Today is Friday 13th and we're not ones to fall prey to superstition but with yesterday's cancellation of the Country to Country festival in London we are feeling particularly unlucky right now.James was on site at the O2 arena yesterday. It was an eerie and unusual place to be. Social media was aflame with rumour, supposition and super-charged emotions, which was always going to happen because, understandably everyone has an emotional and financial stake in this festival.This is a special, o...

Cornish singer-songwriter Bailey Tomkinson has had an amazing last few weeks. Her last three singles have reached #2 on the iTunes charts but recently, thanks to articles that have appeared in The Metro, The Times and then the Daily Mail her name has been everywhere as she has been put forward as the UK's answer to Taylor Swift. She's even recently appeared in the pages of 'Hello' magazine.James catches up with Bailey and talks to her all about it and talks about her new single, 'Rounds', a d...

Airing in the USA last year and in the UK on BBC4 recently, 'Country Music', the documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns, was an absolute delight and treasure trove of historical information about the world of Country music and the people that populate it.Despite each episode being cut to only 50 minutes here in the UK James found it to be an informative and interesting watch. Driven by watching the series and by the 'weighty tome' of the accompanying book, James explores the 10 things h...

There have been three albums released already in 2020 by Dustin Lynch, Little Big Town and Tenille Arts that are superb examples of the good, the bad and the ugly of the sequencing of albums in Country music.How to put together an album so that it flows and takes the listener on an aural and emotional journey is such a skill and yet Country music often gets the running order and sequencing of albums wrong. In this week's episode James takes a look at what albums he feels have been well put to...

James has identified seven stages that Country music fans need to work through to find contentment and happiness. Each stage has it's ups and downs although (spoiler alert!) stages 3 & 6 are the hardest stages to get through before the light at the end of the tunnel is reached!Take a listen to the podcast and see which stage you are currently at and work out what you need to do to get to the next stage. Yes, this is not only a Country music podcast but also a self-help manual for your own...

A new offshoot of Country music, termed 'Boyfriend Country' by Billboard magazine, has emerged over the past couple of years. In this episode, James looks at what Boyfriend Country actually is and who its leading lights are. He also examines why songs about the redemptive power of women might well be holding back & hampering female artists in Country music.Take a listen and let James know how you feel about the rise of this new brand and whether you feel it is a step forward for the genre...

The CMA awards are, traditionally, not without controversy and this year was no exception. Taking place last night (Weds November 13th) at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, the awards were dogged by the continued narrative about the involvement of women in the Country music industry.The CMA's decided to pair Carrie Underwood with both Dolly and Reba as co-hosts this year, making it a completely Brad Paisley free zone and many of the performances featured established and emerging female arti...

As we move towards the end of the decade various organisations are giving out '.....of the decade' awards. The Academy of Country Music (ACM) is no different. They recently awarded Luke Bryan's 'Crash My Party' the 'Country Music Album of the Decade' award causing James to choke on his afternoon high-tea. In this episode James looks at what criteria the ACM's used in order to award this accolade and he exposes the weaknesses and flaws behind it before going on to suggest six albums that ...

STOP!!!! This is part 2 of a two part look into the C2C festival announcement. If you are tempted to listen to this first, DON'T! Check out Episode 51A, which is part 1, first.This is the concluding part of the double-parter, in which James concludes and wraps up his reaction to the C2C Festival announcement and looks forward to the event in March.

It's always a red-letter day each year, for us fans of Country music here in the UK, when the organisers of the Country 2 Country festival announce the line up for the annual shindig at the O2 Arena in London each March.This year's announcement happened on Monday (October 21st) and since then message boards and Facebook groups have been abuzz with discussion, dissection, dissent and disagreement as people voice their feelings, both negative and positive, towards the artists chosen to grace th...