboards/guitar and of course Jessica Clemmons on vocals, each member of the Bandits brings with them a storied history of country creativity. Influenced by their musician father, brothers Ricci and Louis Riccardi were playing Country and Blues music from a very early age. Whilst studying in the US they learned the Nashville Number System, a method of transcribing music, which they rely on heavily to this day. They later joined with fellow bass player David Troke, a musician who shared the same influences and aspirations. Last to join the group was singer-songwriter and piano player Steven Reid-Williams. Far from home, Jessica Clemmons hails from Houston, Texas, however
UK audiences have fallen for her soulful and passionate work. Jess graced the BBC Radio 2 playlist last year with Single Tonight and impressed when she performed her take on Wichita Lineman on Terry Wogan’s Sunday morning show. Jess and The Bandits’ ballsy My Name Is Trouble was also the popular opener of Maverick Music Volume 12 in our November/December issue. The band spent the majority of 2014 on the road, with performances at Country 2 Country, as well as The Isle Of Wight Festival and a support tour with Pete Molinari. Later in the year Jess re-joined her co-writing team in Nashville including Jeff Cohen (The Band Perry, Sugarland), James T. Slater (My Daughters Eyes’), Brian White (Rascal Flatts) and producer Larry Beaird (Dolly Parton, Faith Hill). These Country credentials are especially displayed on the group’s much-anticipated album HERE WE GO AGAIN which will be released in the Spring of 2015.

After closing out 2014 with country music’s top-selling album, the Platinum-certified and genre-busting The Outsiders, Eric Church has announces an expansion of his successful The Outsiders World Tour into the spring. The new tour dates stretch from Tampa, FL to Vancouver, BC and includes Austin, Boston, Cincinnati, Lexington, Jacksonville, Newark, Raleigh, Seattle, Washington DC and more. Each stop will include one special guest for the new leg of The Outsiders World Tour, varying to include diverse artists as Brothers Osborne, Drive-By-Truckers, JD McPherson, and The Cadillac Three. The Lone Bellow will also be a special guest on several dates to be announced soon. Church returned to the road last week with powerhouse performances in New Orleans, Tupelo, and Nashville, where his audience of 18,411 fans set a new event attendance record for the Bridgestone Arena. The first 13 dates will go on sale this Friday, Jan 16 March 4: Austin, TX | Frank Erwin Center ** 10: Washington, DC | Verizon Center ** 18: Ft. Wayne, IN | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum ** 28: Tampa, FL | Amalie Arena*** April 7: Grand Forks, ND | Ralph Engelstad Arena * 8: Winnipeg, MB | MTS Centre * 10: Saskatoon, SK | SaskTel Centre * 11: Calgary, AB | Scotiabank Saddledome * 12: Edmonton, AB | Rexall Place * 14: Vancouver, BC | Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena * 15: Seattle, WA | KeyArena at Seattle Center * 24: Hampton, VA | Hampton Coliseum **** Opening Acts (*) Brothers Osborne (**) Drive-By Truckers (***) The Cadillac Three (****) JD McPherson The following dates are also announced, with on-sale dates and opening acts to be revealed soon: March 12: Albany, NY | Times Union Center 13: Wilkes-Barre, PA | Mohegan Sun Arena 19: Bloomington, IL | U.S. Cellular Coliseum 20: Rosemont, IL | Allstate Arena 21: Cincinnati, OH | U.S. Bank Arena 26: Tallahassee, FL | Donald L. Tucker Civic Center 27: Jacksonville, FL | Veterans Memorial Arena 23: Raleigh, NC | PNC Arena April 30: Boston, MA | TD Garden Arena May 1: Buffalo, NY | First Niagara Center 2: Newark, NJ | Prudential Center 7: Lexington, KY | Rupp Arena 8: Columbus, MO | Mizzou Arena June 12: Orange Beach, AL | Amphitheater at the Wharf August 27: Syracuse, NY | New York State Fair

The Americana Music Association has announced the lineup for the 5th Annual Americana Spring Celebration to be held April 23-26, 2015, with performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, at Blackberry Farm, a world-class luxury resort breathtakingly situated in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. This year’s musical experience will feature nine-time GRAMMY winning recording artist Sheryl Crow, three-time GRAMMY winner Keb’ Mo’, and critically acclaimed songstress Holly Williams playing before the inspiring backdrop of Blackberry Farm to benefit the not-for-profit artist advocacy group. “We are honoured that artists of this caliber will be participating in our Americana Spring Celebration. This event has become an important fundraiser complementing the wide array of events we produce throughout the year,” said Jed Hilly, Executive Director of the Americana Music Association, adding, “and it just keeps getting better and better.” The renowned Blackberry Farm, a Relais & Châteaux resort, is one of America’s most celebrated intimate luxury hotels, featuring 62 elegant accomodations and some of the world’s finest wines, cuisine, fly fishing, horseback riding, hiking, cycling, sporting clay, and mountain biking opportunities. Along with the abundance of outdoor activities, Blackberry Farm offers an Aveda Destination Spa and an annual series of culinary events hosted by world-renowned guest chefs and vintners.

