There’s no doubt that country music is having a moment, with artists achieving popular success in mainstream charts and mixing it up genre-wise, attracting huge audiences internationally and here in Australia.
Celebrating that fact is the dawn of a new festival, Ridin’ Hearts, a day-long event bringing country charm to the cities of Sydney and Melbourne in November.
Touted as a first-of-its-kind event for diehard country fans and the country curious, the festival will be headlined by US country superstar Riley Green.
Named as the Academy of Country Music’s New Male Artist of the Year in 2020, Green has become a multi-platinum artist with his own albums as well as hit singles with Luke Combs (‘‘Different ‘Round Here”) and Thomas Rhett “Half of Me”).
He has an upcoming support slot on Morgan Wallen’s Hyde Park London show alongside sold-out headline shows around the world. The modest Green’s relationship with country music is one of reverence and the willingness to evolve.
“You’ve got a lot of genres within the genre. It’s a really great time to be different and have your own sound,” he told MuchMusic late last year.
“Where I am in my life right now, if you had told me five years ago that this is what I’d be doing I would have been really surprised. It’s a cool way to have an opportunity to make a living.”
Having performed at CMC Rocks in Queensland back in March to huge acclaim, Cooper Alan is returning to Australia as he tours in support of his latest EP, Feel Like Hell Today.
“As an artist, if you come out and see my show, it’s gonna be a really, really good time,” he told Sounds Like Nashville. “It’s going to be fun, you’re going to want to sing along, dance along, drink some beer, and slap five with the people you’ve never met before. It’s a big old party. That’s always been my thing. It’s just a really fun, banging live show.”
Tanner Adell recently featured on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album, adding backing vocals to the song, “Blackbird”. She’s proudly a pop country artist.
“Some people have a hard time agreeing that pop should even be included in the country conversation when it comes to blending genres,” she told Variety last month. “But I mean, that’s what it is. I’ve got a country heart, a country soul. I write lyrically very country. And it just happens to be my foundation. But I want it to be able to reach outside of the walls of Nashville.”
Australian country music artist Casey Barnes is fresh from performing at Stagecoach in the US and was nominated for CMA International Country Artist of the Year. In 2020 he had to scrap all national and international tour plans for his Town of a Million Dreams album due to the pandemic, so he’s grateful to be back and hard at work on stages around the world.
“Recently, I’ve just taken that time to stop and really be grateful,” he told Rolling Stone last year. “You’ve got to be careful not to take things for granted when they happen. It’s important to stop and reflect, especially on how bloody hard we’ve all worked and how long I’ve been doing this… so many years. Just to have that reward, it’s been incredible.”
Ridin’ Hearts will also feature Josh Ross (CAN), MacKenzie Porter (CAN), Austin Snell (USA), Bella Mackenzie (AU) and DJ Konsky (AU). It rolls into Sydney Showground on Saturday, November 2, and Caribbean Gardens in Melbourne on Sunday, November 3. Ticket information and full details can be found at ridinhearts.com.
