Maverick Country Music Magazine

1 July 2020

While in a normal year we would be recovering from festivals, we are sadly unable to do that this year for obvious reasons – however, it has not stopped the amount of new music that has been hitting the proverbial shelves. In the last month or so, we’ve had music from huge hitters such as Tim McGraw, Lindsay Ell, Caylee Hammack, The Chicks, Luke Bryan, Gabby Barrett and Eric Paslay, while we have music from Keith Urban, Cam and Brothers Osborne to come. This is a hugely exciting time – while it is obviously a blow that we cannot see these artists in the flesh for the time being, the fact that this calibre of artist are releasing new music is of huge boost to not only the genre, but to the fans as well. For many, music would’ve been keeping us going in a sense during the pandemic, so for so much new music to be coming out in a short period of time is a bit like Christmas coming early in a sense. One Christmas gift for many would be to watch live music again, but while we are currently unable to do so, we could have a potential temporary solution. It appears that the Grand Ole Opry are allowing artists to perform at the fabled venue but in a very different way, with fans essentially being able to buy streams to see them perform. While this may sound strange, this might actually work and could act as a solid go-between. Granted, it completely depends on supply and demand, but if artists are telling people they will put on a full stage show, then people will be much more inclined to spend money on that than they would a generic live stream. Much like behind closed doors sport, it would be weird for the artists to perform to an empty crowd – they would have to try and not see it as a glorified rehearsal I guess – but it could work. Live streams have been great, but to actually immerse yourself in the full gig experience again – even if it’s from behind a screen – would be huge and would also enable all these high profile artists that have new music out they can’t play an opportunity to showcase it. We’ll have to wait and see if more artists start following suit, but for now, country music showing innovation in the studio and on the drawing board will always be a good thing.