Interview: HANNAH ROSE PLATT, Nashville Meets London

Liverpool’s own talented singer, songwriter and guitarist Hannah Rose Platt took some time to speak to me about Chanel and Cigarettes, underrated artists, and her Gibson guitar. Read more below!

Ciara’s Country (CC): Hello everyone, I’m joined by Hannah Rose Platt after her set at the Nashville meets London festival in Canary Wharf. So Hannah, thank you very much for joining me today!

Hannah Rose Platt (HRP): Thanks for having me!

CC: So first of all, I wanted to know, how are things going for you today?

HRP: Oh, it’s just amazing! I was just saying to someone back there that my face is aching from smiling because it was just so fun, such a great adrenaline rush, a great day.

CC: Well it seemed that even at this time in the day, everyone was enjoying themselves.

HRP: Yeah, it’s a beautiful day today as well so we’re really lucky.

CC: Can you tell us a bit about the songs you sung for us today?

HRP: Yeah, so most of them are from my debut album Portraits which I recorded out in Nashville last year. I tend to write songs about other people rather than myself, and threw a few of the new ones in there today which will hopefully be on the next album, hopefully giving you a taste of what’s to come!

CC: It’s interesting that you choose to write songs based on other people’s experiences – is there a particular reason for that?

HRP: You know, I think it’s just habit because I used to write stories and poems as a child, it was kind of a narrative, so I think I joined it up with my love affair with country around my late teens and just started to write songs instead of stories really. That’s where it came from. There’s an element of me in all of them, but most of them are about other people, and things I find moving, or interesting, or sad or funny.

CC: So once you have an idea in your head for a song, how do you turn that into the finished piece?

HRP: Sometimes it’s a lot of hard work, and it’s like chiselling away at a piece of wood. Sometimes it comes in a flash and that’s great. There’s no rule really, there’s no set way.

CC: And what would you say has been the most interesting or your favourite song to write so far?

HRP: My favourite song is actually the last song we played today, the Chanel and Cigarettes song because I’m a big blues fan and it’s a lot more bluesy than some of the other tunes. It’s actually a ghost story that I wrote when I was about six or seven that I found in a box that my mum gave to me, and I just thought ‘wow, I’d love to turn this into a song’. I just kind of made it more adult, and turned it into a ghost song. It was a lot of fun to write that song.

CC: So you had a lot of influences in your show today – country, blues – what were some of the influences for you when you were finding your musical style?

HRP: Definitely the alt-country scene, kind of the J Hooks, Wilko, Ryan Adams, and Whiskeytown – all kind of alt-country scene – those were the main influences.

CC: And in terms of the type of music that you listen to, are there any underrated artists out there that you think deserve a lot more recognition?

HRP: Ah, so many! I can’t even think! The person that springs to mind is Don Gallardo – he’s actually doing quite well for himself now. I met him last year as he was over here from Nashville. He’s just a really nice guy, a really talented write, he’s just fantastic. I’m hoping for big things from him in future as he’s so underrated. But there’s so many artists who should be more recognised.

CC: Well hopefully with the growth of the genre in the UK, we’ll hear more about those kinds of people soon.

HRP: I’m sure we will, no doubt.

CC: Finally, my last question for you today is what’s the one question you wish you were asked in interviews but never have been?

HRP: Oh wow, that’s so hard!

CC: It’s always a difficult question asking people what they’ve not heard!

HRP: I mean I think your question was great – what’s the most interesting song for you to make because most people don’t tend to ask that question, but I need to find one that you’ve not asked! Probably about my guitar playing, people don’t really talk about that.

CC: I was very impressed with your guitar playing today!

HRP: I have this thing, especially when I was younger and used to go around gigging, people didn’t used to take me seriously with a guitar, and then they saw it was Gibson and said ‘oh, she must actually be able to play it!’ and that used to be quite frustrating at times. I learnt from my step-dad, watching my step-dad play and he used to teach me guitar but I don’t actually know what I’m doing half the time. I think it works, it seems to work anyway! It’s more about listening and feeling it rather than knowing exactly what chords to play.

CC: So when you’re songwriting, what comes first – the vocals or the guitar?

HRP: You know it all completely varies. I have a bank of guitar riffs on my phone but more often than not, when I think of a good lyric that’s the way I go. But it’s there, kind of like a safety net if I’m struggling and is helping me write quite a few good songs.

CC: Well that sounds exciting for future albums! Thank you very much Hannah for joining me today, and thank you for answering my questions.

HRP: Thank you for having me!  

Want to find out more about Ciara’s Country or Hannah Rose Platt? Check us out on Twitter at @CiarasCountry and @HannahRosePlatt and let us know what you thought of this interview!

Interview: JOSH KELLEY, The Borderline, London

The wonderful Josh Kelley took the time to chat with me about his European tour, writing in a barn, fatherhood, and what he does when he's not making music. Read on below! 

