The Other Side of Festivals – A Chat with TBCMF Organisers Marina & Martin

Although I saw them on and off during the weekend, it wasn’t until the final day of the British Country Music Festival in Blackpool that I was able to pin festival organisers Marina and Martin down – they were quite busy!  I did manage to pre-warn them of my main question – “Why?”

Experienced events organisers with their production company “Fit The Bill”, Marina and Martin have put on West End Shows, other festivals and corporate events – but I still wanted to ask why a country festival, why in Blackpool and why now!

Martin supplied the first answer, and the second!

We produced and promoted a contemporary folk festival in Liverpool alongside a shanty festival, but over the three years we kept seeing young talented artists coming through on our emerging stages and watching them grow – people like Robert Vincent, Megan O’Neill and we saw this growing folk merging into country/Americana bursting  through, and we wanted to know what their platform was. So we decided to do a British Country festival.

How are we going to be different from all the other festivals? We didn’t want to be in a field, we wanted to reflect what we could see in the music, what was happening, and it felt like it all had British roots, so we started looking for a lovely older venue, not sterile, so the venue is part of the festival.  We both know Blackpool very well, we have worked in the town and live just up the coast.

Having chosen Blackpool as a venue, they worked in partnership with the Winter Gardens and Blackpool Council to put on the event. Being indoors they have mitigated against the weather being an issue – although the weather was actually glorious for the entire weekend!  This partnership was demonstrated by the outside stage on Friday night which became a part of the seafront fireworks display in entertaining the homebound crowds.

That certainly covers the why Country and why Blackpool. The “why now” is answered by this being the last festival of the season, the ideal time for other festival teams to relax, enjoy and network.  Marina also noted that once they started the festival planning the first phone call offering support came from Karl at Buckle & Boots, the second from Millport Festival’s Gavin.

Meeting as we did on the third day of three I could ask for a reflection on the weekend.  Both Marina and Martin were still smiling, although Marina did say her feet could use a soak! Although as organisers they are focussed on what hasn’t maybe worked, they were clearly happy with how the Festival had gone, and are always looking at ways to improve for next year. 

Looking forward then – what one thing would they ask for if offered a magic wand?

Double our ticket numbers - and I'm very confident that we will do that next year, I can feel that.  This year's set of customers are very unique, they've bought into an idea, nothing more than an idea.

Martin and Marina are husband and wife, working together in a very stressful industry – but apparently never argue!  Just from talking to them you can see what a great team they make, professionally and personally and this is obviously a big part of their success.

So did they pull it off?  Yes they did.  Three days of British Country artists (and one honorary Brit in Sarah Darling). Sure, there were teething problems, and it is a venue style that takes a little getting used to but I have no doubt that next year and the year after will be better and better as a true showcase of what the British Country music scene has to offer and providing another platform for breakthrough artists.

As Marina commented

I would like to see someone who has played here this year being booked by another festival and seeing them climbing the festival ladder

And that is reason enough to be back next year!

The British Country Music Festival returns to Blackpool’s Winter Gardens

 4 – 6 September 2020.

See you there!

The Other Side of Festivals - Southern Style Americana

Its not just the musical acts that we love to see at Festivals – there is meeting up with old friends, making new friends and of course – retail therapy

At most of the UK Country festivals, if you venture into the shopping areas you can’t help but spot the now famous red gazebo of Southern Style Americana Gifts and Jewellery

So who are the ladies under the gazebo, and what is it all about?

Southern Style Americana is J&L designs – which is actually sisters Jeanette and Lesley.  Crafters and lovers of Country Music, Jeanette and Lesley visited C2C and noticed that while some of the gifts on sale were nice, they weren’t necessarily great quality or value.  Deciding that they could provide a better product, Southern Style was born.

Exhibiting for the first time at Buckle and Boots Country festival four years ago, if you visit the stall you will find a range of jewellery and gifts with an Americana and Country Music theme. 

The difference here though is that all the items are either hand-made, bespoke commissions or specially imported from the states, which means you won’t be seeing the same items on other stalls. Song lyric plaques are the newest addition, and Lesley is always adding new strings to her bow

From necklaces to bracelets, with country motifs to song lyrics, and trinkets to wall plaques, nothing you see on sale is priced at over £25, so while your shopping might fill your luggage, it won’t empty your bank balance!

Jeanette and Lesley have become friends over the many times that we have met them – and their products are worn by us both, and feature in our houses!

You can find Jeanette and Lesley at a festival under the red gazebo

 or on their Facebook page - visit the virtual gazebo and give them a like!

Single Review - Love Don't Give a Damn - Jess and the Bandits

What is it about Jess' music that just makes me feel better?

New single Love Don't Give A Damn opens with a catchy beat even though the lyrics are more sullen and some might say very true. 

Another great song highlighting Jess' vocals. Despite the song’s subject, Jess uses some soaring “a-whoo”s which lend a slightly pop sound but, at the same time, back up the cautionary narrative.  There is some clever looping too, to really emphasise the point.

Like every good country song it looks for the silver lining - you could keep your heart in a secret place or save it for a rainy day but basically as the title suggests love don’t give a damn, it doesn't play by any rules, it’s a stubborn hearted fool that will never believe you; love has a mind of its own; so you should just accept the way it is and get on with life.

Although there are a few minimal but very effective studio effects, I’m looking forward to hearing this new single played live, as it is sure to be a real crowd pleaser!

This little treat, out Friday has been released to celebrate the start the nationwide tour. 

Catch Jess and The Bandits at a venue near you very soon: 

1st Oct - Nottingham, Bodega

3rd Oct - Manchester, Gullivers

9th Oct - Gateshead, The Sage 2

10th Oct - Hull, St Mary’s, Beverley

11th Oct - Glasgow, Classic Grand

15th Oct - London, Under the Bridge

The new single from Jess and The Bandits Love Don’t Give A Damn is available to download from Friday 27 September on all the usual platforms. 

More details and tour information can be found on facebook and online

Artiste Profile - When Rik Met Megan O'Neill

It was a delight at the British Country Music Festival to not only hear Megan O’Neill play a full band set on Sunday, but to catch up with her backstage for a chat and a bit of a reunion.

We were both a it shocked to work out that having last caught up at the Belnash concert and Jenn Bostic’s album launch it has been over a year…

So what has Megan been up to in that time?  Well, it seems like she has been a little bit busy…

Firstly – she’s moved!  After 5 happy years living in London she’s returned to Ireland, although she spends half her time in London, half in Ireland – and far too much on Ryanair!  Whilst her writing and recording was in London and Leeds, Ireland has proved to be

Massively inspirational and creative for me. I think its just to do with the area. I’m surrounded by rolling green hills and I have dogs and I have horses and its stunning and when I feel like I need a bit of headspace I just go for a hike

But never fear, Megan still has a certain fondness for London

I love London a lot but it’s chaos and I never realised how stressed I was, all the time, it’s like an underlying base layer of stress you have… but then I go back to Ireland and I can just be at peace and I find writing music a lot easier

So will we see a Celtic influence in future music?

There’s definitely a Celtic influence, if you listen to modern Irish music there’s a Celtic influence underlying and there’s something in the writing and the melody – and there’s a song on the new Album called Ireland

Megan has also been touring – with Jake Morell just ahead of the Blackpool festival, and almost solidly before that across the UK and Europe since February and in July Megan was supporting the legendary Sir Tom Jones at three outdoor arena shows to 15,000 people.  How was that?

Nuts and amazing

You have to ask what was more nuts? 15,000 people, or supporting Tom Jones?

I think both are equally nuts. I mean maybe “Tom Jones” is more nuts because he’s such an icon. This was one of those moments where I thought “18 year old Megan would FREAK OUT right now”

Megan also expressed how happy she was that there was a production crew, catering, a dressing room and fancy portaloos! 

On top of all of this there is another tour coming – “Now That’s What I Call Country” across Ireland to support a new covers album that Megan has performed all the female parts on – the album sounds amazing!

You’d think that Megan would be stopping for a rest, maybe some sleep…but no!  With her new album due out in early 2020 new singles will be dropping at intervals with the first of these being “Rootless” (which did cause some accent issues!) due out on 25 October and debuted in her set at The British Country Music Festival.

So Megan has no intentions of slowing down.  She’s happy with this as she is doing what she loves – and as she pointed out “if you find a job you love you’ll never work a day in your life”

So its good news for Megan, good news for fans of her music and great news for Ryanair!

Megan O’Neill’s new single Rootless will be available on all platforms on 

25 October. 

Find Megan on Facebook, online and in airport departure lounges, with a big smile on her face

Single Review - The Other Side - Lauren Jane

The British Country Music Festival in Blackpool was as much an opportunity for networking as listening to the acts on stage!  During the weekend I met a few artistes who either weren’t performing, or whose sets I wasn’t able to see.  One of these was Liverpool’s Lauren Jane who is set to release her second single The Other Side.

Telling the story of a love that has not exactly worked out, Lauren’s powerful vocal combines with some clever instrumentation to tell her tale.  Opening softly (with some lovely pedal steel) the beginning of the song is like the beginning of a relationship, with all those lovey dovey clichés, whispered in ears… but in comes the powerful vocal and out goes the romance.

The words convey great imagery, to the point that you don’t just hear this song, you see it, you see him “on the other side of the bed”, you see the gap between them driven by the existence of “someone else taking up your mind”

Our storyteller doesn’t sound angry, but hurt and annoyed - it is quite a plaintive lament.  She fell, she tried, she gave him a chance…but as so often in life, she just wasn’t enough for him.

There is an element of sadness in the moving on, and this is beautifully reflected in the ending of the song, as all that power and angst trails back to a soft instrumental sigh of a finish

From the way Lauren sings this, she will be once bitten twice shy, and I wouldn’t recommend being the one to hurt her again.

The Other Side, the follow up single to If I Was Whiskey, will be available to download and stream from 4 October, preorder your copy on 27 September

Find Lauren Jane on facebook, online,  and on the other side…..

Artist Profile - When Rik Met Megan Louise

Normally when you write about a new artiste you talk about them “going places” – well, with Megan Louise, its more a case of she has been places, specifically Millport Festival, The Long Road, and the British Country Music Festival in Blackpool where I met her for the first time.  Megan’s is a name I had heard, but I hadn’t had a chance to see her perform, so I took the opportunity to sit and have a chat ahead of her set at the British Country Music Festival on Day two in the Arena.

Aged only just 17, Megan is playing festivals before she can even drive (she has now passed her test) and long before she can even have a drink at the bar – she even missed seeing one of her favourite UK artistes in Blackpool (Laura Oakes) because of school!

It feels a bit strange to ask a younger singer when they started in music – but the answer was fairly surprising.  Not only did Megan start song writing at the age of 9, but the first song she ever wrote was the song she opened her set with.  Gigging followed at the age of 11, which goes some way to explain why Megan was so well received at all the festivals that she has played, with Blackpool being no different.

So how did 9 year old Megan Louise come to music?  Megan laughed when she replied

I tried loads of hobbies when I was younger.  I tried swimming but I had a popped eardrum, I tried gymnastics but I’m not very flexible I can’t touch my toes, so my Mum and Dad tried musical theatre – and I fell in love with performance and singing

When Megan then decided she wanted to learn guitar her parents were slightly reticent – and an eyeroll from Mum in the background certainly confirmed that!  Fortunately, it didn’t go the way of ballet “you get all the gear and give it up in a few days”.  Having only had 6 lessons (Megan doesn’t do structured learning!) it seems that playing guitar is another thing that comes easily to Megan.

Megan’s parents are clearly supportive – but not pushy – and you can see the pride they have in their daughter’s achievements, and they have been behind her through the rough and the smooth parts of her story so far.

Why Country music?

Me and Country, our paths have crossed a lot.  I don’t have the typical “I grew up with Country” but my vocal coaches told me I had a natural country voice, which I ignored  until it completely overwhelmed me with how many people told me that, and when I started to listen to Country Music and I just absolutely fell in love

Country music isn’t popular among younger listeners, and being a fan of country music isn’t popular, but for Megan

I just felt like I had fifty best mates on my phone

So who is Megan’s favourite Country Artiste?

John Paul White. If John Paul White’s voice was a 17 year old boy I’d marry him tomorrow

A very cool and rather unique way of describing a voice!

And on the UK scene?

Ward Thomas or the Shires

And who would you have to see on the line up of Blackpool?

Definitely Laura Oakes or Gary Quinn

Despite being only 17, I am sure that it won’t be very long at all before people are saying that Megan Louise is their must see artiste at any festival she plays. 

Oh, and that song she wrote when she was 9?  It is very good! 

Look out for  Megan, she is definitely one of our 

Class of 2019 “Ones to Watch”

Follow Megan Louise on Facebook and online

Festival Review - The British Country Music Festival - Day 3

Sunday morning in Blackpool.  Most people were trying to remember – or forget – the night before. I was looking forward to the two things I need for a Sunday morning:

• ·        A fry up
• ·        Tim Prottey-Jones on stage

I got both!  Tim took to the main stage in the Empress ballroom in his new guise as The Fatherline, only his third gig with his new band (and Silverball Country have been at all three!).  As well as a fabulous voice and superb songwriting, Tim has an incredible, and hilarious, stage presence. Unfamiliar with being centre stage he is born to it and grows with every show.

After his little taster session at the songwriter’s carousel the previous day, Jake Morrell showed off all his talents – and his powerhouse voice – while Tim decided to hang around on stage and play keys for Jake!  Jake has been busy touring with Megan O’Neill but this festival show will definitely have won him some more fans.

With it being Sunday and a long drive home was ahead of me, I wasn’t able to stay the whole of day 3 at the festival, but having checked the line up, I knew that I couldn’t miss a full band set from the wonderful Megan O’Neill – and take the chance for a reunion!  Before taking to the stage, Megan and I found time for a chat about what she has been up to and what she has coming up (its all very busy and quite impressive) and then it was showtime.  Megan has a beautiful voice to go along with her musical and song writing talent, and is clearly at the top of her game.  Her next single “Ireland” was performed with real emotion – and a definitely enhanced Irish lilt – and hints at a must have album which is due out in a few months time.

The M6 is a hard mistress, so my festival ended before the festival proper.  A long round of goodbyes and a chance to reflect on a new Country Music Festival.  

Some people have said that it would be crazy to try and have an all British line up, but The British Country Music Festival proved that to not only be incorrect but also what a great idea it is.  The setting is different to the norm, but allows for a festival later in the season (no weather worries) and for the weekend to be treated as a mini break with all that Blackpool has to offer.  Sure, there were some teething problems, but with other festival organisers on hand to offer support and advice and an organising team receptive to ideas there is no doubt that next year will be bigger and better – and a definite date in the Country Music diary….