Australian trio Sons Of The East recently kicked off a European tour in the Faroe Islands with UK dates commencing on July 18th and festival appearances to follow, including The Long Road Festival and Latitude. To coincide with the dates, an excellent new single, ‘Hard To Tell’ is available now, which is sure to please fans of their debut album ‘Palomar Parade’ (40 million streams and counting). More about Sons Of The East, the video for ‘Hard To Tell, and those all-important tour dates follow:

When Rivers Meet formed in 2019, the husband-and-wife duo Grace Bond (vocals, mandolin, violin) and Aaron Bond (vocals, guitar) quickly established themselves on the blues-rock scene, winning multiple awards along the way, including Blues Band Of The Year at the UK Blues Awards 2021 and 2022. The duo have a new album ‘Aces Are High’ set for release later this year. The first taster from the record, ‘Play My Game’, is a definite statement of intent and bodes well for the upcoming album. Please read on for more about When Rivers Meet, the video for the new single, tour dates and plenty more.

Fresh from a run of shows opening for Beth Hart, singer and guitarist Connor Selby is now back out on the road playing headline shows, including Manchester and London, plus a string of festival appearances. The deluxe edition of his self-titled album has been getting great reviews while Connor has been picking up awards, including "Young Artist of the Year" at the UK Blues Awards for the last three consecutive years (2020, 2021, 2022). We have loads more about Connor, including a selection of videos and those upcoming dates: 

Country and folk music is all about the story. This is why the songwriters’ circle (a concept that supposedly comes from Canada rather than Nashville) has become such a popular platform for getting to the heart of the music. How did that song come to be, and what inspired it? Four UK based songwriters: Annie Dressner, Lucy Grubb, Dan Wilde and Luke James Williams, will be hitting the road to share their stories in late March at a selection of intimate UK venues. More about the tour and those all-important dates follow:

Morgan Wallen will visit the UK for the first time for a run of shows in May 2020 as part of a European headline tour. The singer has been touring with Jason Aldean in the USA and will join up with Luke Bryan in late May for another run of shows. Needless to say, Morgan Wallen is an artist in high demand. Special guest for the UK shows is Hardy whose ‘Rednecker’ single and a run of platinum singles as a songwriter has marked him as one to watch on the modern country scene. Ticket pre-sales begin February 5th, and will go on-sale to the general public February 7th. Much more about Morgan Wallen and Hardy follows:

Marcus King will visit the UK in February for a run of shows in support of his recent ‘El Dorado’ album. Marcus has created quite a stir with ‘El Dorado’ which finds the 23-year-old singer and guitarist exploring his roots on a terrific record that mixes blues, country and classic rock with the soulful sounds of the South. ‘El Dorado’ could well prove to be a watershed moment for Marcus King. More about Marcus King including the tour dates and a brilliant take on ‘Wildflowers & Wine’ from the record follows:

Amigo The Devil will visit the UK/RoI in Jan/Feb of 2020 as part of an extensive European tour that will stretch into March. With the fantastic ‘Everything Is Fine’ album to draw on, and a reputation for explosive live shows, Amigo is certain to get 2020 off to a great start on the live front. More about Amigo The Devil including a full list of the tour dates follows:

US Country star Joe Nichols will visit the UK for the first time in September 2019 for a short run of intimate acoustic shows. The singer, best known for hits such as ‘Brokenheartsville’ and ‘Tequila makes her clothes fall off’, has nine albums under his belt in a career that dates back to the early 90s. Nichols’ most recent album ‘Never Gets Old’ and the following ‘Never Gets Old' - Traditional Country Series’ highlight his love of old-school country as he covers Don Williams and Merle Haggard etc. Tickets for the UK tour are on sale April 5th at 10 am. More about Joe Nichols and the tour including ticket links follow:

Minneapolis based singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rachel Ries aka Her Crooked Heart is about to embark on a UK tour in support of her recently released ‘To Love To Leave To Live’ album. To perform the music in a live setting Rachel has enlisted Siri Undlin (Humbird), Adelyn Strei (Adro) and Hilary James (We Are The Willows, Bathtub Cig) to fully capture the melancholy nature of the record via four-part harmonies and a wide mix of instrumentation both synthetic and acoustic. The dates include a show at Green Note in Camden which should prove the perfect environment for Rachel and her music. More about Her Crooked Heart including the full list of tour dates follow after the break:

