Sunny Ozell has released the music video for her most recent single All That I Am, which has been described as “a femme anthem” by the artist. You can watch the video below. [wpdevart_youtube]KU1MZQecHRk[/wpdevart_youtube] The song is taken from her recently released second album ‘Overnight Lows’, which we gave a 4* review to in our January/February 2020 issue, saying that it was “a stunning collection of songs from the American” and that “it’s hard not to admire how gifted a musician Sunny Ozell is.” For the album, Ozell worked with a number of high profile musicians, such as Jay Bellerose (Robert Plant, Alison Krauss), Tyler Chester (George Ezra), Andy Hess (The Black Crowes, David Byrne) and Rich Hinman (Sara Bareilles) and speaking to us at The Long Road Festival back in September, Ozell said that being able to work with people like that represented success for her. “I have just stuck around long enough, I guess,” Ozell said. “10 years ago, the field was really big and I’ve just kind of stayed at it. Suddenly, I’m in the room with people that are heroes and people like Jay Bellerose, the drummer, who I’ve been listening to for 20 years and here he is on my record. When the people that influenced you are now your peers, it is astonishing and to be perfectly blunt, in itself that is success to me.” In the same interview, Ozell also stated that she will be looking to venture back to the UK for a tour towards the back end of 2020, specifically around October and November time.

The Adelaides will be making their version of Sanctuary, a duet with Charles Esten, available as a live version on March 13 and will appear at C2C with Esten on the day. The song – made famous by ‘Nashville’, the TV show that Esten starred in as Chip – was recorded on Esten’s 2019 October UK tour, which culminated with a headline date at the fabled Royal Albert Hall in London. Esten has now invited the trio – made up of Paris Georgia, Alicia Alba and Abi Phillips – to perform the track with him during his C2C Main Stage slot at The O2 Arena in London, which will make The Adelaides only the second UK act to appear on the main stage, after Catherine McGrath joined Hunter Hayes last year for a duet of Don’t Let Me Forget. Speaking about the song, The Adelaides said collectively that they adore playing the song live and that they feel that the recorded version really captures the magic of what went on in the recording studio. “We love performing this song, it’s truly special to us and to perform it live on stage with Charles Esten was a dream come true,” the girls said.  “We’ve performed many times with him now – both across the UK and in Nashville – and this particular recording captures the warmth of the fantastic connection we have with him. It’s a special version of a wonderful song and we are delighted to share it.” Adding further comment was Esten, who echoed what the girls said and explained how he came into contact with the group, while also expressing that he hasn’t looked back since. “When I was preparing for my January 2019 UK tour, I was looking for a support act that might be able to sing a few ‘Nashville’ songs with me during my set,” Esten explained. “The moment I heard The Adelaides and their gorgeous harmonies, I knew I was done looking. We ended up performing more than a couple songs together in every show, both from ‘Nashville’ and from my own catalogue. “When I returned in October with a full band, I knew we had to do it again. And I’m so glad we did. This live recording of one of my very favourite ‘Nashville’ songs, Sanctuary, has somehow captured all of the magic that they brought to every stage we ever sang on.” The song will be exclusively previewed on BBC Radio 2 via The Country Show with Bob Harris on March 5 between 21:00-22:00  

Dixie Chicks will be releasing their first single for close to a decade and a half in the shape of Gaslighter, which will be shared on March 4. Gaslighter will be the first single that the trio – made up of Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire – have released since 2007’s The Neighbor, though they did feature on Taylor Swift’s Soon You’ll Get Better, which was released last year. The song will operate as the title track of the upcoming album of the same name, which is due for release at some point in 2020. The group posted a very brief clip of the song on their social media, along with the dictionary definition for the word ‘Gaslighter’. Speaking to Rolling Stone about the record, Maines said that it is partially inspired by her on-going divorce with Adrian Pasdar and while she finds songwriting difficult, she felt she had a lot to say on the matter, while this will resemble the most open Dixie Chicks record yet. “I had a lot to say,”  Maines said. “Songwriting is really hard for me and I think for many years, I didn’t want to analyse my life or my relationship. I was just in it and dedicated and devoted and if I had started writing songs about it … I don’t want to say I was in a ‘survival mode,’ but I was just not ready to open up like that. Our last album was the most personal and autobiographical we’ve ever been and then this one is 10 times that.” As of yet, there is no indication that the trio will seek to tour the album, but in the same Rolling Stone interview, Maines did suggest that it was a strong possibility.

Millport Country Music Festival will be returning once again and will take form as a two-day festival for 2020, with it taking place on August 21-22. The festival, which has seriously helped grow country music within Scotland, was previously a three-day festival, but will be aiming to maintain the quality of previous years and condense that into two days, making for an exciting line-up. Last year, for the 25th anniversary of Millport Country Music Festival, the likes of Cam, American Young, The Adelaides, Remember Monday, Morganway, Elles Bailey, Zoee and Katee Kross appeared throughout the three days, making for a tremendous three days of music. The reason for the dates this year is to avoid other festivals and to enable country music fans to go to multiple if they so wish in the process. As of yet, there is no line-up news, but that is expected to follow through in due course. Reviewing the 25th edition of the festival in the September/October 2019 issue of Maverick, we said that: “The level of organisation and attention to detail shown by the Millport organisers – people who genuinely care and take great pride in what they do – makes this a must attend festival for anyone who has an interest in the genre. “While the bar has been raised this year – bigger crowds and bigger acts – if anyone’s up to the challenge of topping this, it’ll be the Millport staff.”

The nominees for the ACM Awards 2020 have been released, with Thomas Rhett and Maren Morris both set for a busy night with five nominations each. Rhett has been nominated for Entertainer of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Album of the Year for ‘Center Point Road’ and Video of the Year for Remember You Young, while Morris is up for Female Artist of the Year, Album of the Year for ‘GIRL’, Group of the Year for her role in The Highwomen and Musical Event of the Year for her featuring role on Miranda Lambert’s Fooled Around and Fell in Love. Due to how ACM Awards work, if an artist is a producer for an Album of the Year nominee, it technically counts as two awards as producers get one too – hence why both have five nomination. Elsewhere, Carrie Underwood and Eric Church are both up for Entertainer of the Year, though without Garth Brooks like at the CMA Awards, while Underwood is also nominated for Female Artist of the Year. Church meanwhile, has Some of It nominated for Song of the Year. It will also be a busy night for Dan + Shay and Old Dominion, who are nominated for four awards each – Dan + Shay for  Duo of the Year, Song of the Year, Musical Event of the Year and Video of the Year (the latter three all for 10,000 Hours featuring Justin Bieber), while Old Dominion are up for Group of the Year, Single of the Year, Song of the Year and Video of the Year (the last three all for One Man Band). The ACM Awards 2020 nominees are: Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan Eric Church Luke Combs Thomas Rhett Carrie Underwood Female Artist of the Year Kelsea Ballerini Miranda Lambert Maren Morris Kacey Musgraves Carrie Underwood Male Artist of the Year Dierks Bentley Luke Combs Thomas Rhett Chris Stapleton Keith Urban Duo of the Year Brooks & Dunn Brothers Osborne Dan + Shay Florida Georgia Line Maddie & Tae Group of the Year Lady Antebellum Little Big Town Midland Old Dominion The Highwomen New Female Artist of the Year Ingrid Andress Gabby Barrett Lindsay Ell Caylee Hammack Tenille Townes New Male Artist of the Year Jordan Davis Russell Dickerson Riley Green Cody Johnson Morgan Wallen Album of the Year ‘Center Point Road’ – Thomas Rhett (Julian Bunetta, Jesse Frasure, Dann Huff, Thomas Rhett, The Stereotypes, Cleve Wilson) ‘GIRL’ – Maren Morris (busbee, Greg Kurstin, Maren Morris) ‘Heartache Medication’ – Jon Pardi (Bart Butler, Ryan Gore, Jon Pardi) ‘What You See Is What You Get’ – Luke Combs (Scott Moffatt) ‘Wildcard’ – Miranda Lambert (Jay Joyce) Single of the Year God’s Country – Blake Shelton One Man Band – Old Dominion Rainbow – Kacey Musgraves Rumor – Lee Brice What If I Never Get Over You – Lady Antebellum Song of the Year 10,000 Hours – Dan + Shay ft. Justin Bieber Girl Goin’ Nowhere – Ashley McBryde God’s Country – Blake Shelton One Man Band – Old Dominion Some of It – Eric Church Video of the Year 10,000 Hours – Dan + Shay ft. Justin Bieber God’s Country – Blake Shelton One Man Band – Old Dominion Remember You Young – Thomas Rhett Sugar Coat – Little Big Town Songwriter of the Year Ashley Gorley Michael Hardy Hillary Lindsey Shane McAnally Josh Osborne Musical Event of the Year 10,000 Hours – Dan + Shay ft. Justin Bieber Dive Bar – Garth Brooks ft. Blake Shelton Fooled Around and Fell in Love – Miranda Lambert ft. Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack & Elle King Old Town Road – Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus What Happens In a Small Town  – Brantley Gilbert ft. Lindsay Ell

Country in the Afternoon will be returning to the Half Moon in Putney for a third time between May 16-17, with Blake O’Connor and John Gurney headlining. Tickets are on sale for the Saturday here and the Sunday here. The first Country in the Afternoon premiered in 2019 and was a huge hit, to the point that the two-day daytime event has been allowed to continue and to provide fantastic entertainment in the process. This time around, there are four international artists and four UK artists, but all four of the continental acts will be making their London debuts at the event. The four acts in question are O’Connor, who won the Toyota Star Maker award in Australia last year, multi-million selling artist Jeremy McComb, Ruthie Collins and Gurney. O’Connor and McComb will perform on the Saturday, while Collins and Gurney will be performing on the Sunday. As for the UK acts, three-time Grammy winner Sandy McLelland will be performing, as will upcoming dup Gasoline & Matches, Scottish singer/songwriter Chris Mossop and 17-year-old prodigy Megan Louise, who impressed many with her performances at Millport Country Music Festival 2019. Tickets are priced at £17.50 per day and the event takes place between 12:30 and 5pm.  

The Rising have released a studio version of their cover of Love Machine by Girls Aloud, which represents the first phase of a new strategy from the trio. You can listen to the song here. Made up of Chantelle McAteer and Chris Logan, the band are now operating predominantly as a duo and their new strategy is to release a new single a month for the foreseeable future. The song came about after they were asked to come up with an unexpected cover for a BBC Introducing session, which subsequently received a very positive response, to the point that they have opted to release it as a single. The re-imagined version of the 2004 Girls Aloud song, which peaked at Number Two on the UK charts upon its release, features cowbell and banjo and is a totally different version to the original, while Pete Maher (U2, Rolling Stones, The Killers, Snow Patrol) mastered the song. Later on in 2020, The Rising are planning to embark on a UK and Ireland tour, with one date already pencilled in for March 2020 and with many more set to follow. Full dates can be found on the band’s website, which can be accessed here.  

Just a year after his last release, Willie Nelson will be putting out a new album on April 24, which will be titled ‘First Rose of Spring’. You can pre-order the album here. Last summer, iconic star Nelson released ‘Ride Me Back Home’, of which the title track won Best Country Solo Performance at the recent Grammy Awards, but his immediate return to the studio for a new record will come as a surprise to many. While Nelson has joined forces with his long-time associate Buddy Cannon, ‘First Rose of Spring’ has also seen him work with a number of younger songwriters, while he will also cover Our Song by Chris Stapleton. The tracklisting for ‘First Rose of Spring’ by Willie Nelson is: 1. First Rose of Spring – (Randy Houser, Allen Shamblin, Mark Beeson) 2. Blue Star – (Willie Nelson, Buddy Cannon) 3. I’ll Break Out Again Tonight – (Sanger ‘Whitey’ Shafer, Doodle Owens) 4. Don’t Let The Old Man In – (Toby Keith) 5. Just Bummin’ Around – (Pete Graves) 6. Our Song – (Chris Stapleton) 7. We Are the Cowboys – (Billy Joe Shaver) 8. Stealing Home (Marla Cannon-Goodman, Casey Beathard, Don Sampson) 9. I’m The Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised – (Wayne Kemp, Bobby Borchers, Mack Vickery) 10. Love Just Laughed –(Nelson, Cannon) 11. Yesterday When I Was Young (Hier Encore) – (Charles Aznavour, Herbert Kretzmer)