This is where you can read about clubs from their members or club promoters to see what is happening on the Country music circuit. It is updated as and when we receive reports and get the time to include them.
Epping Riders CMC, Epping, Essex
Kurt B with Pat & Jean at
Epping Riders
by Nick Catford
19th May 2025
Kurt B will be a new name to many people. I first saw him at the CCN awards show in Southport last September. He only played at his first Country club in March 2023 but he is quickly building a reputation as a good singer. Although new to the stage, he has been involved in Country music and line dancing since he was 5 (1996) and as a teenager, he learnt to be a sound and lighting engineer helping MT Allan at Country festivals around the country. It’s at that time it became his ambition to be on stage one day to entertain and sing.
Having first sung in public at a family party when he was 14, the opportunity to perform at a club for the first time came in March 2023 when there was a free night at the club run by his mother-in-law in South Shields. Kurt jumped at the opportunity to fulfil his dream and he feels his career is now going from strength to strength with every gig.
He loves all styles of country and all types of clubs including listening clubs where he gets the chance to sing some great story songs. He enjoys the line dance gigs just as much watching people dancing and having a good time. He certainly gave us all a good time at his debut at the Epping Riders on 19th May opening proceedings with Travis Tritt’s Where Corn Don’t Grow, Alan Jackson’s Don’t Rock the Jukebox and Don Williams’ First Fool In Line.
Kurt has a gentle Country voice and gave us a well chosen balance between old and newer songs which suited the club. Kurt told me at the beginning of the evening that everything he sings is strictly Country with no pop songs and that is certainly what we got tonight. He told me appearance is important so it was good to see a change of shirt each set. A few more from the first set included Billy Ray Cyrus’ It’s All The Same To Me, Garth Brooks’ Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old), Randy Travis’ Three Wooden Crosses, Gord Bamford’s Diamonds In A Whiskey Glass and Toby Keith’s A Little Less Talk And A Lot More Action. We don’t hear enough Toby Keith in my view.
Kurt opened set 2 with Tim McGraw’s Just to See You Smile and the ever popular Triple Mix medley. I liked Ty Herndon’s Loved Too Much a song which Kurt has recently recorded and it will be one of the tracks on his first CD album which is in production. He had no problem creating a good rapport with the audience and guaranteeing himself a return booking and a booking at Harlow CMC which is also run by Pat and Jean.
I have always liked a good train song and one I haven’t heard for years is Alan Jackson’s Freight Train. A few other songs that stood out in the second set included Little Texas’ God Blessed Texas, Keith Whitley’s Don’t Close Your Eyes, Darryl Worley’s Messed Up In Memphis, River Road’s Nickajack, Drake Milligan’s Save It For A Sunny Day and Billy Currington’s People Are Crazy
It’s always good to see new young faces on stage. I have seen a number of younger Country singers this year and it’s refreshing to see new names coming into our industry. It’s a shame the same can’t be said about attendees at clubs, especially western clubs where at 73, I am sometimes one of the younger people there!
Everybody likes a barn dance and Kurt gave us two in a row, George Strait’s Stars on the Water followed by Marty Stuart’s Tempted, which is a real classic barn dance song. More George Strait followed with The Cowboy Rides Away. Bum grabbers have always been popular and a good ballad often isn’t Country. I remember 30 years ago everyone was singing Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight. A very popular slowie at the moment is Chris LeDoux’s Country interpretation of Bruce Springsteen’s Tougher Than the Rest. It filled the dance floor as usual.
As the evening drew to a close we heard Darryl Worley’s Honky Tonk Life, Vince Gill’s Young Man’s Town and Brooks & Dunn’s Red Dirt Road which Kurt described as one of his favourite Country songs. He closed with two old favourites, The Mavericks’ Here Comes My Baby and The Lennerockers’ High Class Lady. There was loud and generous applause and shouts for more and for an encore Kurt gave us BR549’s All Week Long (7 Nights to Rock). A great evening from a new name who will be back at Epping at the earliest opportunity.
Click below to see my phone video.
Junction 25 LDC, Marks Tey, Essex
Texas Tornados
by Nick Catford
23rd May 2025
I made my first visit to a new club, the Junction 25 Line Dance Club in Marks Tey, Essex on 23rd May. The venue was home to Western Nights CMC, a monthly club until December 2024. Two new clubs emerged in 2025 Junction 25 LDC opened in March with gigs on the fourth Friday in each month so this was their third gig. The other club The Three Chords is on the second Friday of the month and opened in April. Junction 25 is a line dance club run by Trish Wynne-Wilson and I was pleased to see the club was full by the time Texas Tornados took to the stage. It’s really good to see a club that’s doing well, some of the clubs I regularly go to are having a good night if they have 30 in.
Texas Tornados are without doubt one of the best duos on the circuit today. For me and I’m sure Line 25 club members, they ticked all the boxes providing top quality entertainment for the dancers. Pete Stothard was brought up with a love of Country music. His parents regularly attended festivals and clubs although singing Country had never been one of his childhood ambitions.
Before forming the Texas Tornados in late 2004 Pete Stothard, known to many as ‘The Cockney Cowboy’, had established his name on the line and western dance scene as a top dance instructor. With this pedigree it came as no surprise that the Tornados were an instant success building up an enthusiastic following on the club circuit. Stu Payne came on board on keyboards and lead guitar at the end of 2008.
In 2009 the duo was nominated for a Band of the Year award by the BCMA winning the People’s Choice Act of the Year in 2015. With the arrival of CCNs, the awards kept on coming, they won Duo Of The Year in 2017, Entertainer Of The Year in 2019 and 2021 and Duo Of The Year in 2022 and 2023. With all these awards, Pete and Stu must be doing something right.
Pete is the lead singer and also plays rhythm guitar. Stu sings lead and harmony vocals and is a superb instrumentalist often playing both keyboard and guitar in the same song or playing two keyboards at the same time, one with each hand. The Tornados are very visual and a radio mic allowed Pete to join the dancers on the floor on several occasions which brought warm and well deserved applause from the enthusiastic crowd.
They opened proceedings with Jaden Hamilton’s Heaven’s Jukebox and from the first song the dance floor was packed, right up to the front of the stage. Brooks & Dunn’s Whiskey Under the Bridge, Wade Hayes’ On a Good Night and Gord Bamford’s Diamonds In A Whiskey Glass kept everyone on their toes.
Stu Payne is one of our top musicians and deserved two consecutive musician of the year CCN awards in 2018 and 2019. He is also a good harmony and lead singer and he took the lead on a number of songs tonight, the first being The Lennerockers’ High Class Lady which of course included a great piano solo. Being a line dancer and a dance instructor Pete took every opportunity to leap off the two foot high stage and join the dancers on the floor with songs like Johnny Cash’s I walk The Line. This was followed by William Michael Morgan’s In Walked You and Josh Kiser’s I’m Never Drinking Again. Next we heard a song that Pete rediscovered at his Classics Weekender a few weeks ago. He found a song he hadn’t sung for a long time. “I love it, he said, who remembers the dance Human Dancer. That’s what the Weekenders are all about, learning the classics.” The song was Josh Gracin’s Nothin’ To Lose.
It was good to meet up with keyboard player Scott Newstead who was in the club tonight to see Texas Tornados; I haven’t seen Scott for maybe 30 years. He has played keys in a number of our top bands, including the John Douglas Band and the Tracy Elsdon Band. He was also a member of Texas Tornados in 2006 before leaving in late 2008 to go back to the Dominic Kirwen band making way for new recruit Stu Payne. During his time in the Tornados, he suggested doing a much slower arrangement of Tim McGraw’s Just to See You Smile which we heard tonight. I must say I prefer it.
