The RGM Inbox: Country Edition #3
Welcome to the latest edition of the RGM Inbox with an emphasis on all things country. This feature is designed to show there’s much more to country music than big hats, and to highlight the range of good music that resides in the country section of your local record store (if you’re lucky enough to have a local record store). In this issue, we’ve got a couple of Canadian artists ready to rub shoulders with those Nashville folks while one of the biggest new names in country music is looking back on his alt-rock roots and a nice slice of country-pop from a Nashville based artist rounds out this latest edition of the Country Inbox.
First up we have The Redhill Valleys who hail from Hamilton, Ontario in Canada. The quartet of Tim Allard (guitar and vocals), Chelsea McWilliams (bass and vocals), Danielle Beaudin (guitar and vocals) and Matt Soliveri (drums and vocals) are putting the finishing touches to their second album due later this year. Neil Young, The Band, Tom Petty, Lucinda Williams and Chris Stapleton all get a mention when the band discuss their musical influences so you know they’re on the right track. This is further confirmed by their latest single ‘Finish Line’ which has a great video reminiscent of that old Tom Cruise vehicle (cough) ‘Days Of Thunder’ which the band shot at the famous Flamboro Speedway near Hamilton. Musically ‘Finish Line’ finds the band rockin’ out with excellent vocals from Chelsea over some seriously crunchy guitar tones. It’s a great taster for what should be a pretty cool album.
“The song really grew from the lyric ‘Get me to the finish line.’ It felt very rock and roll in the sense that the female perspective, when it comes to desire and sexuality, is oftentimes a very taboo topic to write about. This song is our own anthem that uplifts female sexuality in a powerful, playful and confident way. It’s really about a woman taking charge of her own desire and attraction, and isn’t afraid to call the shots and demand satisfaction”
We stay in Canada to catch up with Calgary, Alberta based singer and songwriter Kyle McKearney. Kyle has been steadily drip-feeding his fans tracks from his upcoming debut solo album. The latest of these is ‘Keepin’ It Simple’ which displays a pretty cool laidback swampy, funky feel that could have quite easily come out of the Southern states of the USA via the likes of J.J. Cale, Tony Joe White or Jerry Reed. Kyle’s background includes stints in alt-pop/rock acts The New Electric and KROWNS before a meeting with Roger Taylor would lead to a songwriting association with the Queen drummer and six months of 2019 touring North America in the ‘We Will Rock You’ musical. It’s pretty obvious Kyle had put in the miles but judging by ‘Keepin’ It Simple’ he’s now found a musical home that suits him perfectly.
“Keepin’ It Simple’ is the first song I wrote after a six-month run across North America. It describes my dream of how I want to live my life with my family. Out in the middle of nowhere, off grid, connected to nothing but other people and nature. We recorded this song at OCL studios in Calgary. Lisa Jacobs used a 60’s Kay bass and it really set the tone for the song. We recorded two drum kits like The Allman Brothers had, and stacked them right on top of each other in the mix. The gang vocals at the end of the track are the band, myself and a couple friends rompin’ around in the live room, drinking whiskey trying to stay serious enough to get a decent take”
Hardy by Tanner Gallagher
Country fans will need no introduction to HARDY who, over the last couple of years, has picked up multiple award nominations and column inches in the likes of Rolling Stone for a take on country music that rocks hard. If you’re a rock fan then you really should check out the ‘A Rock’ album for your next big guitar fix. With this in mind, those rock influences are to the fore as HARDY’s latest single a cover of the 2001 Puddle Of Mudd track ‘Blurry’. The Philadelphia, Mississippi singer seems to doing his own thing and doing it very well. You can catch HARDY live in the USA when he opens for Jason Aldean on the ‘Back In The Saddle’ tour set to begin in August 2021.
“I’m so excited for everybody to hear my version of ‘Blurry’. I’m a huge Rock & Roll fan. That genre has so much to do with the way that I create music, and I wanted to get back to it by putting out a true-blue Rock & Roll song. I truly think it will show a new side of me that people haven’t seen before, and I’m very excited to see what everyone thinks”
Alannah McCready photo credit Sahnah
Alannah McCready is a Nashville based country-pop singer-songwriter who recently released her latest single ‘Something Like That’. The Minneapolis native balanced her love of music with her skills in Ice Hockey at high school and went on to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was part of two NCAA Women’s Hockey National Championships. This would naturally lead to a career in Sports Management before she took the plunge and moved to Nashville to concentrate on her music career. The single is a taster for an upcoming EP and you can check it out here with all its modern production bells and whistles alongside an acoustic version of the song. The choice is yours but you’ll get some lovely harmonies whichever route you take.
Acclaimed songwriter Tift Merriff will return to the UK this month for two shows, including an appearance at the prestigious Glastonbury festival as part of a European tour. The dates coincide with news of a 20th Anniversary vinyl reissue of ‘Tambourine’. This in itself is great news, but the news that seals the deal for long-time fans is the release of ‘Time and Patience’, a new album that charts the evolution of the record via previously unheard material, including a selection of demos recorded in the singer’s kitchen. Both albums will be released on August 29th 2025, on One Riot Records. More about Tift, the records and a demo recording of fan favourite ‘Good Hearted Man’ follow: