“The Country of Liverpool: Nashville of the North” (published 2020) told the story of the evolution of the country music scene in Liverpool from the 1950s, as Liverpool established the biggest country and western scene in the UK. It also told of the influence of country music on The Beatles, while also following the career of Phil Brady, who rose to become the #1 country act in Britain.

While I established the roots of the scene and featured Hank Walters & the Dusty Road Ramblers as well as The Hillsiders, it was impossible to tell the whole story, even in 400 pages! There are so many great country acts; groups, duos and solo artists, that couldn’t be covered in just one book.
Volume 2: “Return to the Country of Liverpool”
In this second volume, I basically want to feature every country artist from Liverpool! Yes, I know that isn’t easy, but that is the plan. I especially want to throw more light on the newer generations of country and Americana artists coming out of Liverpool.

It’s understandable that Liverpool is known by many as a pop city – for example, we have produced more number one singles than any other British city outside of London. However, we are confident that more people will come to recognise the country connection.
Featured Artists: The Hillsiders and Charlie Landsborough and many more…….
Just as I featured Phil Brady and the Ranchers in Volume 1, there will be a feature on Liverpool’s most successful country group, The Hillsiders, featuring Kenny Johnson, with his groups Sonny Webb & The Cascades, The Hillsiders and Northwind.

Charlie Landsborough, Merseyside’s most successful solo country artist will also be featured as he tells you his incredible story of becoming a star in both Liverpool and Nashville.
Over in Nashville, Siobhan Maher Kennedy, once of Liverpool band River City People, has carved out an incredible career over in Nashville and has an incredible story to tell.
Along the way, there have been countless artists and groups who never had a recording career, but have been the backbone of the Liverpool country scene for decades. I want to give credit to every single one.
Recent Successes – Robert Vincent
The latest successful Country artist from Liverpool is Robert Vincent, who recently won the UK ALBUM OF THE YEAR and ARTIST OF THE YEAR at the AMAUK Awards (The Americana Music Association UK).
As well as having a strong country music heritage, Liverpool is still producing great country music to this day!
How Can You Help?
I want your to hear your stories; see your photographs, tickets and memorabilia for this new book. If you can help tell the complete story of The Country of Liverpool, please get in touch with me.
List of Country Artists – So Far!
To see the list of country artists that I have compiled so far, visit this page – COUNTRY ARTISTS & GROUPS – I list them alphabetically. Are there any others I have missed? Please let me know.
Help Make The Film
We are working on the documentary film of the book, in which we will tell the whole story of how Liverpool became “The Nashville of the North”. We have already lined up many interviews and features. Keep in touch with the film project here.
Liverpool and Nashville
Since the end of 2019, I have been in discussions on both sides of the Atlantic to twin Liverpool with Nashville, due to our country connections. Liverpool is already twinned musically with Memphis, so it makes sense for Liverpool and Nashville to be similarly twinned. Talks were going well when Covid hit, which has slowed things down. Fear not – the talks will progress again soon!
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Get The Country of Liverpool – Volume 1

To get your copy of The Country of Liverpool, visit the product page here.