There was a good balance between lesser known songs like Zach Top’s Sounds Like The Radio and old favourites like George Jones’ ever popular Billy B. Bad. Next George Strait’s Make Her Fall In Love With Me Song meant it was time for a barn dance. During the second, set Pete was joined by club member Abi Joy who also happens to be a good singer. Pete and Abi first sang together at one of Pete’s Weekenders. She gave us two songs Jill King’s Can’t Let Go and Enrique Iglesias and Miranda Lambert’s Space in My Heart.
A few more songs that stood out for me as the evening progressed include Lee Brice’s Cry, Chris Janson’s Cheap, Garth Brooks’ Ain’t Going Down (‘Til The Sun Comes Up), Drake Milligan’s Don’t Look Down and Montgomery Gentry’s Hillbilly Shoes which was another good opportunity for Pete to jump off the stage and join the dancers on the floor.
It was clear right from the start that Pete was having a lot of fun leaping all over the place. It was so nice to see someone who really entertains rather than just singing and strumming. With superb playing from Stu Payne it’s no wonder that Texas Tornados continue to win awards.
A few songs from the final set include Miranda Lambert ‘s Ain’t in Kansas Anymore, Blake Shelton’s Texas, Luke Combs’s The Kind of Love We Make and Old Dominion’s Memory Lane which was a request. Pete got through plenty of requests through the evening. All too soon it was time to finish and Abi joined Pete on stage again for the final song Ella Langley & Riley Green’s You Look Like You Love Me a song they both first sung together at one of Pete’s Weekenders. I am really glad I made the journey up to Marks Tey, I was entertained from start to finish and it was good to catch up with Scott Newstead in the breaks. He told me that he is currently in a reunion of the John Douglas Band. They did one gig last year and have another couple booked later in the year.
Hickory Lake CMC, Feering, Essex
Ainsley
by Wendy Haylock
24th May 2025
What a great performance Ainsley gave us all on 25th May at Hickory Lake, it was his first time at the club and standing in for George McIntosh as unfortunately George has eye problems at the moment and had to cancel,but we wish him all the best from Hickory Lake and hope he recovers soon.
Ainsley right from the start got everyone on the dance floor and his interaction with his audience was brilliant, he gave a few jokes and quips in between songs and also did several requests, we thank you Ainsley for giving us all a lively and great evening and we look forward to seeing you back again soon, his roadie Chris came along, he was a lovely jolly man who it was a pleasure to meet.
We had three Birthdays which were Bobbie’s last night, Chris and myself which is this Thursday 29th. Ainsley sang each of us a song, slightly unexpected but it went well and we all enjoyed the fun of it.
We had two first timers to the club this week who were Blake and James, it was nice to meet you both and we hope you enjoyed your evening and come back and see us again soon. Roger and Sylve looked after the raffle and you both did a grand job, we thank you both for taking part, and we thank all who added prizes to the raffle table it’s much appreciated. We thank and truly appreciate all our fantastic team of Hickory Lake helpers, from the start of the evening until the end, and thanks to Sandra who stepped in for Pru in the canteen to help Jane in the first break, you are all so great in all that you each do, it’s so good to have such a good team behind us. Thank you as always to all our supporters of Hickory Lake, we appreciate the support that you give to your club.
Take care and much Love to you all. Wendy xx
Country Revival, Dagenham, Essex
Steve Hanks
by Nick Ctford
11th May 2025
Steve Hanks has been a regular visitor to the Country Revival, often making the long journey south from Doncaster for just one night. On 11th May he was in elsewhere in Essex the previous evening so it was just a short trip across the county; some from the previous evening came again. Steve is an excellent guitarist and has a very wide repertoire of Country music old and new, but as the club prefers more traditional country this gave him the opportunity to include many songs not normally found in his set.
Steve opened proceedings with Brooks & Dunn’s You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone followed by Don William’s First Fool In Line and a pair from George Jones’ Billy B. Bad, which still seems as popular as it ever was and another George Jones song Famous Last Words which is rarely heard. Neon Moon was next and I’m sure we were all expecting the popular Brooks and Dunn song. Steve wasn’t having any of that however. Instead we got the same song but the completely different DJ Noize arrangement which is more upbeat and electronic than the original. Perhaps surprisingly it was well received.