Ciara’s Country (CC): It’s Ciara’s Country here – I’m joined by Josh Kelley ahead of his gig at The Borderline in London. First of all Josh, thank you so much for joining me tonight!

Josh Kelley (JK): Thanks for having me!

CC: So I wanted to know, how are things going for you this year?

JK: Things are going great – I’ve just put a new single called It’s Your Move from my latest record New Lane Road, which is the name of the road my studio’s on. But yeah, it’s going great – I’ve been here in Europe for the last week. I started in Italy and worked my way over to Scotland, now I’m in London and it’s been fantastic. I love it over here.

CC: It’s interesting that you mentioned the reason behind the title of your new album as that was going to be one of my question – can you tell me a bit more about that?

JK: Yeah, yeah, so my recording studio is in a big barn on a farm, and so before you even get to the studio doors you have to pass like six horses, two goats, ten chickens and one pig. The road that it’s off of is actually called New Lane Road, and I just thought that was a fitting title as it’s the road that I’m on everyday, and sometimes I see that title and just think about the fact that I’m starting everyday anew and that’s where I figure out kind of what I want to write for the day before I get to the studio.

CC: And is that also the kind of area where you’d do most of your writing?

JK: Yeah, so I do a lot of cycling, so what I’d do is ride my bike to the studio and it kind of opens up my brain a little bit, allows me to think, and for some reason I feel like I’ve been writing better songs ever since I started cycling!

CC: It’s been a few years since your last studio album was released – how do you think the sound on this latest album is different to previously?

JK: So it’s sort of creeping in to more ‘me’. I grew up around James Brown when I was a kid, I grew up in Augusta, Georgia; so I grew up around soul and pop, and I also grew up around country music so I’ve been trying to melt them together for years, and I finally got the confidence to just go ahead and do it fully. New Lane Road is a nice little hybrid of soul, pop and country kind of all mixing together, and that’s what I wanted for this record, and as I move forward I’m going to sort of keep the same recipe cause this is what I love.

CC: Would you say that the content and the kind of things that you’re talking about in your songs is also quite different?

JK: Yeah, I mean I’m older, I’ve got a bigger family now, I feel like I’m just more of an adult – I don’t know how it happened but I grew up, and I learned how to write better. Like my lyrics are better, and the stories are better, I think they’re more relatable. They actually make sense, you know? Sometimes as a writer, and especially at the beginning, I’d write words that sounded cool even if they didn’t make sense, and I don’t do that anymore. Now I make sure that if you were reading the lyrics, that it feels like a little story even if there wasn’t music.

CC: That sounds like a very country way of writing songs.

JK: You know, it is, but I think it’s also not – it’s music but I don’t think it has to fit neatly into one category. I know you have to choose a lane, but I just love music in general so I always just make whatever I want and I feel like I’m good at making music that I grew up with. So I grew up with my dad, and in his car it was all country music; if I was with my mum it was all Doobie Brothers and just anything groove and funk oriented, and with my brother it was Led Zeppelin and Supertramp and Black Sabbath, and with my sister it was Madonna! So I just enjoy making all of those styles of music so I’ve been trying to find a way to sort of melt them all together.

CC: And I suppose your musical path is quite unique in that you’ve moved across genres over the years.

JK: Yeah, it was all by design though – I wanted to. The first big hit that I had was called Amazing and that song used to be a bluegrass song, and when I got a record deal, I got a pop deal, and the producer turned it into a pop song. All it is is just changing the production! So I’ve always been roots, I’ve always been country, I’ve always been soul, and I can’t change any of that.

CC: What’s the next direction you think you’ll be going in then, if there is one?

JK: It’ll be this same direction – it’ll be a bit more uptempo this time. I wanted to make a nice midtempo record with New Lane Road as that’s the mood I was in and now I’m in a different mood. I have a new baby on the way, I’m really excited; I’ve lost like twenty pounds so I’m in good shape again and that gets you kind of jazzed up so I’ve been writing really fun songs lately.

CC: I have to congratulate you on the new arrival who’ll be coming next year! How do you think having a new baby will affect your musical style and your touring?

JK: You never know, every time I have a new baby I write a song about that baby. It’s such a miracle, it’s so crazy – it’s the most amazing thing to be a dad, I mean I love it, and that’s one thing that’s very evident in my songs, I can’t hide that. I write about what I know, and what I know is that I’m a husband, I’m a father, I’m a golfer, a cyclist, an artist, and I love music so I just write about what I know.

CC: And what would you say has been one of the most interesting songs for you to write?

