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Happy Seventh Birthday
Our best celebration ever
Today (1st September) marks the seventh birthday of UKCountryRadio.com, which began broadcasting at 10am on Saturday 1st September 2007. We have come a long way in those seven years and I'd like to start this Newsletter with a special thank you to the people who have made it possible - our team of volunteer presenters.
So thank you Jerry Scott, Charlie Brown, Phil Butler, Nutty Norah, Carolann B, Richard Edeson, Rob Ellen, James Gordon, Graham L.Hall, Liz Hill, Denis Hodge, Peter Fairhead, Trisha Cooper, Asha Johnson, Laura Cress, Big Jack, Will Downie, Bryan Chalker, Martyn Williams, Alan Perkins, Alan Potter, Bob Preedy, Graham Rodgers, Brian Stanley, Margaret Ann and Simon Large for your wonderful programmes which some of you have presented for many years.
We will celebrate with our Seventh Birthday Party And Awards at the Best Western Premier Yew Lodge Hotel at Kegworth near Derby on Saturday 13th September. It really is going to be our best Birthday Party yet.
I am delighted that, in the last few days, the 6-piece country rock band Grand Prairie have accepted our invitation to perform, as have Elbow Jake Acoustic Band who will perform a set in the bar from 6pm ahead of the main show which starts at 7pm.
It brings to eleven the total number of artists performing on the night. Grand Prairie and Elbow Jake join Raintown, Gary Quinn, Thorne Hill with Arizona Storm and Paul Martin's new trio, together with the five Listeners' Club Song Award Finalists Interactive Murcia, Kelly Michelle, Lucy Zirins, Suzanna Shore and Wayne Jacobs.
Everyone attending gets to vote in the final of our Listeners' Club Song Award and it, along with our brand new UK Country Artist Of The Year Award, will be presented on the night. And while all that's going on, we'll enjoy a superb three-course celebratory dinner.
There's still time to get your tickets. But hurry - the deadline for ticket applications is Saturday 6th September. You can get them by clicking the button below.
And, for those that can't make it, we will be broadcasting the whole event live. Join Graham L.Hall for the buildup live from 5pm, with Martyn Williams hosting our on-air coverage of the Birthday Party & Awards from 7pm until midnight.
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Introducing Gary Quinn
Gary Quinn is from Northern Ireland and has achieved so much over the last few years. He played the pop-up stages at the Country To Country event at the O2 Arena in London, he's been a regular performer at the Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival since 2010, and has opened shows for Collin Raye, Clint Black, Bill Anderson, Jace Everett, Larry Gatlin and Gene Watson.
There's no doubt that Gary is one of the hardest-working emerging talents on the British country music scene right now, and that's reflected in his position as a finalist for our UK Country Artist Of The Year Award, presented at our Seventh Birthday Party, where he will perform an acoustic set.
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Live Music Night: Jesse Terry
Join us this month for our next Live Music Night featuring US singer-songwriter Jesse Terry at Bistro Guy in York.
Jesse's with us on Sunday 21st September for a great night of acoustic music and one of Guy's delicious two-course buffets.
Our events in York usually sell out so avoid disappointment by clicking the button below to book your place.
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More music from Love Street
We've been enjoying "Movin' On" by five-piece folk/country/rock band Love Street over the last few weeks. And, later this month, we'll be featuring another track from the Cornwall-based band.
In "Highwayman", a highwayman meets the love of his life and decides to give up his life of crime for her. However, she persuades him to do one last ride and it is on that ride that he is caught. On the day he is to be hanged, the day before they were due to be married, he looks out into the crowd and sees the girl - but she doesn't acknowledge him.
Centuries later, a man is out with a woman. She's having a good time, but feeling uneasy. There is something about the man which is strangely familiar. He starts to tell the tale and then whispers her name from all those years ago. All too late, she recognises the man she betrayed.
An intriguing song! Listen out for it this month on UKCountryRadio.com.
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Meet The Team: Alan Perkins
Alan first came across country music when he was lead singer in a band in the 70s and 80s. From The Eagles and Don Williams, he discovered artists such as Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, George Strait and Garth Brooks and was hooked.
He was diagnosed with an arthritic condition and was no longer able to play his beloved sports of ruby, basketball and squash. To keep fit, he decided to try line dancing and, as it linked with his love of country music, hasn't looked back since.
Alan now teaches line dancing to three classes and writes for Up Country magazine - for which he has interviewed many major stars including Tim McGraw, Vince Gill and Brad Paisley.
Join Alan for The Line Dance Show on the first and third Fridays of each month, repeated the next day Saturday. The show includes the monthly UKCountryRadio.com Line Dance Chart, as well as features on the artists, choroegraphers and venues on the UK line dance scene.
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Exclusive Newsletter Competition
For our exclusive Newsletter competition this month, we are giving you a chance to win a copy of Dan & Shay's debut album "Where It All Began". It features 12 tracks, including the hit single "19 You & Me".
To win, simply tell us the surnames of Dan and Shay.
Email your answer to club@ukcountryradio.com, or simply reply to this Newsletter email. The closing date is September 10th, and the winner will be notified by email shortly afterwards.
Congratulations to last month's winner Andrew Spencer from Hull who won five UK albums after correctly telling us that The Celia Bryce Band come from the North East of England.
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Welcome to the following who are all receiving our Newsletter for the first time....