Steve has a wicked sense of humour which ensured plenty of light hearted banter, interspersed with plenty of fine singing and picking. “I don’t do smiles” he said with a cheeky grin – luckily someone was there catch it on camera.
It was good to hear a fair number of songs tonight that are rarely heard these like David Kersh’s If I Never Stop Loving You and Aaron Watson’s That Look and a couple that I had never heard before including Cooper Alan’s Suit and Tie; a cleverly worded song that updates Tennessee Ernie Ford’s classic Sixteen Tons bringing the original themes of hard labour and working-class struggles to a modern audience.
It was good to see a change of shirt for each set; this was once common practice but is left often seen these days. It’s part of a good stage presence which is a performer’s ability to attract and engage the audience’s attention and includes confidence and charisma. Steve Hanks has it in abundance.
After Luke Combs’ 5 Leaf Clover, Randy Travis’ Where That Came From and Toby Keith’s Where you Gonna Go we had some Australian Country with Lee Kernaghan’s Backroad Nation. Steve maintained his light hearted and jovial presentation throughout the evening and he was clearly having a good time and that quickly rubbed off on everyone in the club. There were lots of request during the evening and I think Steve managed to get through all of them.
Steve has always been a prolific song writer and always includes at least one of his own songs. Tonight we got two, the first one which he wrote during lock down is a comedy song called Simply Don’t. It can be difficult to write humorous lyrics and I think Steve did a great job with this one which included some hilarious near the knuckle lyrics like “you were a great dump, great just like Bo-Jo and Trump”. He said it was good for a barn dance and he was right.
As the evening progressed we heard Blake Shelton’s Sangria, Drake Milligan’s Save It For A Sunny Day, Kane Brown’s Homesick, Sundance Head’s Close Enough to Walk and Raleigh Keegan’s Jealous of the Sun. Next came another original song Another Sunny Day which brought a lot of applause. This song did well in the Country chart a while back knocking Nathan Carter off the top spot. It’s good to find a club where the members like original songs. I am not a dancer but having spoken to a number of dancers and dance instructors who have confirmed my view any good dancer should be able find a dance that will go with any song.
A few more songs that stood out for me in the final set included Tracy Lawrence’s How a Cowgirl Says Goodbye, James House’s This Is Me Missing You and Marty Stuart’s Tempted meant it was time for another barn dance. As the evening drew to a close we had a final bum grabber, John Conlee’s Lady Lay Down which was described as a real heartbreaker by Steve. He finished the evening with Ronnie McDowell’s Smokey Places and Chris Norman’s Gypsy. The applause was loud and well deserved and everyone went home knowing they had been at a great evening of Country music from a club stalwart.
Below is my phone video with four songs including one of Steve’s hilarious original songs, Simply Don’t. Listen closely to the lyrics!
Hickory Lake CMC, Feering, Essex
Brian Mann
by Wendy Haylock
18th May 2025
It was absolutely great and a pleasure to have Brian Mann back at Hickory Lake on 18th May, with his great personality and his interaction with his audience. Brian has a huge range of songs and did several requests and always gives a lively performance, it’s always good to have Brian perform at the club, and we thank you for a truly entertaining evening and look forward to the next time.
It was also really nice to see Brian’s partner Elaine again and catch up with her, a lovely lady. Before Brian started the evening off, Big Jim announced that he raised £254 which £105 was raised last week at the club, altogether the total amount raised was over £12.000 for Colchester D.G.R.men’s mental health,what a great achievement! Well done Big Jim and all involved. Also how nice it was to see Anne, Doug and Glen back at Hickory Lake after several years, you all look really good and haven’t changed in all those years!
We hope you enjoyed your evening with us and catching up with everyone, and come back to see us again soon. We had one birthday which was Colin’s, Brian sang Happy Birthday to him and also did him a special song, we all wished him well and thank you for the chocolates to celebrate. The raffle this week was taken care of by Roger and Sylve, thank you both for taking part you did a grand job, and we thank all who added prizes to the raffle table it’s much appreciated.
Very grateful thanks to all our fabulous team of Hickory Lake helpers, you are all great in all that you each do,from the start to the end of the evening, we truly appreciate you all. Also to all our wonderful supporters, we thank you all for the support you all give to your club.
Take care and much Love to you all. Wendy xx
Hickory Lake CMC, Feering, Essex
Chris Harris
by Wendy Haylock
11th May 2025
How nice it was to have Chris Harris performing at Hickory Lake on 11th May, yet again another excellent guitarist, and a great personality, he gave us a good mix of songs and interacted with his audience well, great to see you again Chris and we thank you for a very enjoyable evening and hope to see you again soon.
We had one Birthday which was Michael who’s birthday was on Monday, you’re looking really good at 88 years old Michael!! Chris sang Happy Birthday to him and we all wished him well and thank you for the chocolates that you bought round to celebrate. The raffle this week was taken care of by Roger and myself (in the absence of Sylve), thank you Roger for taking part you did a grand job, and thank you to all who added prizes to the raffle table it’s much appreciated.
Sincere thanks to all our brilliant team of Hickory Lake helpers from the start of the evening until the end,you are all great in all that you each do for us and your club, we thank Bev & Phil for stepping in at short notice in the canteen at the start of the evening (in the absence of Chris & Colin), it was very much appreciated. We thank as always all our supporters of Hickory Lake, we appreciate the support you give to your club.
Take care and much love to you all. Wendy xx
Manston CMC, Manston, Kent
Roots & Wings
Nick Catford
2nd May 2025
Roots & Wings is a husband and wife partnership with Kelly Cobbett on lead vocals and Michael Cobbett on rhythm guitar and harmony vocals. The duo first went on the road as Tennessee Country in March 2012 and in thirteen years they have established themselves as one of the best in the business. Kelly has a vivacious personality, lots of good humoured banter with the audience and a well chosen mix of songs that always keep the dancers on their toes from start to finish.
Tennessee Country became Roots & Wings in 2015 and quickly built up a very loyal following. They were forced to take a break from performing in May 2019 when Michael broke his back following a serious road accident but returned to the circuit in August that year. With the arrival of covid in January 2020, Kelly’s band, Boxcar Kelly & The Railroaders came off the road but after covid Roots and Wings continued to maintain a busy diary making a very welcome return to Manston CMC on 2nd May.
I last visited in 2022 so it was good to go back at a club where I have always been made welcome. I have always particularly liked girl singers as we always get to hear a good selections of songs that male artists generally choose to avoid with one or two exceptions. Kelly and Michael kicked off with Sara Evans’ Suds In the Bucket, James House’s This Is Me Missing You and Luke Combs’ 5 Leaf Clover. It was soon clear that we were in for a fairly up-tempo evening which suited the dancers who were keeping the floor busy.
‘The Boss’ as Kelly was referred to when fronting her band, is a consummate entertainer with the ability to communicate and she quickly make friends with the audience. Other songs that stood out in the first set included Miranda Lambert’s Ain’t It Kansas Anymore – you can’t get enough Miranda Lambert in my view and Miranda has of course recorded a song called Roots and Wings! More girl songs followed with Ashley McBryde’s Martha Divine and Lainey Wilson’s Hang Tight Honey while another from William Michael Morgan, In Walked You, brought the first set to a close.