JK: I think writing Naleigh Moon was really interesting because that was about my first daughter when we adopted her from South Korea, and it was interesting to write because my perspective was kind of unique in the fact that we adopted her and we got her when she was nine months old, so you don’t know if this little being is going to accept you as like her new dad or mum, and that song was about that first moment where I could tell she was like ‘you’re my dad’, and it was the most amazing moment. Trying to put that into words was so hard, but so rewarding when it’s done.  I mean, I slaved over that song until it was perfect, so that one I love. And the new single, It’s Your Move, I slaved over that one too because it was such a real moment in me and my wife’s marriage where we had the choice whether we were going to stay together or part ways, and I’m glad we chose to stay together, cause now we’ve been together for 11 years!

CC: Do you think your kids will have the same upbringing surrounded by music as you did?

JK: Oh they already have. My little Naleigh is such a great singer – she wants to be a singer already! And I don’t know what Adalaide wants to be but both of them can sing, and it’s crazy – neither one of them have my DNA so that clearly doesn’t matter in that respect! So this’ll be my first biological child, so we’re excited - it’s a fun time, and being over here in Europe is insanely fun, and I was just telling my manager I want to live here! Everyone’s so nice and people get my stuff, they get my comedy here and I don’t know why, but I love it.

CC: So after the tour will you get any time to wind down at all?

JK: Nope, I go right back into daddy mode, and I’m always writing and producing music so I go straight back to the drawing board and straight back to being a dad and husband.

CC: Good luck with all that! And just talking about the country music genre as a whole, is there one artist that you listen to that you thinks really underrepresented and deserves more recognition?

JK: Hmm… haha, my manager said Josh Kelley! I don’t know, cause some people sort of dip into the country genre but might not be all the way in it… I mean Nashvilles really good at making sure that whoever’s really damn good gets up there. Come back to me on that, I’m still fighting the jetlag and I don’t know why!

CC: How long have you been over here for now?

JK: We landed Friday morning I think?

CC: You’ve been here for ages – no excuse for jetlag!

JK: I know, I think we’ve been partying too much! There’s been no days off. Ah, I’ve got one for the underappreciated artist question – Joe Firstman. That dude is incredible. Look him up. He’ll blow your mind – he’s amazing. And he’s also linked to a band called Cordovas, so look them up too. Right now, he’s not even doing the solo thing anymore, he’s doing Cordovas, so look that up. It’ll blow your mind, you’re gonna love that.

CC: Thanks for the recommendation! So kind of on a final note, I have to ask what’s one question you wish you were asked in an interview but never are?

JK: Ooh, hold on. I have to be appropriate for this question, don’t I? I don’t even know!

CC: First thing that comes into your mind.

JK: I have a million things! This is really hard because I want to choose the best one. I feel like interviewers are very good at asking questions. I suppose you never really get asked what your other passions outside of music are. Nobody really asks that – usually it’s always music related, or if they know about your personal life. So my other passions are painting, cycling, golf, and I also love to bake.

CC: How do you have any time to make music with all that?

JK: I have no idea! I make fresh croissants which take two days – it’s great.

CC: You know, if this whole music thing doesn’t work out, although I doubt that’ll be an issue, you could always open your own bakery…

JK: Yeah, called Kelley Custom House. You’ll see it, someday!

CC: Sounds great! Well thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions Josh!

JK: Thank you so much!

Big thanks to Josh for taking the time to chat with me - you can check out my review of his gig at The Borderline here, and keep up to date with all future reviews and interviews by following me on Twitter at @CiarasCountry

Interview: DAN & SHAY, Bush Hall, London

Country duo Dan & Shay kindly took the time to talk to me ahead of their show in London as part of the Obsessed Tour - read on to find out what they're obsessed with, choosing the right songs, and what they'd do with lots of money...

Ciara’s Country (CC): I’m joined by Dan & Shay tonight – so first of all, I have to welcome you to the UK! I know a lot of fans have been waiting for you to tour over here for a few years so we’re really glad you’re finally here! How are you enjoying your time in the UK so far?

Dan Smyers (DS): Ah, being in the UK has been incredible so far. The fans are super receptive to the music and with every song that we’ve played over here, the fans know every single word which is just so crazy to see. You know, we’re so far from home and to know that we wrote those songs on like an acoustic guitar at a friends house or a little writing room and to have the music travel this far and have fans know every single word of all of the songs on the new album is surreal, and we’re excited to keep going! We’ve had a few days off here in the UK so we’re enjoying the scenery and just having a good time.

CC: And have you done anything quintessentially British while you’ve been here?

DS: Yeah we’ve been trying to just trust the locals! We’ve gone to local pubs, eating at local joints, and just hanging out and cruising around the place really. We’ve been walking around and trying to see as much as possible really – we’ve been in Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham so far and are going to go out tonight for our sound guys birthday which I’m sure will be crazy so we’ll see what happens! We’ve been taking the train a lot too, which is always pretty crazy with all the guitars and tech and stuff.

CC: I don’t envy you there! So you're over here to support your latest album Obsessed - how would you say this album differs from your first album Where It All Began in terms of things like style and content? 

Shay Mooney (SM): I think as far as style goes, we tried to stay with the traditional Dan & Shay sound of the first album but I think this is Dan & Shay 2.0. We’ve definitely matured as songwriters and so I think we really owe it to our fans to put out the best music possible. We never really stopped writing after our first record and are just trying to continue to write good songs! We put together what we thought was the best of that group, and we’re really proud of this album. I think it’s just the next step for us, and obviously people love our first album – I think we kind of knew a little bit more about what we were doing on this record and wanted to take our time, whereas the first album we kind of made my accident. It was a lot of fun with this one to get in the studio and just be able to take our time in making the Dan & Shay record that we knew we had to make.

CC: And can you tell me a bit about your creative process when it comes to writing songs?

DS: Yeah that's the beauty of songwriting really – it’s different every time. You get in a room with different people, like Shay & I will meet up in a room with one of our friends and it usually starts with a title or an idea. I mean, we both have laundry lists in our phones of titles and concepts, so you start to go down that direction and you kind of try to figure it out as you go along and piece it all together. It’s really satisfying and rewarding whenever you finish a song and you’re proud of it, and you hear the demo and then go record it in the studio. Then when you hear it on the record or the radio, or hearing fans sing the words back to you, it’s really cool to thing about that process from the first step and see how far that song has come, so it’s a really fun adventure. It’s different every time but we love doing it and songwriting is still one of our favourite things to do.

CC: And what would you say out of all the songs you’ve written so far has been the most interesting song for you to write? 

SM: Oh man, that’s a tough question! I think the most special song to write was definitely our last single From The Ground Up because that was a very personal song. But I think as far as the most interesting song to write goes, it would probably be the title track of our second album Obsessed. That song kind of just came together – we were in a writing camp and wrote down that title after seeing all of our fans on social media tweeting different things like ‘I’m obsessed with this, I’m obsessed with Dan & Shay, I’m obsessed with pizza’ and the like, and we hear that phrase a lot so got it written down and ended up writing that song! We felt like it was the perfect track because we wanted it to be a tribute to our fans cause they’re so great to us. We’re obsessed with our fans. I think that was pretty interesting because we wrote the song and we thought it was great when we wrote it just on acoustic guitar, but once we got into the studio and got to play around with different sounds and use a saxophone part, that song really came to life, so it was pretty cool to see the life of that song from start to finish.

CC: Speaking of the album title, Obsessed, what's something you guys are obsessed with that your fans might not know?

DS: Ah man. We’re pretty transparent on social media but I would have to say animal rescue. If you’ve watched our Nothin Like You music video you can see that’s a big passion of ours. We’re heaving involved in it, and we’ve got rescue dogs of our own. In the Nothin Like You video we partnered with a shelter in Nashville and got a bunch of views on the video so hopefully raised awareness for that too. It’s a really cool thing and it’s really close to our hearts.

CC: Do your dogs get to come on tour with you too?

DS: They do! So long as we’ve got room on the bus. Sometimes we kick some of our band members off the bus just so we can fit more dogs. Dogs are better than people anyway haha.

CC: I’d agree with you there! So you mentioned there too From The Ground Up which has been hailed as like the wedding song of the year – how does that make you feel?

SM: We feel great about it! I mean that’s just a crazy thing to be a part of because it’s such a huge moment in peoples lives. You know, the first dance song that’s played at your wedding is something that you’re going to remember for the rest of your life, so for us it’s such an honour. That song means so much to us because we wrote it as a tribute to our grandparents and true love so it’s awesome to hear the stories of what it means to people. We hear so many great stories at Meet & Greets, and on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, so that’s been awesome, so thanks to the fans for making that the wedding song of the year – we like that!

CC: Great! And I read that you actually wrote over 60 songs for this album - how did you pick the ones that ended up on the final cut?

DS: You know, it’s a team effort and we’ve got a great team around us, and great A&R staff at our record label, and we cut our record with Scott Hendricks who’s produced at least 70 number ones at this point in country music, and he’s a notorious stickler for great songs, so he pushes us to make the best possible songs. Whether we wrote the song or we didn’t write the song, having him in our corner is always a good thing and like I say we co-produced our record with him so we really dived in and listened to tonnes of songs. For our fans, we want to deliver the best music possible, and whether we wrote the song or didn’t, we let the best song win and with that motto we’ve been doing alright for ourselves, so it’s working out for us so far and we’re enjoying it!

CC: Sounds like it’s working! Do you ever return to any of the songs that have been like second-favourites but didn’t quite make it through?

SM: After the first record we put together, and it kind of happened really fast, we just never stopped writing. There were a couple of songs that didn’t make the first record, not necessarily because we didn’t like the songs but just because you can’t put twenty songs on an album! There’s always going to be some of the songs that you love that get left out, but there was one song Sway that we loved that didn’t quite get on the first record but we’d play it at Meet & Greets and people loved that song so we knew we had to put it on the second record. There’s often times that there’s just a great song out there that doesn’t make a record but we still love it, and Sway was one of those, but it finally found its place on our second record.

CC: I think it’s great that you tend to play songs that aren’t necessarily on the album at your gigs too, and thanks to artists like you, country music really is growing in the UK.

SM: Yeah, we love that that’s happening too!

CC: Speaking of country, is there one artist out there who you think is currently underrepresented but deserves more recognition? 

DS: Ah there’s so many artists in Nashville that are awesome right now. Let’s see – we’re taking out this guy named Walker Hayes on our fall tour in the United States and he’s really really cool. His stuff is really fresh, and I think he’s going to catch some buzz. We’ve got a really good track record with our opening acts – the first act we took out on tour was Cam and she’s had incredible success with Burning House and her album and touring. Then we took out Canaan Smith who had a big number one, and then our buddy Kelsea Ballerini who we took out on the road and she’s just killing it right now. We think Walker Hayes is the next guy to break and we really believe in his stuff, so if you haven’t heard it, check it out!

CC: Great! Fingers crossed we’ll be seeing artists like Walker and also you guys over here more often then! And then finally as we draw the interview to a close, I have to ask what's the one question you always wish you were asked in interviews but never are? 

SM: Haha that’s a pretty good one there that you just asked!

DS: What about ‘how are you so good looking?’ haha! There’s probably a reason why people don’t ask that… I don’t know, that’s a tough question. I like that question!

SM: Yeah, that’s probably the best question you could ask! I don’t think we’ve ever been asked that.

DS: I think we’d like people to ask us ‘would you like some more money?’ and we would say yes. But they never ask us that!

CC: Ooh, good question and answer there – but what would you do with the money?

SM: We could donate it to a rescue shelter!

DS: I feel like that question is similar to if you had three wishes, I mean I would obviously ask for more wishes. Is that greedy?

CC: Haha I think you answered that very well! Well that’s all the questions I have for you today, so thank you for taking the time to answer all of my questions! Best of luck with the rest of the UK tour and I hope we’ll be seeing you back this side of the pond sometime soon.

DS: Thank you so much! We’re happy to be here, we’re enjoying it and we’re definitely going to come back soon!

Shout-out to Dan & Shay for the great interview - let me know what you thought of the interview on Twitter @CiarasCountry and stay tuned for even more interviews and reviews coming soon!

Concert Review: DAN & SHAY, Bush Hall, London

My gosh, Dan & Shay certainly are popular. By the time I’d arrived at London’s Bush Hall, there was a queue of fans stretching around the block who all rushed in as the doors opened in order to get as close to the stage as possible. With this many fans, and a completely sold out UK tour, I wondered why it was only now, almost 3 years after the release of their first album Where It All Began, that Dan & Shay toured the UK. Nevertheless, I'm sure I speak on behalf of everyone at the concert in saying that I'm glad they were finally here!

As we waited for the gig to begin, the scene was set in the venue thanks to songs by Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton blasting through the speakers, with the crowd occasionally singing along to their favourite tracks and showing that country is alive and well this side of the pond. The high energy atmosphere continued as Pauper Kings took to the stage, getting the crowd clapping along as they began with Friday Night, a poppy upbeat number to get the crowd hyped. This was followed by a more country style track called Feels Like Home, which worked well with the acoustic atmosphere as the band had just brought a few guitars and a cajon box drum on stage - my favourite kind of setup.

Lead singer Tim McKay was able to show off his deep vocals throughout the set, and particularly on new track About A Girl, which they followed up with a cover of the Keith Urban / Dixie Chicks song Some Days You Gotta Dance, with instrumental solos allowing the musicians to show off their skills. The band were also able to show off their songwriting skills with Let It Be Love, an uplifting track recorded following this years mass shooting in Orlando, which showed a softer side to their more rocky sound. Their choice of next song, Messed Up, was well-chosen given the occasion, having been pitched to the band by Dan & Shay themselves, although it did leave me wanting to hear the original demo to see how the band had adapted Dan & Shay’s style to their own. The band finished with high energy tracks Goodbye Would Go and a sing-along cover of Who Wouldn’t Want to Be Me, leaving the crowd hyped and ready for the main act.

It was clear to see the excitement building in the venue for Dan & Shay, and given that it was the final night of the UK leg of their Obsessed Tour, it was bound to be a party, and a huge cheer went up as the duo took to the stage. Like Pauper Kings, Dan & Shay had opted for an acoustic style show with just the one guitar, but absolutely nothing else was needed. They started the set with What You Do To Me, Shay making up for the lack of band by doing his best impression of an 80s guitar and joking around with Dan and the crowd. It’s at times like this that I think country artists put on some of the best shows, with no autotune necessary, meaning that they sound just as good live (if not better) as on their albums and that was evident tonight.

