SCOTCOUNTRY MUSIC NEWS

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, the Raintown/ Katee Kross gig at East Kilbride Village Theatre , scheduled for August has been rearranged for Saturday October 10th.
All tickets for the original date will still be valid for the new date.  Anyone needing a refund, these will be allocated once the Village Theatre returns from the current Lockdown.
Katee Kross has just released "Bumblebee" from her "Show Your Hand" album, as her new single.

The world premiere of My Bonnie Lass, a musical written by Scots born , Canadian Platinum selling recording artist Johnny Reid, will take place in the spring of 2021. Two performances of My Bonnie Lass are scheduled to take place at the Glace Bay, NS theatre on May 9 (Canadian Mother’s Day) of next year.
Co-written with Toronto playwright Matt Murray, and based on the true story of Reid’s grandmother Maggie, My Bonnie Lass chronicles the life of a working class mother of three, in postwar Lanarkshire, Scotland. When tragedy strikes and Maggie’s world is turned upside down, she must rely on her strength, her sense of humour, and above all, her loyal group of friends to pull her through.
Watch a promo video for My Bonnie Lass! here
Whenever I visit Cape Breton I’m reminded of where I grew up in Scotland,” says Reid. “The rolling hills that lead you to the ocean, all the good hearted, hard-working people who take time to simply say “Good Morning”, its Celtic culture and the fact that coal mining once fueled its economy. For all these reasons Cape Breton is the perfect place to debut My Bonnie Lass and introduce my Gran’s story to the east coast. I want to continue to give back to the people that have always supported me and welcomed me with open arms. “
My Bonnie Lass is a love letter to Reid’s Grandmother and all the women of her generation. It is a celebration of the human spirit, the power of a mother’s love, and the way these women always made the most out of life even when they seemed to have nothing.
Over an illustrious career spanning more than two decades, JUNO Award winning singer-songwriter, Johnny Reid has captured the hearts of fans and audiences around the world. The critically acclaimed singer is widely known for his lyrical honesty and musical ability, as demonstrated by an extensive catalogue of hit songs, album sales totalling over 1.5 million units in Canada, countless awards and multiple sold out national arena tours.

Glasgow's Grand Ole Opry have cancelled all bookings for the rest of the year, due to the Covid-19 lockdown. Even, as businesses start to reopen, the entertainment industry is likely to face unprecedented social distancing restrictions for some time, making it difficult to hold events. All venues will face the same issues, and will certainly not be a unique issue for The Opry

Commerce, Georgia radio station WJJC, where Bill Anderson began his career in the music industry more than 60 years ago, is honoring Anderson by re-branding as Whisperin’ 95.1 to honor the songwriter and performer. The station is also launching a new website, whisperin951.com.
In 1957, Anderson served as the first disc jockey for the classic country station.
To celebrate the re-naming, Anderson went live on air Friday morning at 10 a.m. EST, kicking off the special hour long programming that exclusively premiered a new recording of “City Lights,” which Anderson wrote while working at the station. The song was later became a No. 1 hit for Ray Price.

Bass singer, songwriter and humorist Harold Reid of The Statler Brothers died Friday April 24 at age 80 of kidney failure.
Don Reid was the group’s chief songwriter, but his brother Harold collaborated with him on a number of the act’s biggest hits of the 1970s, including “Do You Remember These” (1972), the Grammy Award-winning “Class of ‘57” (1972), “Carry Me Back” (1973), “Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott” (1973), “Some I Wrote” (1978), “Do You Know You Are My Sunshine” (1978), “The Official Historian on Shirley Jean Burrell” (1978) and “How to Be a Country Star” (1979).
Reid and the other members of his quartet were elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008. The Statler Brothers were the CMA Vocal Group of the Year every year from 1972 to 1977, then again in 1979, 1980 and 1984. The act hosted its own TNN cable TV series in 1991-98. It was the network’s top-rated program.
Harold Reid was also the foundation of the Statlers’ comedic alter ego, Roadhog Moran & The Cadillac Cowboys. He was the parody act’s leader, Lester “Roadhog” Moran.
Bass harmony vocalist Reid founded The Four-Star Quartet in 1948. The gospel act also performed as The Kingsmen. After Harold’s lead singing younger brother Don Reid joined, the quartet became known as The Statler Brothers in 1955.
Based in Virginia, the group took its name from a box of Statler facial tissues. After working on the gospel-quartet circuit, the group was discovered by Johnny Cash. He made the Statlers part of his roadshow in 1964-71. They were also featured on Cash’s national television series in 1969-71.
During its 1965-90 heyday as hit makers, The Statlers placed 66 titles on the country charts. Of these, 33 became top-10 hits.
The Statler Brothers remained in Staunton, VA throughout their career. Beginning in 1970, the act staged annual July 4th celebrations in Staunton. These “Happy Birthday U.S.A.” events lasted for 25 years and eventually attracted crowds approaching 100,000.
A huge fireworks display always capped the festivities. These fountains of explosion were launched near Harold Reid’s home, Boxley Farm. The city of Staunton dedicated a monument to the group in 2002.

The COVID-19 virus started with one person. Within weeks, it spread to all parts of the world, affecting the health and well-being of our entire planet. Everyone, from every economic level and every walk of life, has been affected. It demonstrated that we do all live in one world.
Music is a universal language. So a couple of Canadian had an idea to get a song that would spread across the world just like the virus.
Jason McCoy and Jim Payetta have written a song, We Are One. The goal is to have as many people as possible record their own version of this song and share it on your socials with your friends. Let's get the positive message of this song to spread around the world! You can download the backing tracks to use to record your version, or create your own from scratch, or do an acoustic version on your phone, or simply sing along and record a video of yourself. Then you're invited to share it on You Tube and your social platforms and use hashtag #weare1worldsong.
The website www.weare1world.net has the video,
lyrics and the different versions of audio

The monthly Acoustic Nights at the Meeting Place in Rutherglen have moved online following the covid-19 restrictions on public gatherings.  And instead of monthly events, the online concerts can be viewed live every Friday @ 8pm.
"Musicians everywhere have been hit hard during this current crisis and to help out we are inviting musicians to create a live video recording from their homes to your home! says Louise Mairs. "It will hopefully be aired at 8pm every Friday night so that you can all be 'a virtual audience' together!!
We will be inviting you to donate directly to whoever is performing that week. Just to help them out as most musicians do not have a nest egg or spare funds to fall back on"
Keep an eye on Facebook's Acoustic Nights@the Meeting Place for links.

Some of Ireland’s leading musicians have banded together on a new track reminding people how important it is to stay at home during the coronavirus outbreak.
NATHAN is joined on the track by an all-star line-up including Brian Kennedy, Johnny Logan, Chloe Agnew, Tommy Fleming and Sean Keane. The song has been put together in record time by the artists, who have each recorded lines in their own living rooms and home studios.
“The idea for this track actually came after reading an article from Father Brian D’Arcy, where he mentioned that someone should really write a song for this time. I was sitting at home with plenty of time on my hands and I thought, I could do that!
“With the help of my manager and co-writer John Farry, we put the lyrics together pretty quickly. The key thing we wanted to get across was how important it is to stay at home to keep ourselves and those we love safe. Like everyone else, we miss gigs and parties, meeting up with friends and family but right now, we have to sacrifice those things. If we all do it, we can get everyone back to music and dancing so much quicker.
Proceeds from the download of this single will be donated to healthcare charities.

The organisers of the Millport Country Music Festival have announced that this years event has been cancelled.
In a statement, the organisers advised "It is with a heavy heart that we must announce that Millport Country Music Festival will no longer be taking place this year.
The safety of community residents and festival-goers, as well as the artists, staff and crew who make the festival possible, is our top priority. The situation around COVID-19 has been changing rapidly in the past days and weeks and, unfortunately, under the circumstances it has become impractical to plan, prepare and deliver an event on the scale of Millport Country Music Festival whilst keeping everyone safe.
Dates for 2021 will be determined as soon as possible.
Please take care of yourselves and we look forward to seeing you all again in Millport in 2021.

This year's Spring Into coun try Festival in Renfrew will be Fall Into Country this year, as the event has been rescheduled to take place at the David Lloyd Leisure Centre on Sunday September 6th.
The line up still features Jolene & Barry, Angie King & Abbey, Stateline and Clay County.

Multi-million selling Grand Ole Opry star JOE DIFFIE passed away on Sunday, March 29, following a brief illness. Diffie, 61, announced days earlier that he had tested positive for COVID-19, the coronavirus. He has now become the first music star to die from the disease.
One of the biggest country hit makers of the 1990s, Joe Diffie had more than 20 Top 10 hits. They include such No. 1 smashes as “Home,” “Third Rock from the Sun” and “Pickup Man.” He holds four Gold Record awards and two Platinum ones for his albums.
The virus also claimed the life of songwriting legend JOHN PRINE who passed away on Tuesday, April 7 at age 73, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
He wrote or co-wrote such hits as Don Williams’ “Love Is on a Roll,” Bonnie Raitt/Tanya Tucker's  “Angel From Montgomery,” Lynn Anderson’s “Paradise” and George Strait/Daniel O'Donnell's  “I Just Want to Dance with You.”
But his true importance is measured by his influence on other artists and their universally held respect for him.During a five-decade, 25-album career, the singer-songwriter amassed a devoted cult following. Two of his albums won Grammy Awards. The Americana Music Association named him an Artist of the Year in 2005 and 2017. BMI gave him its Troubadour Award in 2018. He was a pioneer in self-marketing music via his own record label.

Heart Of Texas recording artist AMBER DIGBY, who won many Scottish fans with her appearances at the Caithness Festivals has released a new album, with a steller lists of fellow artists under the apt title of "Heroes, Mentors And Friends : The Legends Project".
The album features collaborations with the likes of Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, Vince Gill, Larry Gatlin, The Whites and Moe Bandy, as well as Jeannie C Riley, Jeannie Seely, Johnny Rodrigueaz, Jerry Nail and Johnny Bush.
It'a Amber's first album for several years and has been well worth the wait. It's a superb Country album.

Country music mourned the passing of two legends in mid March.
Superstar KENNY ROGERS, famed for hits like "The Gambler,” “Lady,” “Islands In The Stream,” “Lucille,” and “She Believes In Me,” passed away on
Friday, March 20. He was 81.
Rogers garnered 20 No. 1 country hits between 1977 and 1987, many of which climbed the pop charts. During his lengthy career the international star sold more than 50 million albums in the United States alone. Rogers was a five-time CMA Award-winner and entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
Before becoming one of Country music's biggest stars, he started off in a Houston jazz trio. Membership in the New Christy Minstrels folk group spurred the founding of the First Edition, in which Rogers and other former Minstrels mixed folk, rock and country sounds. The new group went to No. 5 on the pop chart in 1967 with Mickey Newbury’s psychedelic “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” and in 1969 caught Country music's attention with "Ruby, Dont Take Your Love To Town".
The Grand Ole Opry also lost one of its oldest members in JAN HOWARD.
During her long career, Jan Howard was a recording star, a hit writer, a member of Johnny Cash’s troupe, Patsy Cline’s demo singer, Bill Anderson’s duet partner, Harlan Howard’s wife and business co-owner, Tammy Wynette’s confidant and Wynn Stewart’s disc collaborator, as well as a matriarch of the Opry cast.
Her big solo hits included “The One You Slip Around With” (1960), “Bad Seed” (1966) and the Grammy-nominated singles “Evil On Your Mind” (1966) and “My Son” (1968). While working on the West Coast, she recorded such 1958-60 duets as “Wrong Company,” “How the Other Half Lives” and “Yankee Go Home” with Wynn Stewart. Jan was 91.

The Grand Ole Opry has been heard on WSM radio from Nashville since 1925, and it takes more than COVID-19 to stop it.  Despite the Social distancing measures in place the Opry has continued on WSM radio, and on the newly launched Circle TV. Since March 21st the Opry has played to an empty Opryhouse, but with an audience at home around the world.  Lineups have included Marty Stuart, Vince Gill and Brad Paisley ; Terri Clark, Ashley McBryde and Lauren Alaina; Ricky Skaggs with Dailey & Vincent and Vince Gill & Amy Grant.
This Saturday, May 2nd will feature Garth Brooks & Trisha Tearwood, whilst on May 9th, the line up will include Blake Shelton and girlfriend Gwen Stefani, Trace Adkins and Dustin Lynch.
You can watch anywhere in the world, via Circle TV's Youtube and Facebook channels.

Whilst the deadly pandemic has changed the way we live around the world,  the entertainment scene, which relies on live audiences for their living, has really been affected hard. From local club performers to international touring acts, entertainers at all levels have been badly affected.
One of the first casualties was the Country2Country Festival which was cancelled less that 24 hours before it was due to begin. The festival has been reorganised for next March.

The fabulous Bluegrass/Country singer RHONDA VINCENT is the newest member to have been invited to become a member on the Grand Ole Opry cast.
Following Vincent’s performance of “Like I Could,” the song’s co-writer and Opry member Jeannie Seely extended the invitation and asked Vincent if she wanted to join the venerable show. A stunned Vincent responded, “Are you serious ? 100% percent yes. Oh my gosh! I grew up listening to the Opry. Thank you dear God!”
Vincent, who has won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album six times, then performed “Those Memories” alongside Opry members Seely, Connie Smith and Cheryl and Sharon White.
Rhonda previously sung sponsored jingles for the Opry, including The Martha White Theme, which she included on her 2001 album "THe Storm Still Rages".
Vincent was to be formally welcomed into the Opry family at a March 24th ceremony, which has been delayed due to the Covid-19 shutdown, but will be rearranged.

The UK and Irish Country scene was shocked at the untimely passing of NICKY JAMES on February 15th. Nicky was a popular entertainer across the UK with his State Of The Union band, but in recent years had expanded into promoting tours by US artists like Larry Gatlin, Marty Haggard and Gene Watson. He was also instrumental in the early career of Liverpudlian Nathan Carter.

The year kicked off with some really impressive homegrown releases,
Bishopbriggs lass KATEE KROSS released her 4th album, "Show Your Hand" and BRANDON McPHEE released an album blending Country and Scottish music on "The Brandon McPhee Experience.
Meanwhile DEAN OWENS releases a Best of - The Man From Leith, which features 17 tracks collated from his previous solo releases.
See the CMDS reviews of all three albums (and all the home grown CD reviews) here.