Roots & Wings opened set 2 with Rodney Atkins’ If You’re Going Through Hell, Tim McGraw’s Just to See You Smile, Randy Travis’ Where That Came From and Alan Jackson’s Remember When which highlighted Kelly’s good Country voice. It was very good to hear an original song from Kelly; I hadn’t heard Like I Do before. It has a catchy lyric and although this was the first time she has sung the song in public it did get people onto the dance floor. Kelly told us that one of our top instructors is choreographing a dance for it which is good news; it’s also going to be their next single. It got a loud cheer from the members so clearly Manston liked it too. Let’s have some more originals Kelly. Kelly has always considered songwriting to be an important part of her Country journey. I am pleased to say Kelly has been working on a 12 track original album hopefully be released at the end of May or early June. She’s going into the studio next week to finish the rest of the vocals.
A few more songs in the second set included Kaylee Bell’s Cowboy Up another from William Michael Morgan with Gone Enough and Charlie Walker’s Close All The Honky Tonks. Sticking with the honky tonk theme, it was great to hear Heather Myles’ Playin’ Every Honky Tonk In Town. I saw Heather several times when she first came to the UK in the early 90s. A great performer and a great songwriter, I have always been a big fan. Kelly and Michael ended the second set with Old Dominion’s Memory Lane and Josiah Siska’s Three Tequila Floor.
Set 3 kicked off with Susan Ashton’s Closer, Jaden Hamilton’s Heaven’s Jukebox and Casey Donahew’s Telling on My Heart. Although Kelly is the lead singer, Michael provided good harmonies and there was some witty banter between the two of them. It is hard to believe that until 2012 Michael had never picked up a guitar. When Kelly first decided to form Boxcar Kelly and the Railroaders and after a few months Tennessee Country Duo, Michael was given three months notice to get ready for the first duo gig. Having settled in with the duo he also became the 6th member of the band.
A few of the songs that stood out in the third set included Josh Mirenda’s Til the Neon’s Gone, Drake Milligan’s Save It For A Sunny Day, Cody Johnson’s ‘Til You Can’t and, towards the end of the evening, a whole heap of drinking songs, Cole Swindell’s Drinkaby, Josh Kiser’s I’m Never Drinking Again, George Strait’s Codigo and Shaboozey’s A Bar Song. Drinking has always been a popular Country theme!
At the end of a great evening of Country music and dance, Roots & Wings took us out in fine style with Jill King’s Can’t Let Go (Train Wreck) which brought loud and well deserved applause. I know everyone at Manston enjoyed an evening with one of our top Country duos.
Kelly has an exciting new project which was launched in 2023 when she teamed up with Martin Jaye to perform the Hayride Jamboree, a tribute to the greats of Country music. The show includes Kelly’s tributes to Billy Joe Spiers, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynne, Tammy Wynette and Crystal Gayle and Martin’s tributes to Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, Jim Reeves, Don Williams and much more. The new show includes solo performances and duets and is a must for those who prefer traditional Country music. I missed an opportunity to see the show earlier in the year but I am really looking forward to catching them together soon.
See my phone video which includes Kelly’s own composition Like I Do.
Hickory Lake CMC, Feering, Essex
Black Steel
by Wendy Haylock
4th May 2025
What a fabulous evening we had with Black Steel, Jim & Albie performing at Hickory Lake on 4th May. It was really good to see them back at the club again, two very talented musicians; they gave us a good mix of songs and did several requests keeping the dance floor busy all evening, We thank you both for a great evening of entertainment, and look forward to seeing you both back again later in the year. It was lovely to see Jim’s partner Lyn again and to catch up with her again such a great lady.
Being close to VE day 80 years ago, Mick kindly spoke a few words for the occasion at the very start of the evening and we thank you Mick.The raffle this week was taken care of by Roger and myself (in the absence of Sylve), thank you Roger for taking part you did a grand job, and we thank all who added prizes to the raffle table it’s much appreciated. We thank all our super team of Hickory Lake helpers, from the start of the evening until the end, and thank you Val for stepping in to help Jane (in the absence of Pru) in the canteen in the break, we appreciate you all, it’s great to have such a dedicated team behind us.
We also thank all our lovely supporters of Hickory Lake we appreciate the support you give to your club.
Take care and much Love to you all Wendy. xx