Dan & Shay’s interaction and chemistry both with each other and with the crowd was great, as we were all encouraged to help with the chorus in Show You Off, although everyone seemed just as happy to listen to Shay’s incredible vocal range on its own too. Having not toured the UK before, the set consisted of songs from both the duos first album, Where It All Began, as well as their latest released Obsessed, including their incredibly catchy new single How Not To and slow love ballad From The Ground Up. Lyrics like 'someday we'll wake up with thousands of pictures, of 65 years in this little house. I won't trade for nothing the life that we built, I'll kiss you goodnight and say, I love you still' make it clear to see why this has been chosen as the anthem for many country fans weddings this year, and I’m sure many of them would have loved to see it performed live, with Shay holding quite possibly the longest solo note known to man towards the end of the song – not an easy feat I’m sure!

In spite of the autumnal weather outside, we were treated to a taste of summer with Stop, Drop + Roll and All Nighter bringing me, and I’m sure many others in the audience, back to fond memories of rocking out to the duos tracks on long summer nights. As well as dancey tracks like these, Dan & Shay have written some great love songs which they also showed off at the gig, including Can’t Say No and one of my personal favourites Already Ready which you can’t help but love. Another favourite of mine, Lipstick, was added as a last minute addition to the setlist especially for this last night of tour, and the positive reaction from the crowd to hearing this song played live for the first time hopefully convinced the duo that we’d love to have them back soon.

As well as all of the fans at the concert, Dan also mentioned another of their fans who hadn’t been able to make it – Ed Sheeran, who they honoured with a stunning cover of Thinking Out Loud, showing how easily the two can put their own country twist on popular songs. The duo made sure to finish on a high with some of their most popular songs Nothin Like You and 19 You + Me, although I’m sure the crowd would have loved them to keep playing all night. However, the show wasn't quite over, and I loved the fact that they made sure to come out after the show to do a Meet & Greet with everyone there which I’m sure must have taken quite a while. It’s things like this and making time for fans that make you like an artist even more, and I know that myself and many others are Already Ready for Dan & Shay to return to the UK and sell out another tour. 

Keep up to date with all things Dan & Shay and Ciara's Country by checking out @CiarasCountry on Twitter - let me know what interviews and reviews you'd like to see!

Concert Review: JOSH KELLEY, The Borderline

I really like London’s The Borderline as a venue – it’s got a cool vibe to it with its small stage and red velvet background. Venues don’t really get more intimate than this, and I think for that reason, it was the ideal place for Josh Kelley’s concert.

Upon walking into the venue, I got first of a number of pleasant surprises upon seeing who would be the opening act for the gig – Liverpudlian country singer Laura Oakes, whom I’d been hearing a lot about over recent months as ‘one to watch’. As the room began to fill up, Laura and her band took to the stage with a bang launching wholeheartedly into her set. It was clear to see that Laura was enjoying herself as she swayed along to the music, and certainly looked the part in a sparkly gold top and cowboy boots. I was pleased how far she’d come since the release of her first EP, Laura Oakes, last June, clearly having worked hard to keep moving up in the country music industry. She treated us with a variety of songs from her self-titled EP such as the slow ballad Whatever You Want and feisty Don’t Let It Hit Ya, as well as first listens from her upcoming EP, including the pump-up jam Better in Blue Jeans, and making for a very enjoyable opener.

A little while later, I got another surprise when Josh Kelley walked on stage by himself with just a guitar, with the first thought running through my head being ‘where’s his band?’ I don’t think I’d ever been to a gig like this before, but asanyone who’s read a review by me knows, my favourite parts of concerts are often when the band takes a rest and we’re treated to a moment of focus just on the singer themselves, and here we were with an entire gig of just that! I was thrilled. It didn’t feel like anything was missing either – Josh is a very accomplished musician (he plays all of the instruments on his records) with many of the songs he played beginning with complicated guitar intros, and highlighting that nothing more than him and a guitar was needed for a great gig.

Josh started off with his ‘soundcheck song’ One Foot In The Grave to warm up the crowd before playing a new song he’d written for his wife entitled Love You Like Me. I liked the heartfelt nature of this song, with lyrics like ‘Everyone loves you, but nobody loves you like me’ showing a very personal side of his life that fans of himself and his wife might otherwise not think about. Following these first too songs, the rest of the gig was almost entirely improvised, with Josh asking the crowd what they wanted to hear next with no planned set-list. This meant we had songs ranging from a mash-up of the blues-influenced Masterpiece and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air to his 2003 pop hit Amazing, and even some spontaneous rapping when he felt like it. It was very much a night of doing what he and the crowd wanted, and I think we all appreciated him for doing so, and this was just one of the ways that his likable personality shined through during the set.

