Live Nation teams with RAH to launch Highways fest
Live Nation and the Royal Albert Hall have teamed up to launch new Country and Americana festival, Highways.
The London venue has confirmed acts such as Kip Moore, Morgan Wade, Jackson Dean and Stephen Wilson Jr for the inaugural festival on Saturday 20 May 2023.
Performances will be held in the main auditorium in addition to curated showcases speckled across adorning rooms.
“I am thrilled to bring to life this incredible festival alongside our partners at the Royal Albert Hall,” says Live Nation’s VP touring, Anna Sophie-Mertens. “It is every artist’s dream to play this legendary venue; and delivering such an unforgettable occasion for the Country and Americana community has been a longstanding dream of mine.”
Tickets go on sale this Friday (9 December), with further musical performances and offerings at Highways to be announced soon.
“We’re particularly pleased to be able to build on the long-running history of country music at the Hall in this way – as these genres continue to grow from strength to strength in the UK”
“We’re delighted to be building a completely new Country and Americana event with our long-standing partners at Live Nation,” adds Matthew Todd, head of programming and engagement at the Royal Albert Hall. “Our 152-year old auditorium will provide a backdrop unlike anywhere else for some brilliant acts, and we’re particularly pleased to be able to build on the long-running history of country music at the Hall in this way – as these genres continue to grow from strength to strength in the UK.”
The Hall has a long history of promoting country music and Americana in the UK, including shows by Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, John Denver, Kacey Musgraves and the UK debut of Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1970.
Other notable moments of American history at the venue have included addresses by five Presidents from Taft to Clinton, UK v US basketball tournaments during the war, The Beatles attending a Bob Dylan concert, Pink Floyd opening for Jimi Hendrix, and appearances by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Jay Z, and Diana Ross.
Elsewhere, the Country to Country (C2C) festival has added Morgan Evans to its main stage lineup for 2023. The Australian singer/songwriter joins previously announced headliners Zac Brown Band, Thomas Rhett and Lady A on the bill.
C2C’s 10-year celebration will take place at The O2 in London, Dublin’s 3Arena and Glasgow’s OVO Hydro from 10-12 March.
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Entertee launches new UK Americana fest, Black Deer
UK event production outfit Entertee Events has announced the launch of Black Deer, a new “celebration of all things Americana and country” set to debut at Eridge Park, near Tunbridge Wells in East Sussex, this June.
Headliners for the new event, set to take place from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 June, are Iron & Wine, Passenger and Jason Isbell and his band the 400 Unit, with Ward Thomas, Eric Bibb and John Moreland also on the bill and more to be announced soon.
Complementing the music line-up will be “an array of authentic Americana-style meats, smokey whiskeys, bespoke custom bike showcases [and] storytellings from cultural pioneers”, say promoters, bringing “an authentic, roots-style line up to the UK”.
Kent-based Entertree is co-founded by Gill Tee, who was festival director for Vince Power’s Hop Farm and also produced four editions of Party in the Park for Capital Radio. She says, “having been in the music industry for many years, producing events for other people”, she is “proud to finally take a giant step to having a festival of my own”.
“That’s what Black Deer is all about – bringing passionate, like-minded people together through authentic good times”
“Set in a beautiful part of the world that I know and love, with a genre of music that holds so many memories for me, is really exciting, as well as extremely challenging,” she comments. “I hope that Black Deer can bring to a wider audience all the love and warmth that I feel about about our festival. All the characters who make up our wider team have the same ethos. We are all working together to ensure that anyone who steps foot into the world of Black Deer will want to come back for many years in the future.”
Deborah Shilling, Black Deer co-promoter and Entertee’s other co-founder, adds: “Black Deer is the coming together of all the things I love and value in life. Things that all have one thing in common: authenticity. From real Americana and country music to honest, wholesome food and drink and the raw beauty of the great outdoors, where the experience of being a mum to two young boys has allowed me to be part of designing a natural playground full of family fun and adventure.
“But more [than that], I love that feeling of being part of a community. And that’s what Black Deer is all about for me – bringing passionate, like-minded people together through authentic good times.”
Adult weekend tickets, priced at £115 (tier one), are on sale now from blackdeerfestival.com.
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