Welsh-based, UK-focused Country Music Reviews and Interviews
Gig Diaries – Northern Songbirds 2026 Tour
The final leg of the inaugural ‘Northern Songbirds’ tour came to Liverpool, in the ever more intimate setting of the Kazimier Stockroom. It felt small enough on my first visit a month ago but this time a curtain across one side and a lengthy merch stand on the other meant a tighter squeeze. It took nothing away from the atmosphere,…
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Fieldlily – Grow
The metamorphosis from Wildwood Kin to Fieldlily has not been as radical as the timespan. The Key sisters have retained much of their electro-folk that still washes over the soul like waves on a shore. The difference now, in the absence of drummer Meg, is less a punctuation and more a delicate offering of wisdom gleaned. Their debut EP, ‘Grow’,…
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Gig Diaries – Good Company (February 2026 edition)
I had the perfect solo date night on Valentine’s Day this year, having finally made it to a Good Company Songwriters Round. Set up and starring the inimitable Katy Hurt, I settled down in my usual back row chair at Thornton Hough Village Club for two hours of original music from Emilia Quinn, Tennessee Twin, and Katie Nicholas. It was…
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Gig Diaries – Amelia Coburn
The Kazimier Stockroom was once just that it seems. With a crowd bundled in beneath neon strip-lights and antique odds and ends. The music echoing through the walls from the adjoining public garden is, at first, a worrying distraction. But once Amelia Coburn begins her set (the latest on her UK tour) thankfully, the focus is all on her. With…
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Elles Bailey – Can’t Take My Story Away
The word I would use to describe Elles Bailey is consistent. The singer-songwriter from Bristol is so consistently good that the hype surrounding her latest release is no surprise to those who have followed her for years. ‘Can’t Take My Story Away’ may be her most personal yet, but it contains many of the same ingredients that make up a…
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Five Festive Country Tunes for 2025
Christmas has crept up on me this year. So much so that I’ve already missed a fair few singles with an undeniably festive feel. To put that right, I thought I’d do a quick rundown of five tunes with which to fill your musical stocking. Four from the UK, plus a bonus track from one of my favourite artists. Bobbie-Jo…
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Laura Evans – Out of the Dark
Laura Evans returns with a second album as good as the first. If ‘State of Mind’ was a revelation then ‘Out of the Dark’ cements her reputation. That signature Blues/Rock sound once again echoing from the speakers with anthemic precision. ‘Wherever You Are’ begins an album that is heavy on the beat. Expressing with intent here the raucous river of…
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Evelyn Cornell – Seventeen
Seventeen seems to be a seminal year for country artists. Shay Gaston and Rebecca Hurn have already covered the age in their own way and now Evelyn Cornell offers her perspective. ‘Seventeen’ is her debut single and is just as wonderfully reflective. Nostalgia here coming in the form of “Garden parties in the yard… / Driving through the night… /…
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Amy-Jo – Friends You Meet Along the Way (Chester)
I am normally passing through Chester to go to gigs. So it was a pleasant surprise to find the first date on Amy-Jo’s new tour within the city itself. Keeping the same title as her last one, ‘Friends You Meet Along the Way’, her two companions for this one were Grace Elizabeth Harvey and Bella Wright. Both brought different facets…
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Caitlin Mae – Your Truck
Caitlin Mae has become well and truly versed in the sounds of Nashville. Her latest single ‘Your Truck’ is straight down the middle country at its modern best. A chorus fit for the dancefloor as pop mixes with banjo and pedal steel. It belies a narrative of nostalgia which transplants a Miss Havisham protagonist into an F-150 pick-up truck. Its…
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