As well as songs from his earlier pop-rock days, there was of course some country music to reflect the direction Josh’s musical style has moved in the last few years, including his latest single It’s Your Move written about a blow-out fight with his wife and not knowing which direction the relationship will go; and Only God Can Stop Her Now about a man looking after his pill-addicted wife. Josh’s songs deal with incredibly real subjects, as country should, and songs like Almost Honest and Home To Me were played with a lot of pure feeling, making it clear that they’d come from real experiences as opposed to being written just to sell records. This was particularly obvious in the two songs he wrote for his daughters, Naleigh Moon and Cowboy Love Song, both of which he played soft and slow as if he were singing directly to his children, and sharing these intimate moments with the lucky crowd at The Borderline.

However, in spite of the deep nature of many of his songs, Josh took time between songs to share personal anecdotes and jokes that made it feel very much as if he actually wanted to be there as much as we in the audience did. For instance, he introduced his 2011 hit Georgia Clay by saying ‘country singers like to write songs about how much they love trucks, but I’m not about that. Instead, I decided to write a song from the perspective of a truck,’ and it was little moments like this that made the concert more memorable than most.

After a fantastic hour and forty-five minutes, the gig drew to a close with Gone Like That and Call It What It Is, both of which I enjoyed even better in their acoustic versions than studio versions. Josh Kelley, if you’re reading this, I beg of you to release an acoustic album because I’d love for everyone to experience your music the way those at The Borderline did! I’ll be honest, I like a lot of concerts, but I really liked this one. There were just so many things right with it, from the anecdotes and jokes to the request taking to the simplicity of man and guitar. Kudos to you, Josh.

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Concert Review: UNDER THE APPLE TREE ROOTS FESTIVAL, Cadogan Hall

Bob Harris’ inaugural Under the Apple Tree Roots Festival had the aim of showcasing both well established country and Americana stars as well as up and coming talent. Did it succeed in doing so? I think so. 

The first success was in the choice of venue. Cadogan Hall wouldn’t be my first port of call for a country concert, but it fit UTAT down to a tee. As you entered the venue, a small ‘Rootstock Stage’ had been set up in front of the building’s stunning stained glass windows, which provided the perfect backdrop for some great photos. However, even this paled in comparison to the Main Stage in Cadogan Hall’s auditorium which looked like some kind of cathedral to country music, immediately causing me to draw comparisons to Nashville’s Ryman Theatre where the Grand Ole Opry is often held. Should the UK hold its own Opry one day, Cadogan Hall would easily be my first choice. 

The second success was in the artists themselves. I had gone to UTAT familiar with three of the artists on the line-up, and had high expectations given Bob Harris’ status as the UK’s premier country music aficionado. The first act taking to the Rootstock Stage was 19 year old singer-songwriter Catherine McGrath who immediately wowed with her raw country voice, reminding me of a young Kacey Musgraves. Songs like Hey Mama and Cinderella highlighted her extensive vocal range, and we were told stories about the inspiration for songs such as Hell Would Have to Freeze Over as well as (particularly important for reviewers) their titles. I was particularly impressed by her country cover of Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself which sounded like it should never work, but surprisingly did. Although the first act is often seen as a warm up as people arrive, I certainly felt that I’d have been sad to have missed this. Catherine seemed to be a very personable artist with a lot of talent and potential, and I was pleased to hear that she’d recently signed with Warner Bros Records as I expect big things from this young singer in future.

We then headed into the main auditorium for the first of eight acts playing this stage, Dan Bettridge, who certainly showed the more rootsy Americana side of the festival. His gravelly voice shone in particular on a cover of Bonnie Raitt’s I Can’t Make You Love Me, and I loved the simplicity of the event itself as there were no fancy lights or big screens on the stage, allowing you to focus solely on the artist alone. By this point in the festival, I already knew that I’d be coming back next year despite only having seen two acts!

Dan was followed by the duo Lewis & Leigh formed of Al Lewis, hailing from North Wales, and Mississippi’s Alva Leigh. They played a number of songs from their latest album including Devil’s in the Detail, Heart Don’t Want, and Keep Your Ghost, and shared an intimate moment as they sang the easy-listening The 4:19 around one microphone. I thoroughly enjoyed their set and was almost annoyed that I hadn’t heard of them sooner, but pleased that events like UTAT were opening my eyes to artists I might not otherwise have discovered.

Next on the main stage was Squeeze frontman Chris Difford, whose style was completely different from those who had preceded him with a much more ‘old school’ British punk pop vibe. As he sang songs like Up The Junction and Cool For Cats, I wasn’t sure that I would have put him in the country / Americana category that was being highlighted at the UTAT Festival. Nevertheless, this side did come through at some points such as in the song Cowboys Are My Weakness with the subject matter clearly veering more directly into country territory.

