Interview: Kelleigh Bannen reflects on her songs & her job with Apple Music Country
I go meta about interviewing with Kelleigh Bannen!
James Daykin
Journalist, blogger, podcaster. I am the editor of Country music for Entertainment Focus, the biggest platform for Country music outside of the United States. We produce the best quality interviews & thoughtful, informed reviews of everything that comes under the umbrella of Country music these days. Well liked and well respected in the industry, EF Country was established in 2007 and is a stalwart of the Country music world.
I moved across to be editor of EF Country in 2022 after building up Lyric Magazine from a cold start n 2016 to it becoming one of the major platforms in Country music in the UK. I also wrote for print magazine, Maverick, for over two years and interviewed Jason Aldean, Little Big Town & Kelsea Ballerini for them in that time.
I currently produce a weekly iTunes podcast - 10 Minute Country - the world of Country music in 10 minutes a week! You can listen to it via the link in the top right of this page.
Recently, I wrote a press release / website bio for a UK-based Americana band who used it to gain a support slot with Jools Holland. The press release is below - contact me if you would like me to do one for you at a very reasonable cost!
Interview: Ryan Hurd digs deep & is brutally honest about new album 'Midwest Rock & Roll'
A raw, honest & frank conversation that felt more like therapy to both of us I think.
Interview: Kimberly Perry talks about re-birth on 'Bloom' and how to be a pioneer as a solo artist
After a few turbulent years with both her personal life and her sibling band, The Band Perry, Kimberly Perry is back in Nashville as a solo artist with an appropriately titled EP in ‘Bloom’. You can read our review of the EP here. ‘Bloom’ is exactly what you might think it is from the title, a re-birthing of this talented songwriter’s career, but with a little added wisdom and experience added in to the mix. We were thrilled to grab a little bit of Kimberly’s time to talk The Band Perry, the mus
Interview: Chris Janson reflects on his career & his move to Big Machine and talks about the exciting collaborations on his upcoming album
This one was an interview eight years in the making. Since we heard Chris Janson’s ‘Buy Me a Boat’ back in 2015 we’ve been big fans. Of course, he has been writing & recording music, though, for much longer than that, which he talks about in the interview below.
Zac Brown Band - O2 Arena, London: C2C festival live review & interview
It’s been a turbulent few years for the Zac Brown Band as various projects and albums have met with differing levels of enthusiasm and acclaim. Riding into town on the back of their best album (The Comeback) since 2012’s ‘Uncaged’ they were ready and primed to close down the third and final night of the C2C festival in their own, inimitable way.
What is clear from speaking to Zac Brown before the show is that he 100% sees the band as a collaborative effort. Their success is his success. This is
Interview: Wendy Dio talks about the legendary Ronnie James Dio’s life ahead of his ‘Dreamers Never Die’ documentary
Ronnie James Dio, the legendary singer who fronted both Rainbow and Black Sabbath before going solo in his own band, Dio, was right at the heart of some of the best Heavy Metal and Rock songs of the past 50 years. It was a privilege to speak to his widow, Wendy, about the new documentary on him : ‘Dreamers Never Die’.
Interview: Gangstagrass talk about their unique sound, genre divisions & powerful message
Sometimes, although probably not often enough, you go to a show and something unexpected moves you. You remember why you fell in love with music and with the spectacle, power and passion of live music. This happened to me recently at the Long Road festival in the heartland of the UK. Amongst the Country music, Americana, Folk and Alt-something stylings of the artists on offer we came across a live set from Grangstagrass in the Interstate tent.
Power. Passion. Harmony. Musical skill.
Interview: Jelly Roll talks Country music paradigm shifts & Working with Brantley Gilbert
Nashville native Jelly Roll has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Country music, that comes across the moment you spend any time at all with him. However, it was Rap and Hip-Hop that called to him as a child growing up and since 2010 he’s made an impressive number of albums, EPs and projects.
Jelly Roll is also open about his struggles with addiction. In his teens and early twenties, he was in and out of jail. As a teen, he was charged with robbery and at 21, he was charged with possession.
Interview: Luke Morley of Thunder Talks New Album ‘Dopamine’ & Much More
Luke Morley, guitarist, writer and band leader of beloved British Rock heroes, Thunder, is going through something of a purple patch right now. Hot on the heels of 2021’s ‘All the Right Noises’, possibly Thunder’s most socio-political album ever, comes the double album, ‘Dopamine’, inspired by and generated during the pandemic when Morley found himself with nothing to do but write songs!
Let’s take you back to my student days in Nottingham in the late 80’s. Long-haired and ready to rock!