Six-time chart-topping country star Rodney Atkins is set to ring in the New Year with the February 3 release of his first-ever Greatest Hits compilation via longtime label home Curb Records. Rodney Atkins – Greatest Hits features 11 of the artist’s best-loved songs as well as his latest single, Eat Sleep Love You Repeat, which is available for instant download with a pre-order purchase of the album. Rodney Atkins – Greatest Hits will celebrate the award-winning singer/songwriter’s four studio albums, which include HONESTY (2003), IF YOU’RE GOING THROUGH HELL (2006), IT’S AMERICA(2009) and TAKE A BACK ROAD (2011); the latter having yielded the fastest-rising single of Atkins’ career with the multi-week number smash hit, Take A Back Road. Atkins put a fresh spin on his signature style and the simple pleasures of everyday love with new single Eat Sleep Love You Repeat, which was written by fellow Nashville hit-makers Walker Hayes and Ryan Bizarri.

Nominations for the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards have been announced by The Recording Academy and reflected an eclectic mix of the best and brightest in music over the past year, as determined by The Academy’s voting members. “This year’s nominees are a reflection of the music community’s diversity and range of talent, and a testament to The Academy’s voting process,” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. “The Recording Academy is pleased to celebrate this talented crop of artists, nominated to receive music’s greatest honor for their contributions to their respective genres. The tone for Music’s Biggest Night has undoubtedly been set, and we look forward to producing one of the most exciting telecasts in GRAMMY history.” The nominations were revealed on a rolling basis throughout the day, starting with four categories on “CBS This Morning,” followed by a series of video announcements posted by a variety of artists and celebrities on Twitter. The day culminated with the unveiling of Album Of The Year nominations on the one-hour entertainment special “A Very GRAMMY Christmas,” which featured performances of holiday classics and current pop songs. The country artist nominations are as follows: Best New Artist:
 Brandy Clark Best Solo Country Artist Performance: Give Me Back My Hometown – Eric Church Invisible – Hunter Hayes Automatic – Miranda Lambert Something In The Water – Carrie Underwood Cop Car – Keith Urban Country Duo/Group Performance: Gentle On My Mind – Band Perry Somethin’ Bad – Miranda Lambert With Carrie Underwood; Day Drinking – Little Big Town Meanwhile Back At Mama’s – Tim McGraw Featuring Faith Hill Raise ‘Em Up – Keith Urban Featuring Eric Church.
 Best Country Song: American Kids – Rodney Clawson, Luke Laird & Shane McAnally, songwriters (Kenny Chesney) Automatic – Nicolle Galyon, Natalie Hemby & Miranda Lambert, songwriters (Miranda Lambert) Give Me Back My Hometown – Eric Church & Luke Laird, songwriters (Eric Church) I’m Not Gonna Miss You – Glen Campbell & Julian Raymond, songwriters (Glen Campbell) Meanwhile Back At Mama’s – Tom Douglas, Jaren Johnston & Jeffrey Steele, songwriters (Tim McGraw Featuring Faith Hill) The Best Country Album: RISER – Dierks Bentley THE OUTSIDERS – Eric Church 12 STORIES – Brandy Clark PLATINUM – Miranda Lambert THE WAY I’M LIVIN’ – Lee Ann Womack This year’s GRAMMY Awards process registered more than 20,000 submissions over a 12-month eligibility period (Oct. 1, 2013 – Sept. 30, 2014). GRAMMY ballots for the final round of voting will be mailed on Dec. 17 to The Recording Academy’s voting members. Ballots are due back to the accounting firm of Deloitte by Jan. 16, 2015, when they will be tabulated and the results kept secret until the 57th GRAMMY Awards broadcast. The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held Feb. 8, 2015, at Staples Center in Los Angeles and broadcast live in high-definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on CBS from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). For updates and breaking news, visit The Recording Academy’s social networks on Twitter and Facebook.

