Most of the year we go out of our way to show just how contemporary the country music scene is and to prove it’s not all double-denim, rhinestones and tassels. But then a festival like The Long Road rolls into town and suddenly we’re “OK, I’m off to meet my people… shut up and […]
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This time last year The Long Road festival raised the bar for both country music events in the UK, and for my tolerance for camping. Back then I raved about it and said I absolutely couldn’t wait for this September, that I was ready to go back to sunny Leicestershire right away. But somehow I […]
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The Danes have a distinctive, peculiar way of applauding. To show their appreciation for a particularly good performance, rather than the ripple of unsynchronised clapping we (Brits and possibly the rest of the world) break out in, theirs is a chant-like clap in unison. It’s a sound I got used to with over four days of stunning […]
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I had accidentally fallen into an audio rut. Last month I went for an overdue coffee (and mojito doughnut) with a friend and she led with “are you still into country music?”. “Of course!” I replied. Why had she asked? This isn’t a transient aspect of my life, not like “are you still dating that […]
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The sun’s coming out, Lauren Alaina’s coming over and the toilets are going in. These are the last couple of days before the launch of Dixie Fields, a new country music festival in Chelmsford, Essex. My chat with festival pioneer Georgie is delayed because she’s been caught up in possibly the most crucial calculation since […]
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