2017 Year In Review – Liam Lewis

2017 has been an incredible year for music. This year has seen numerous incredible new albums and singles, as well as a number of brilliant tours. Alongside the new releases, country music has seen huge growth in both the UK and the rest of Europe with more and more artists heading across the pond to showcase their music and spread the country music gospel.

There have been numerous incredible tours over the past few months, so selecting my favourites was a challenging task. However, here are my top 3:

1. Maren Morris’ ‘Hero’ tour – Bristol Student Union
2. Catherine McGrath in support of Dan & Shay – O2 Academy 3, Birmingham
3. Ward Thomas ‘Cartwheels’ spring tour – De Montfort Hall, Leicester

2017 has been a particularly incredible year for new releases with albums, EP’s and singles all pushing the limits of the country genre, and displaying the incredible breakthrough talent of numerous new artists. After much deliberation I have managed to choose my top 5 releases of this year.

1. Kelsea Ballerini – Unapologetically (Album)
2. Carly Pearce – Every Little Thing (Album)
3. Danielle Bradbury – I don’t believe we’ve met (Album)
4. Catherine McGrath – Starting from now (EP)
5. Taylor Acorn – Put It in a Song (EP)

The continued trend of singles generating incredible buzz for artists this year has lead to me discovering many new favourites, as well as building my anticipation for new albums. Complied here are just a few of my favourites and is by no means an exhaustive list! :

1. Catherine McGrath – Talk of this This Town
2. Abby Anderson – This Feeling
3. Kalie Shorr – Two Hands
4. Megan & Liz – Handsome
5. Cam – Diane

To round off my year in music are my artists to watch in 2018! These artists have wowed me with their ability to perform, improve the conceptions of females in country music and have produced just incredible pieces of music, through awesome vocals and song writing which is second to none.

1. Catherine McGrath
2. Kalie Shorr
3. Abby Anderson
4. Lexi Lauren
5. Lucy Grubb

Hopefully 2018 can continue to build on an incredible year of music. I am excited for what’s to come.