10 Minute Country

There are landmark episodes in the life of any podcast. Episodes 50 and 100 being the two biggest but it's also worth celebrating episode 69 so what better way to mark the auspicious occasion than a chat with legendary broadcaster Bob Harris.Bob, who is celebrating 50 years in the industry himself this year, is the brains behind a new project and single release in October. He has asked musicians across the world of Rock, Country, Folk and Blues to contribute to a re-recording of Ben E King's ...

We're 6 months into this 'no live music' pandemic now and with a winter of discontent apparently ahead of us it doesn't appear that there will be any big tours, live shows or live music anytime soon either.With the prospect of C2C in March being cancelled again and potentially no live shows for the whole of 2021 ahead of us it's now time for the fans, the artists and the record labels to embrace change and think outside the box regarding how we consume and pay for the content we love otherwis...

The nominations for the 2020 CMA awards were released yesterday (Tuesday 1st September) and once again, the name of Kane Brown is conspicuous by its absence. Kane Brown, with multiple number ones, commercial success and personal creativity has never once received a single CMA nomination despite gaining nominations and awards from other bodies like the ACMs, Billboard and the American Music Awards.In today's podcast we explore why. Let us know your thoughts too.

We speak to Mae Estes about her life and career to date. Mae is one of Nashville's brightest talents and has just released her sassy new song, co-written with the awesome Kenny Foster.Mae is playing a three song set for Destination Country on Sunday 23rd August as support to Canadian writer & performer Victoria Banks. We suggest you check out her awesome songs like 'Best Side', 'Recycled' and our particular favourite, 'Naked'. You will NOT be disappointed!

James speaks to UK artists Emma & Jolie on the day that their debut single, 'I Don't Need a Man' is released. Join in the celebrations as they talk about the release of the song, how it was written in Nashville with Emily Hackett and the inspirations behind it.The girls discuss how they deal with unwanted male attention on social media, what their hopes for the future are and how they are a little bit obsessed with Josh Kerr!! You can also listen to a snippet of 'I Don't Need a Man' ...

This week, James vents his frustration with the way the labels and record companies in Nashville are currently releasing music. (or maybe it's just that he's a dinosaur from another era?)James explores whether or not content is just being tossed into the bottomless ether of social media and Spotify and gets into the weighty analysis of what exactly is an EP and whether they are meaningful or just ways of record labels tossing music out to content-hungry fans with the attention span of a gnat ...

James returns from 'Country Music Furlough' and looks at the controversy raging in the genre right now between those fans and artists who want to be playing and attending concerts and those who think it is way too soon.He also has some suggestions for the way forward for artists that are far from ideal but about as good as it is going to get for a while.Whose side are you on? Should there even be sides? Would you go to a concert right now if you had the chance? Let us know in the comments sec...

So many artists in the past month have announced the delay or postponement of their scheduled album releases. Luke Bryan, Margo Price, Wille Nelson and the Dixie Chicks have all announced delays in the Country world, whilst artists like Bon Jovi, Alicia Keys, The Pretenders and Lady GaGa have also joined them from other areas of the music industry.It doesn't seem to make sense! We're all at home with nothing to do but listen to music - why would you not want to capitalise on that? That was Ja...

Today is 'Never Will' release day. April 3rd 2020 and amongst all the rubbish and angst that the world is going through there shines a rare beacon of hope, light and creativity.James reviews Ashley McBryde's new album and finds himself in awe, nay, shell-shocked as to what he finds. Bigger, bolder, ballsier than 'Girl Going Nowhere', McBryde seems to have skipped albums two and three and jumped ahead about five years in terms of growth and learning. 'Never Will' is simply a triumph of Country...

The cancellation of this year's C2C festival has major ramifications going forward. In this episode James explores the possibilities that the organisers have going forward and then realises that there isn't an ideal solution to this problem.In the second half of the podcast James examines the wider impact the Coronavirus is having on the music industry - he ponders whether this will cause a paradigm shift in the relationship between the artist and the fan and whether there are possibilities t...