Tag: Cardboard Fox

BGS Preview: The Long Road Festival in the UK

Posted on by Editor

As this is being written, we’re on our way to the UK to prepare for our FIRST EVER international stage takeover, taking place next weekend at The Long Road Festival, in Leicestershire (near Birmingham). It’s a milestone event for BGS, and part of a larger initiative to reach our dedicated audience outside North America and shed light on some incredible talent that is putting their own spin on folk and roots traditions from other parts of the globe.

To prepare for The Long Road, held Sept. 7-9, we’ve summed up the top stuff we can’t wait to see and do while we’re in town. Hope some of you can join us to check out these highlights too:

1) That lineup tho…
With main stage appearances ranging from Carrie Underwood and Lee Ann Womack to Billy Bragg and Joshua Hedley, TLR is representing a variety of talent from commercial [read: Pop] Country to Americana with a capital A. The lines between roots and country music seem a bit more blurred over here, and we can’t wait to see how it all comes together.

2) Birmingham
Less than an hour from the festival lies the city of Birmingham. What was once a hardened industrialist town is now a breeding ground for creatives and start-ups, fostering one of the youngest populations in Europe (nearly 40 percent of the population is under 25). There’s plenty to discover here — from the old Custard Factory market to four (4!) Michelin-starred restaurants — so it’s a great stopover before or after the festival weekend.

3) AMA-UK stage takeover
Friday kicks off the fest with our friends at Americana Music-UK curating a stage featuring their freshest crop of British Americana talent. (Stay tuned to the BGS site for an announcement highlighting an upcoming collaboration with that team very soon….)

4) Moonshine + whiskey tastings?!
Say no more. You can find us in the Honky Tonk for more than just the BGS stage…

5) Stanford Hall
This is not your mama’s country festival. TLR is held on the grounds of Stanford Hall, a 400-year-old stately home in the heart of Leicestershire, sitting on over 700 acres of expansive parkland. Not too shabby!

6) Born in Bristol film screening
Produced and presented by the Birthplace of Country Music, retracing the 90 years since the recording of the original Bristol Sessions the resounding impact that music has had on the world, the documentary features the likes of Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Eric Church, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Marty Stuart, Sheryl Crow, and Doyle Lawson. Special screenings of the film will take place on site at TLR.

7) The Bluegrass Situation Takeover at the Honky Tonk stage on Sunday, September 9 (DUH!)
Featuring a cavalcade of fierce females from three different continents, our BGS-curated stage highlights everything ranging from bluegrass (Cardboard Fox) to country (Ashley Campbell, Angaleena Presley) to folk (Dori Freeman, Worry Dolls) to Americana (Danni Nicholls, Ruby Boots). It’s gonna be great. You can check out the full day’s schedule below:

13:05-13:45: Danni Nicholls
14:10-14:50: Ashley Campbell
15:15-15:55: Worry Dolls
16:20-17:00: Angaleena Presley
17:25-18:05: Cardboard Fox
18:30-19:10: Ruby Boots
19:35-20:15: Dori Freeman

Discover more about The Long Road and stay in the know by liking our BGS-UK Facebook page.

Purchase tickets for The Long Road.

BGS Takes Britain with the Long Road Festival

Posted on by Editor

Britons, rejoice. We know it’s not been an easy year for you, what with Brexit, and Prince Harry being taken off the marriage market. But we have good news. The first-ever BGS event hits the UK this summer, and it’s going to be, as they say over there, bloody brilliant.

BGS’s overseas debut follows the launch this week of the Long Road, a major new festival taking place September 7-9, 2018. A celebration of everything Americana, the Long Road is set to bring a slice of the South to the English countryside. For three days, the elegant grounds of Stanford Hall — a 17th-century stately home in Leicestershire — will rock out to the sounds of dozens of country and roots artists, including Lee Ann Womack, the Wood Brothers, Parker Millsap, and the Lone Bellow. And, when it’s not too busy, it’ll be doling out bourbon, moonshine, and Southern cooking, and inviting you to swim in its beautiful lake.

On Sunday, September 9, BGS will takeover the Long Road’s Honky Tonk stage to celebrate some of the fiercest females in modern roots music. The all-female line-up includes artists making waves on both sides of the Atlantic. From the U.S., we’ll be bringing you Ashley Campbell, Angeleena Presley, and Amythyst Kiah, while breakthrough British acts Danni Nicholls, Cardboard Fox, and the Worry Dolls will be flying the home flag. Look out, too, for Australian singer/songwriter Ruby Boots.

This is a thrilling — dare we say, pivotal — time for American music in the UK. The Long Road is one of three brand new festivals celebrating roots music to open this summer, including the Black Deer Festival, headlined by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. In August, Rhiannon Giddens will curate the Cambridge Folk Festival for the first time, and the Guardian recently reported that this year’s Country 2 Country festival, at the O2 arena, has enjoyed a four-fold increase since it began in 2013.

With so much good stuff happening just a plane ride away, BGS has exciting plans to bring you more great music both from and in the UK. Keep your eyes peeled for future announcements.