Rissi Palmer Looks Back at Her Career & Forward To Bringing ‘Color Me Country’ to the UK
Debuting in 2007 with the single “Country Girl”, which made her the first African-American woman to chart a country song since Dona Mason in 1987, Rissi Palmer has gone on to be an artist, an activist and a force for change. It was a pleasure to speak to her about it all.
Carly Pearce Talks New Album, Fiddles, CMA Nominations & Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce’s last album, ’29: Written in Stone’ was the definition of what Country music should sound like. It’s a raw, evocative and yet incredibly commercial piece of work that tells the story of personal growth and empowerment through trauma. I was thrilled to chat to her all about it.
Interview: Desmond Child talks working with Bon Jovi, Meat Loaf, Ricky Martin and his upcoming autobiography
Grammy-winning and Emmy-nominated songwriter/producer Desmond Child is one of the music industry’s most revered and prolific hitmakers.
With a career that spans over five decades, Desmond has been credited on more than 80 Billboard Top 40 hits including Bon Jovi’s Livin’ On A Prayer and You Give Love a Bad Name, Aerosmith’s Dude Looks Like A Lady and Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca. He has sold more than 500 million records worldwide.
It was a career highlight & an absolute pleasure to chat with him.
A Career Spanning Interview With Shane McAnally
Imagine having interviewed both Lori McKenna and Shane McAnally in the same month! Shane was a funny, thoughtful and effusive interviewee. We spoke about his career, from obscurity through to Songland and everything else in-between. This was a real career-spanning interview and one that I will treasure as my career moves forward.
LYRICinterviews: Lori McKenna Ahead of Her Visit to the UK for The CMA Songwriters Event in London
Lori McKenna. Songwriter supreme. One third of the ‘Love Junkies’ with Hillary Lindsey and Liz Rose. Creator of such classic modern hits as ‘Girl Crush’ and ‘Humble & Kind’ as well as such deep & meaningful songs with the likes of Brandy Clark (‘3 Kids No Husband’), Carrie Underwood (‘Cry Pretty’) and many tracks for Little Big Town aside from ‘Girl Crush’.
This was a 'bucket-list' interview for me and so fun to do as well!!
LYRICreviews: 'It All Begins With a Song' - An Intimate Look Behind the Scenes of the Nashville Songwriting Machine
My first ever film review came 24 hours after Nashville was struck by tragedy as a tornado barrelled through many residential areas of the city. Isn't that just SO Country music? The triumph and the tragedy go hand in hand and nowhere is that more in evidence than on this uplifting & beguiling documentary about the art, the craft and the mechanics of the Nashville songwriting machine.
ALBUM REVIEW: Carly Pearce (Self-Titled Album)
Country music is a genre ripe, rich and fecund with female voices, hell, a large part of its creation and genesis can be attributed to Sara and Maybelle Carter back in the 1920s. Right down through the decades, female performers have stamped their presence across Country music in bold, bright and expressive ways. Patsy, June, Loretta, Tammy, Dolly, Reba, Trisha, Faith and Shania..............and now Carly Pearce, with this album that is 'of' and 'about' the experience of being a woman.
LYRICinterviews: Brett Eldredge About his Upcoming UK Shows, Songwriting, His New Album & Which of His 'Deep Cuts' Are His Favourites
Kicking 2020 off with a real bucket-list interview. The super-talented and very cool Brett Eldredge. 7 Number one hits and numerous quality albums, including my go-too Christmas album, 'Glow'.
Brett has been long on my list of artists I've wanted to speak to and the experience didn't disappoint. We talked in depth about his career, his writing and and his new, upcoming album.
LYRICinterviews: Old Dominion on Album Release Day. Find Out Their Thoughts on the New Album, Track by Track & Why They May Never Make Another Album!
Today, October 25th, Old Dominion release their third album. Self-titled and appearing on the cover of an album for the first time, the reigning Vocal Group of the Year (CMA Awards) have made a number of changes, both cosmetic and with their sound which sees them making progress as songwriters and musicians.
We were lucky enough to talk to the band before their recent show in Birmingham, UK about the new album and some of their inspirations & thoughts behind the process that went into making it.
LYRICinterviews: Walker Hayes Goes Deep on Faith & Family And Making Music for the 'Broken'
A great interview with Walker Hayes in which we explore the drivers behind him making music for 'the broken', his journey towards faith and his crazy family situation!
Misty River - Press Release & Website Bio - Example of My Work
UK based Americana band Misty River employed me to write their most recent press release. It helped secure them a support slot with Jools Holland!
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