Back on the Rootstock Stage was Devon-raised singer Jim Jones who performs under the name ‘Small Town Jones’ so as to be easier to find on Google. He didn’t seem to draw the same crowd as Catherine McGrath had earlier, but this may have been due to the location of the bar directly opposite the stage, leading to a constant hum from people chatting as they ordered their drinks. I enjoyed his rocky songs like Little Blackbird and A Night Full of Ghosts, with a particular highlight being the title track of his latest album Freight Ships. The song had been written and recorded in Texas, and I don’t know what it is about writing in the home of country music, but it always seems to produce better songs, and this was no exception with its long guitar intro and rising and falling vocals.

Back on the Main Stage, we were treated to a mini orchestra who accompanied Judith Owen as she played songs from her latest album Somebody’s Child. Again, here was a style of music that I hadn’t yet come across in country music, as Judith put a unique jazzy Cabaret style twist on her songs.

She was followed by The Lake Poets Martin Longstaff, who played the whole set with just him and his guitar and showing that that’s all you need for an enjoyable performance. Most of his songs had a sad vibe to them, as he professed “I’m not very good at writing happy songs,” but as country should, drew on real experiences – Edinburgh spoke of a fight in a bar he’d had, whilst Black and Blue told the story of a time when one of his pupils at school had shown him bruises inflicted by her father. Nevertheless, it wasn’t all sadness with songs such as See You Tonight, dedicated to his new wife, providing a pleasant change in his set.

Perhaps the most Americana of all the acts was Andrew Combs, whose entire set felt to me like it could easily have been the soundtrack to a Texas Western film. Looking cool and very country in double denim and cowboy boots, Andrew played songs I’m sure many of the crowd recognised from his set at C2C Country to Country earlier this year, starting with the folksy Month of Bad Habits and Rainy Day Song. I enjoyed seeing Andrew play in a very different atmosphere to the big stadium feel of the O2, as his music seemed to be the type that would fit better in intimate venues like Cadogan Hall or the Bluebird. Andrew’s style certainly veers in a completely different direction to most country you’d hear on the radio, with more indie rather than pop influences, stripping back songs such as Foolin’ and Too Stoned to Cry to their bare essentials and allowing us to focus on his voice and lyrics without any unnecessary distractions.

Due to interviewing schedules, I sadly missed Scott Matthews’ set but managed to catch the end of Balsamo Deighton’s set before the final act on the Rootstock Stage, UK country favourites Dexeter. Straight away, they set the tone by telling the crowd they wanted us to be loud and launched into a high energy performance of their song Try mashed with Luke Bryan’s hit Country Girl (Shake It For Me). I absolutely loved lead singer Deeanne’s voice, being undoubtedly the strongest I’d heard that evening, let alone ever – she could give Carrie Underwood a run for her money. Songs from their latest EP such as Weight of the World, Waiting For A Lifetime and Not Giving Up Tonight all seemed to me to be really strong both lyrically and musically, and thought they sounded even better live than on their records. I was really impressed with Dexeter, and think with just a little more support, this band could definitely be one to watch in the UK country circuit.

The penultimate act of the festival was one that I’m sure many people had been waiting for – Ward Thomas. Having made history the night before with their album Cartwheels becoming the first country album to top the UK charts, they were undoubtedly UK country’s ‘act of the moment’. Entering the stage to great applause, they began with Boomerang and Dirt and Gold, both of which made it clear to see how these girls had achieved the number 1 spot, as their style of country was very much pop-infused and therefore easily accessible. The duo were joined by their band, but it was moments when the band stopped playing and you hear only the girls harmonies, such as during their renditions of Material and Where The Sky Is, in which they brought on two of their writers to perform it ‘exactly as it had been written’, that I most enjoyed. The girls are clearly talented singers with a plethora of catchy songs such as hard-not-to-love current single Guilty Flowers and rock out song When It’s Not Me, making it easy to understand their appeal. They left the stage to stamping feet and demands for and encore, to which they obliged with A Town Called Ugley – an end to an enjoyable set which was sadly tinged later when the duo didn’t come out for their allotted signing time, leading to many disappointed fans who I’m sure just wanted to congratulate the girls on their success.

The event ended with country heavyweight Patty Griffin, who certainly looked the part in a long flowing red dress and red cowboy boots. From the moment she began playing her guitar, it was clear that she was a very accomplished musician, a feeling which continues all through her set. Patty’s songs dealt with issues that other artists might have been uncomfortable talking about, such as Good and Gone, about the all too frequent shootings of young black men in the States, and I was pleased that this event showcased more than just singers, but musicians and songwriters too who presented the best of what real and raw country music is all about. Considering you’d have to pay £45 minimum to see one artist at the O2 arena, I can’t say I’d complain about paying the same to see 13 high-calibre artists at UTAT, and look forward to the festival continuing for many years to come.  

What were your thoughts on Under the Apple Tree, any of the artists, or my review? Let me know @CiarasCountry on Twitter, and be sure to follow for more reviews and interviews!