There is nothing quite like picking up on an artist just as they seem to be on a creative high and that is most definitely true of West London based Dutch born artist Pien. Her previous two singles have both been excellent and her latest "Son", seems set to eclipse them, with one of the purest of pop choruses that you'll hear all year.

Every time a new single arrives from Tilly Christiansson, instinctively #TEAMw21 are drawn to revisit "Whiskey Hotel You", before diving into her latest creation, just to check it is as magnificent as when we first heard it - and each time it only gets better. In truth Tilly has released a string of excellent singles and in "Trouble For Me", producer Lewis "Two Ways Home" Folkner has returned Tilly to her poppy best although naturally her lyrics always have sting in the tail.

There are a few artists that only come to London occasionally, so it would be criminal to let the C2C weekend pass by without checking in on what they are up to. Kier, Rotherham's finest, is one such artist. Her excellent debut album "Welcome To The Strange Life" is still rewarding some years down the line, with the prospect of a followup due at some point this year. Our previous sightings of Kier playing live have left such an imprint, with their good natured banter, mixed

After the hullabaloo of C2C, it was back to UK Grass Roots music at its most creative, with an area in a bookshop in the outskirts of Oxford, turned into a performance space. It has to be said, a very fine book shop at that, the sort that you treasure as opposed to funding billionaires to go into space. It would in truth be a quite surreal night, breaking many of the established rules of gig going, no tiresome ticket checking, it seemed to be assumed if you were there then yo

Appearing on The Dutton Ranch Stage just as she has successfully completed finding the funding for her second album was Vic Allen. It seems incongruous that she has not played the Festival before considering all of her work with the "Write Like A Girl" team, and an unbroken run of excellent singles going back many years, yet this was to be her C2C debut. Thrown somewhat in at the deep end, being a solo performer on the Dutton Ranch with just a stomp box for company, she woul

With impeccable timing McCoy Moore chose to make his C2C debut just as he announced his debut album "Sunshine State" is due out May 22nd. Dressed in the Nashville Singer / Songwriter de rigeur outfit of cap, and jeans, the Florida born native would give us a feel for what we are likely to get when it arrives.

Heading to make her UK debut at Country Calling 2026 is Macartney Reinhardt and ahead of that, comes her latest single "Do I Even Count?", which is certainly her biggest and boldest song, in terms of both sound and songwriting with a bold tune and lyrics that will surely reach out to a wide audience.

One of the undoubted good news stories of C2C 2025 was that of Maria Byrne returning after a ten year absence to grace the festival one more. The story did not end there though, as later in the year on a writing trip to Nashville last summer, she worked with Rodney Crowell, T Bone Burnett, Vince Gill and Mike Campbell at a songwriting retreat where one of the songs to emerge was "My Mother's Daughter".