Fronted by artists from both sides of the Atlantic, the first ever Country Hits Live tour is set to stop off at Sunderland’s Fire Station in April.
The show featured eight-time British Country Music Association Award winner, Jade Helliwell, sharing centre stage with Nashville singer songwriter and musical theatre star Lars Pluto.
The pair are backed by an award-winning six-piece band, led by guitarist Luke Thomas, who is carrying on the family tradition, having grown up as part of his parents’ country theatre show, Country Legends.
Jade says: “People can expect to go on a journey through time of country music.
“It starts off celebrating the classics, like Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, and it comes right up to the modern day. So we get right up to Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, that kind of stuff, so it’s bit of a journey through time, but we also have emotion as well, so we have the big party stuff where you can get up and get dancing, and also the really emotional stuff, like I Will Always Love You.”
And it’s hoped that with a bumper crop of UK-based country artist creating a strong scene in this country, the show will inspire further growth for the genre.
Jade said: “It’s pulling people in, so even if they initially are going to a country show by watching something like Country Hits Live, which is celebrating the hits that you know, they can still learn about the fact that it’s fronted by myself and Lars Pluto, who are both original artists, we talk about the fact that we’re both independent artists, and get to meet people after the show. So they may initially come to a show because they love country music, they love the hits, but they might leave becoming a fan of maybe me, Lars, original music, and you have a knock on effect.”
Country Hits Live plays at The Fire Station, Sunderland, on Saturday, April 12.