The UK may be on the brink of a country music breakthrough, or at least so claims an interesting new feature from Billboard looking at the C2C (Country 2 Country) festival, which will be undergoing its third iteration this year, featuring performances from Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum and Brantley Gilbert at the London O2 Arena.
The interest has truly developed in the last few years. The first C2C took place during 2013, featuring performances from Carrie Underwood and Trace Adkins...in other words a heck of a country lineup. Still, only half of the tickets sold. AEG Europe didn't give up too easily and came, according to their reports, within a few hundred tickets of selling out the second annual concert. The two-day festival reportedly sold out, according to promoters. Either way, a fourth rend ion has already been planned for 2016.
The rest of the country music industry has seen a newfound interest develop in the last year however, which may feed demand for more country concerts for years to come. Garth Brooks announced his comeback to touring with five sellout shows at Dublin's Croke Park, shows that unfortunately didn't go forward due to permit issues but that demonstrated excitement for the genre regardless. Dolly Parton also drew praise as one of the most popular performances at last year's Glastonbury festival, with her "mud song" that may potentially become a repeated activity in year's to come at the event.
Live performances aren't the only place where country is doing relatively well in the UK. The genre made up 2.3 percent of all record sales in the UK last year, which doesn't seem like much, but represents a steep rise from year's past. One band, The Shires, may become the first ever UK country band to crack the Top 10 on its albums chart.
Perhaps the most interesting portion of the story was the image selected by Billboard. The music publication isn't especially known for its edginess, yet it Photoshopped an image of Queen Elizabeth to include a cowboy hat, beer in her hand, and piece of straw in her mouth. Prim and proper UK readers will no doubt take offense.
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