Acoustic duo Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage will be bringing their single-microphone show to intimate UK venues starting April 4th in Sheffield. The run of dates coincide with the release of ‘Hidden Things’ the first in a trilogy of singles planned for 2019. A full list of dates and the video for ‘Hidden Things’ follows:

Ferris & Sylvester will get 2019 off to a bang with their first UK headline tour. The duo played over a hundred shows in 2018 performing all over Europe from the smallest venues to London’s BST in Hyde Park. Tour dates and the video for their recent ‘Burning River’ single follow:

The Once will be bringing their trademark harmonies to the UK in early 2019 for a welcome string of UK dates. The Newfoundland based trio are touring in support of their recent ‘Time Enough’ album. The dates include The Islington in London and a show at Celtic Connections in Glasgow. More about The Once, those tour dates and a recent video for ‘Any Other Way’ from ‘Time Enough’ follows:

Canadian act The Sheepdogs will be visiting the UK in late October for a run of dates before that hit the European mainland. The rescheduled dates are in support of their recent ‘Changing Colours’ release and include London’s Borderline on November 5th. The quadruple Juno Award winning act have been compared to The Band, The Allman Brothers Band and The Flying Burrito Brothers, which gives you a good idea of where they’re at musically and ‘Changing Colours’ lives up to those comparisons. A full list of the tour dates and more about The Sheepdogs follows:

French synthwave icon Carpenter Brut will be returning to the UK in October with his 'Leather Patrol' tour. Earlier this year Carpenter Brut released the 'Leather Teeth' album the soundtrack to the imaginary 80's horror film that told the story of Bret Halford (you see what he did there) aka Leather Teeth leader of Leather Patrol. If you have a love of 80's movie soundtracks and so bad they're great movies such as 'Trick Or Treat', 'Hard Rock Zombies' or 'Black Roses' then the new single 'Beware The Beast' from the album is an essential watch. So please read on for more about Carpenter Brut and the 'Leather Patrol' tour:

Russell Dickerson returns to the UK in October for his biggest tour yet. With ‘Blue Tacoma’ from his recent ‘Yours’ album a top 5 single at country radio in the USA — an album that also made the top 5 of the Billboard album chart — things are looking very good indeed for Dickerson. The October dates include a London headline show at The Borderline as part of Country Music Week and a run of shows opening for Darius Rucker. More about Russell Dickerson, those tour dates and the video for ‘Blue Tacoma’ follows:

Dana Fuchs released her fourth album 'Love Lives On' to universal acclaim earlier this year gaining positive reviews from a variety of publications representing the blues, country and classic rock communities. The album will now see a welcome vinyl release on 27th July via Get Along Records / Membran and to coincide with this a short run of UK dates have also been announced including The Borderline in London on September 21st. Much more about Dana Fuchs including the video for the impressive title track of 'Love Lives On' follows:

Minnesota based singer-songwriter Chastity Brown returns to the UK in September for a run of dates. Chastity's excellent 'Silhouette of Sirens' album from last year continued to build on the momentum of her previous release 'Back-Road Highways' here in the UK. In a live setting (RGM review), Chastity is equally impressive so I urge you to get along to a show if you can. The tour includes shows in Newcastle, Bradford, Glasgow and at London's Green Note on October 2nd. More about Chastity Brown including a full list of dates and the video for 'Wake Up' from 'Silhouette of Sirens' follows:

Fresh from the widespread acclaim he received for his 2017 release 'Sky Trails' the legendary David Crosby will return to the UK for two full band solo shows in September. Crosby was last in the UK in 2015 as part of Crosby, Stills & Nash but this is a rare opportunity to see the resurgent 76 year old singer-songwriter with his Sky Trails band. More about David Crosby and those dates follow:

US folk-pop singer-songwriter Michelle Lewis has announced a run of UK/European shows for September 2018. Michelle will be previewing tracks from her upcoming album 'All That's Left' due October 19th. RGM readers with long memories should need no introduction to Michelle as we reviewed her excellent 'The Parts Of Us That Still Remain' back in 2014 (review). That was a lovely record so anticipation for 'All That's Left' is high. More about the album, those dates and the video for the first single from the album 'Push On' follows:

Aaron Watson will make a welcome return to the UK in September 2018 for a run of headline shows and an appearance at the Long Road Festival in Leicestershire. Aaron is touring in support of his widely acclaimed 2017 'Vaquero' album. Tickets for the Glasgow, Manchester and London shows go on sale on Wednesday 16th May, full ticket details, more about Aaron Watson and the video for his new radio single 'Run Wild Horses' follow:

Canadian Stingray Award-winning singer-songwriter AHI recently released his second album 'In Our Time' via Thirty Tigers. To coincide AHI has announced a run of shows opening for The Lone Bellow on their UK tour. AHI (pronounced EYE) built a following by word of mouth and a DIY approach for his first album 'We Made It Through The Wreckage' with one track 'Ol Sweet Day' from the record streamed 2.5 million times and counting. Full dates and a link to a very impressive NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert appearance follows:

Texas native Curtis Grimes will tour the UK for the first time in June 2018. The dates, with more to be added soon, include a headline show at the Buck N' Bull Saloon Southern Nights event in London. Curtis Grimes might be familiar to some readers for his successful run on the first series of US TV show 'The Voice'. In the years since Curtis Grimes has enjoyed a successful touring and recording career which now brings him to the UK. Please read on to check out the full press release and a video or two:

Canada's The Deep Dark Woods will return to the UK for their first shows in four years in May 2018 in support of their recent 'Yarrow' album which was released on the Six Shooter label. The shows will include a London date at Bush Hall and two nights at the Kilkenny Roots Festival. The Deep Dark Woods will be joined on the tour by fellow Canadians Kacy & Clayton who will also be promoting a new record 'The Siren's Song'. More about The Deep Dark Woods, their album and those tour dates follow:

Fresh from a string of great reviews for her recent 'Trinity Lane' release Lilly Hiatt has lined up a UK tour for April. The Michael Trent (Shovels & Rope) produced album finds Lilly dealing with her issues in a very personal way and musically her 90's Alt-Rock influences are very much to the fore. 'Trinity Lane' rocks, so the dates should be very cool. More about Lilly Hiatt including a new video from a recent Sitch Session, which shows another side of Lilly, + those all-important tour dates follows:

Canadian folk-bluegrass quartet The Dead South will visit the UK in April for a run of dates. The band will be supporting the very welcome UK release of their 'Illusion & Doubt' album due March 23rd via DevilDuck Records on CD & Digital. The buzz about the band has been building since the release of their debut 'Good Company' record in 2015 and many of the upcoming dates are already sold out. Please continue reading for more about the band and those tour dates:

Nine albums into his career and Rod Picott is more prolific than ever. The Nashville based singer-songwriter has a sprawling new 22 track album 'Out Past The Wires' set for release February 16th via Welding Rod Records (2CD, 2LP & DL) and UK tour dates set for March. The album will be accompanied by a book which will expand on the stories of the people featured on the album (Picott worked with his hands before branching out as a singer-songwriter so has an empathy for the working man). The book follows on from 'God In His Slippers' (Mezcalita Press), his recently published book of poetry and he's also completed a screenplay. 'Out Past The Wire' was produced by Neilson Hubbard and features ace guitarist Will Kimbrough amongst a host of fine players. More about the album, a video or two and those tour dates follows

Nashville singer-songwriter Kenny Foster will be back in the UK in March 2018 for a run of dates on his 'Living In These Walls' tour. 2017 was a big year for Kenny Foster with his 'Deep Cuts' album gaining critical acclaim and a successful first visit to the UK. He also got coverage in Rolling Stone as "A country artist you need to know". More about Kenny Foster, ticket details and the video for 'Stand' all follow:(UPDATE (22/02/18) Kenny has added additional dates to his March tour and announced 'Made' as his new single for radio.)

Folk fans are in for a treat as an upcoming tour brings two of the most respected acts from Canada's East Coast to the UK for a string of co-headline dates. The multi award-winning Ennis Sisters will be joined by Dave Gunning for an evening that is sure to appeal to fans of both traditional and contemporary folk music. Tour dates and much more about both acts follows:

Matthew Logan Vasquez will be visiting the UK in February for a run of shows that includes The Slaughtered Lamb in London. Vasquez is best known as singer/guitarist/songwriter for Delta Spirit but is now gaining recognition as a solo act with his recent album 'Does What He Wants' garnering great reviews. More about Matthew Logan Vasquez, those tour dates and a fantastic live video follows: