It’s been interesting being in Music City for the last week or so. There’s much to tell you about our visit here, but safe to say, many people we meet are interested in our take on C2C. BBC Scotland’s close proximity to the event itself has been one of the reasons why we’ve been able to lock in with the festival. As the soundchecks roll through we can ‘spring’ an artist or two from the confines of their dressing room and bring them over the river to talk at our live events.
On the Saturday of the festival we welcomed a live set from Brett Young as well as an extended conversation from rising superstar Kelsea Ballerini. So it’s welcome news that as the sun went down on Nashville last night the news broke that Brett had just won an early ACM award as Male Vocalist of the year. Though the awards are made on the 15th of April three of the winners received ‘surprise’ phone calls from host Reba McIntire. (So surprising that the phone calls were filmed and posted on twitter…but hey it’s Nashvegas!) Brett is a worthy winner. Two great Number One singles and another which we loved (Sleep Without You) gave him an incredible 2017 and he talks too in this conversation about his current single, ‘Mercy’ written with Sean McConnell.
We catch up too with Kelsea Ballerini. Kelsea, as my family will attest, is my go- to pop country artist of the last 18 months or so. I was originally interested in her progress as she was a lone woman in the country air-play chart at the time. I can’t remember the exact details but I seem to remember one week where the only other female singers on the countdown were members of duos or groups. With her excellent follow up album to ‘The First Time’ coming out towards the end of 2017, C2C was a perfect place to reflect on three hugely successful years. Oh and you’ll get to hear about her dog called….‘Dibs.’
We’ll catch up with Sugarland backstage at the Hydro too. They’ve gone through a fairly lengthy hiatus but are back with a new album and renewed energy. You can hear the inside chat from Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles as they set out on an extensive road trip over the spring and summer.
And finally but with the biggest fanfare I can muster….. we also welcome Kacey Musgraves. I’ve already gushed about Kacey’s C2C set here a couple of weeks ago so I won’t bore you again, you will however hear what happened when she popped into our mini studio (my breeze-block dressing room) backstage in her pre gig slippers. I’ve met Kacey a few years back and the contrast of her then and now is profound. First time round it almost seemed if every step of the promotional journey was a little tentative at best and painful at worst. Three albums later and huge success already behind her it’s remarkable how confident and happy she now seems. Newly married and with the knowing look of someone who’s just delivered the album she knows will change perceptions, Kacey was in expansive form. The five minute chat we had planned suddenly became much longer and it was great to hear her take on her success as well as her palpable excitement about the new album, Golden Hour.’ The album comes out this coming Friday so you can judge for yourselves but you need to hear the conversation.
That will all be played out this Tuesday on Another Country on BBC Radio Scotland FM. Wee start at five past nine.