Sharon Anderson, Karen Dayman, Oliver Green, Ian Chambers, Andrew Murphy-Pittock, Avryll Flynn, Selah West, Steve Brearley, Ben Shockley, Janey Kirk, Tom Simmonds, Colin Clyne, Gaynor Beech, Steph Van Spronsen, Michael Weston King, Amy DeWitt, Alex Gilbey, Justine Hamilton, Adam King, Jeni Raskin, Mike Ward, Keith Shaw, Tiger Flynn, Karen Smith, Patrick Kelly, Beth Blacklock, Kieran Cullen, Brenda Burch, Steven James, Claire Boswell, Bernie Maguire, Sandy Whitman, Andrew Kay, Niall Mac, Rob Lear, Craig Moreau, Dale Smith, Ron Lewis and Brian Curl.
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In the Gig Guide
Here are some highlights from our live country music gig guide this month.
* A series called "An Evening With Mary Chapin Carpenter" (pictured) gets underway this month. It sees Mary perform with some of Britain's best-loved orchestras. The first show is on Monday 29th September at the Royal Albert Hall with the London Concert Orchestra, followed, on Tuesday 30th September at The Sage in Gateshead with the Royal Northern Sinfonia. There are further dates in Manchestser and Edinburgh on October 1st and 2nd.
* Don't forget our own Live Music Night featuring US artist Jesse Terry at Bistro Guy in York on Sunday 21st September.
* Touring artists this month include Willie Watson, Nashville artist Chase Allen, The Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn, Kentucky singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson and Mary Gauthier.
* And weekend events include the Western Mills Festival on the Isle of Cumbrae (September 5th to 7th), A Country Music Weekend at Potters Leisure Resort near Great Yarmouth (12th to 14th), and one at Mundesley Holiday Village near Cromer (26th to 28th).
Join Denis Hodge and Laura Cress for the details of these and more events in our Gig Guide, on the half hour throughout each day.
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Same Fruits Different Routes
Join Bryan Chalker this month for a two-hour railroad special. The title of Bryan's show's being swapped around to "Same Fruits, Different Routes" for one week only, for a show featuring some of the greatest train songs of all time.
Departing at 8pm on Thursday 11th September, it's all aboard for a memorable ride through American railroading history with a host of stars including Johnny Cash, Hank Snow, and Britain's own Moonshine Creek.
There's a second chance to hear the show at 4pm on Friday 12th September.
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New EP from Thorne Hill
Thorne Hill's new EP has just gone on sale in our Online Music Store. It contains five tracks - each of them original songs.
Thorne toured the world as a singer for ten years, before deciding to stay in Britain and follow his passion of country music. He performed at Country To Country at the O2 Arena in London in March, and is deservedly a finalist for our UK Country Artist Of The Year Award.
Thorne will be with us at our Seventh Birthday Party and Awards on September 13th, where he will perform a set with the band Arizona Storm.
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UKCountryRadio.com
Greatest Stars
The search continues for UKCountryRadio.com's Greatest Stars. Throughout this year we are asking you to let us know your all-time favourite three country music artists. Thank you to everyone who has done so so far including:
Allen Newton who's chosen Marty Robbins, George Strait and Willie Nelson.
And Robert Craw who's gone for Dolly Parton (pictured), Charley Pride and Garth Brooks.
Please keep your suggestions coming - we'll be using your selections to compile UKCountryRadio.com's Greatest Stars - the top 30 country artists of all time as chosen by you - which we will broadcast at the end of the year.
You can let us know your all time favourite artists by emailing them to us at greateststars@ukcountryradio.com, or simply by replying to this Newsletter email.
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More music from Grand Prairie
Listen out this month for another great track from six-piece country rock band Grand Prairie, who'll be performing at our Seventh Birthday Party & Awards later this month.
"This Is What I Get For Loving You" is the typical hard-done-by mid-western woman giving a running commentary on life so far and, although her man doesn't seem to be ideal, she appears to be no angel herself.
It's another great track from the superb 12-track album "This Ain't Reno", produced by Steve Elson who co-wrote the nine original tracks with lead singer Rob Wilson. The album also includes the fantastic "A Little Bit Of Nice Boy" which we featured last month. You can hear more from the album when Liz Hill features it on her Sunday morning show on 7th September.
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What's On The Wall
Here are some more snippets of country music news, obtained by clicking the Bricks on the UKCountryRadio.com Wall.
* Americana International have added some fantastic photos from this year's event at Prestwold Park to their website, including the one above of headliner Chas of Chas & Dave.
* The Ian Highland Band have shows this month at Hurworth Grange (September 6th), Northallerton (7th), Harlow (18th), and Brean Sands (27th).
* And the Regalos Line Dance and Western Store in Blackpool have some new Western Cowboy belts and Bullhide Cowboy hats on sale.
Click the Bricks yourself to find out more and, if you have a country music related website, then get your own Brick by clicking here.
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News from the tech team
We are this month completing a move to a new streaming provider. We hope this will lead to a smoother listening experience with a lower risk of any outages.
All the links on our website will be updated to work with the new broadcast streams from the middle of the month, as will the popular TuneIn app and internet radios on the Reciva and vTuner systems. If you know of any other outlets that need to be informed of our changes, then do let us know.
Once we are confident everything has been moved successfully, our old streams will be swtiched off. The links on our website will be up to date but, if you have bookmarked something, then you may find that you are no longer able to tune in. If that is the case, then simply visit our website to find the new streams.
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Spotlight UK Artists
These are the artists we will be featuring each weekend during September.
Sep 5-7: The Rising
Sep 12-14: The McGlones
Sep 19-21: The Dunwells
Sep 26-28: Lucy May (pictured)
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If you like what we do and want us to continue doing it, then please consider subscribing to UKCountryRadio.com. Whilst voluntary, subscriptions are a real help in meeting our ever-increasing costs, most notably for music licensing.
The window is now open for new subscribers who will be able to vote in next year's UKCountryRadio.com Awards. You must be a subscriber before the end of December 2014 to take part.
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