Acclaimed Nashville-based, Memphis-born singer-songwriter Drew Holcomb announces January-February 2015 UK & Ireland Tour, which opens at Celtic Connections on January 29, in support of the new Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors album MEDICINE (out January 26). For Nashville based, Memphis born Drew Holcomb, “music is medicine” and it seems only fitting that along with his band The Neighbors – wife Ellie (vocals, guitar), Nathan Dugger (guitar, keys) and Rick Brinsfield (bass) – the group will celebrate a decade long career with the release of their new full-length studio album Medicine on January 26 via his own imprint Magnolia Music. Recorded over eight days at Joe Pisapia’s Middletree Studios in East Nashville, the twelve song album was co-produced by Pisapia (Ben Folds, KD Lang, Guster, Josh Rouse) and the band and tackles issues of everyday life including loyalty, hardship, marriage, friendship, alienation and faith. Medicine is the follow-up to 2013’s full-length studio release Good Light – their most successful album to date. Drew Holcomb · January-February 2015 · UK & Ireland Tour Accompanied by Nathan Dugger Jan Thu 29: Glasgow, The Art Club, Celtic Connections 2015 Fri 30: Rathfriland, N. Ireland, The Brontë Centre Sat 31: Lisburn, N. Ireland, Island Arts Centre
 Feb Sun 1: Ballincollig, Ireland, The White Horse Tue 3: London, The Old Queen’s Head Wed 4: Brighton, The Prince Albert 
 Thu 5: Plymouth, The B-Bar 
Fri 6: Kirton-in-Lindsey, Town Hall Sat 7: Oxford, The Bullingdon Sun 8: Nottingham, The Maze

On Tuesday evening, Merle Haggard politely accepted the first-ever CMT Artist of a Lifetime Award in Nashville. His acceptance speech was brief stating “Anything I’d say would be short remarks, so thank you very much and God bless you.” He also commented that music will live forever. Plenty of others praised Haggard at the event including Billy Bob Thornton, who revealed that Haggard will be atop the CMT All-Time Top 40, an industry countdown of the most influential musicians of all time, across genres voted by country artists. Video testimonials were also given at the event by Vince Gill, Miranda Lambert, Joe Nichols, Keith Urban and many more. Thornton also introduced a musical tribute by Eric Church, Ashley Monroe and producer T Bone Burnett, who submitted a rousing rendition of “Workin’ Man Blues,” a No. 1 single for Haggard in 1969. At the end of the music, Thornton, an Oscar-winning screenwriter went off-script. “I’d just like to add something to what they’ve got here,” Thornton said to the audience, “which is that I wouldn’t only include Merle Haggard in the greatest songwriters of all time. But I would put him up there alongside people like Tennessee Williams and William Faulker, Erskine Caldwell and John Steinbeck because he is truly a storyteller. That’s something that has been lost over the years, and I’m glad to see that it is coming back a little bit. And Merle Haggard personifies the storyteller.”

The annual Rock The Ocean’s Tortuga Music Festival takes place on April 11 and 12 next year at the Fort Lauderdale Beach Park in Florida. With Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown Band headlining, the other artists announced include Jake Owen, Little Big Town, Trace Adkins, David Nail, The Mavericks, Colt Ford, Chase Rice, Sam Hunt, Frankie Ballard, The Cadillac Three, Maddie & Tae and the Southern rock group Dirty Guv’nahs. The two day festival brings together artists from multiple genres to help raise awareness and funds in conjunction with Rock The Ocean Foundation, an organisation dedicated to supporting marine conservation initiatives. Tickets go on sale this Friday (December 5, 2014).

Following rave reviews from his recent October 2014 UK tour dates, five-time Grammy-nominated and multi-platinum-selling blues rock guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd will return to the UK for a follow-up tour in April 2015, including a major headline concert at the London Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Wednesday 15th April. A 48-hour ticket pre-sale starts on Planet Rock from Wednesday 12th November at 9am, followed by general on-sale date of Friday 14th November where tickets can be booked online at The Gig Cartel or from the 24 hour box office – 0844 478 0898. The gigs will take place at: Salisbury City Hall, Friday April 10th Holmfirth Picturedrome, Saturday April 11th Glasgow O2 ABC, Sunday April 12th Aberdeen Lemon Tree, Monday April 13th London o2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, Wednesday April 15th Kenny Wayne will perform songs from his current album, GOIN’ HOME, which is an exploration into the music of Shepherd’s biggest influences, and features Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, Warren Haynes, Robert Randolph, Kim Wilson (Fabulous Thunderbirds), Pastor Brady Blade, Sr. and the Rebirth Brass Band. The album also includes songs originally recorded by some of Shepherd’s heroes including B.B. King, Freddie King, Albert King, Bo Diddley, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny “Guitar” Watson and Lee Dorsey.