SCOTCOUNTRY MUSIC NEWS

Singer, songwriter and entrepreneur Toby Keith ranks among North America's most successful entertainers by any standard, and that recognition continues to accumulate. Even so, the Oklahoma-bred music star continues broadening his horizons, quite literally, with plans for his first ever European tour.

With his Nov. 9 date in Glasgow (O2 Academy), Keith will start a journey around Northern Europe promoted by Live Nation International. Keith's international appeal as superstar artist, songwriter and movie star has been consistently growing outside of the US borders. His current album That Don't Make Me A Bad Guy, is already approaching platinum in Norway.

Two members of Ralph Stanley's Clinch Mountain Boys bluegrass band were injured in a car wreck early Monday morning (June 22) near Snow Camp, N.C. Nathan Stanley, who plays mandolin in the band and is Ralph Stanley's grandson, sustained two broken legs. Dewey Brown, the band's fiddler, had facial injuries but no broken bones. Brown's wife, Leslie, was also injured. She and Stanley were airlifted to the Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C., where they remained Tuesday. According to the band's guitarist and road manager, James Alan Shelton, the car in which Stanley and Brown were riding was struck in the back by a drunk driver

Paisley based singer songwriter Jill Jackson spent the latter part of last year on a "50 States in 50 Days" tour of the US with Kevin Montgomery. While many of the dates on the tour were played in bars and clubs and other music venues, a lot of them took place in people's houses... creatively known as House Concerts. Many wonderful, warm and friendly people opened their homes up and invited friends and family to come and watch them play. They made an event of it, with food and drink and general merriment. Many of the best gigs on the tour were house concerts, as they really got to meet and interact with people from all over the US and made several new friends along the way. Inspired by some of the wonderful nights they had on the 50 States tour, Jill has decided to start playing house concerts here in the UK. If you are interested in hiring Jill and my band to come and play a gig in your home, email team.jackson@live.co.uk

Alloa's Prairie Star C&W Club, which meets at the town's Weirs Social Club, have 2 dates in July.
Carson City play foir the club's American Independence Day show on July 4th, and Tequilla return to the club on the 25th.

The Tolbooth, at the Top Of The Town in Stirling, have a number of Bluegrass events lined up in their summer programme.
The Wilders come over from Kansas to play at the venue on Saturday, July 11th, whilst The Dark Holler II is an all day event on Saturday August 22nd. Martha Scanlan, Pokey Lafarge, The Shed Inspectors and The Hot Seats will all perform, and there'll be American Music workshops, a Bluegrass matinee and at 4pm a screening of "Townes Van Zante- Be Here To Love Me", a film documentary about the singer songwriter,starring Willie Nelson & Steve Earle.
Tickets can be booked at www.stirling.gov.uk/tolbooth, or by phone 01786 274000.

Alan Jackson has scheduled three concerts in Scandinavia, marking his first European appearances in almost 20 years. The shows take place Aug 13 in Aarhus, Denmark, Aug. 14 (Eskilstuna, Sweden) and Aug. 15 (Bergen, Norway). Some 14,000 tickets have been sold for the Norwegian date. No UK dates have been announced. Jackson's last European concerts took place in 1990 with shows in Germany.

John Hinshelwood & Sandra Gellatly, from the Gram Parsons influenced City Sinners group will be appearing at the Quarter Folk Club next Tuesday 9th June. Catch them The Bully Inn, Quarter near Hamilton, Lanarkshire.
The new CD should be ready soon, watch out for launch details

Dont forget to vote in this week's European elections.
If Europe ain't your thing, be prepared to be converted this Sunday, when Celtic Country is devoted to the excellent Country music coming out of the continent.
Artists from 20 countries will be featured. Norwegian Steff Nevers has the featured album, and Dutch singer & promoter Cor Sanne will tell us why Country music is more popular in Holland than here in the UK.
Listen on Celtic Music Radio, Sunday June 7th, 2-5pm UK time, on 1530 AM across Glasgow, and online @ www.celticmusicradio.net

Wanda Jackson, known for her rok'n'roll songs, and Country classics like "Right Or Wrong" and "In The Middle Of A Heartache" is coming to Glasgow. The 71 year old Oklahoman, who charted 30 Country hits between 1954-1974, plays ABC2 on Tuesday 23rd June.

The San Quentin C&W Club at Polmont Golf Club start the month with a visit from Blackstone River this Friday (5th). The Prairie Star, back on dry land after their cruise last week, hold their June event at Alloa's Weirs Club on Saturday 13th with Springfield, who have a new CD available (click on the reviews tab on the left).
Carson City play for the No Angels in Hallglen on Friday 19th, whilst the Polmont Linedancers are back on the 26th with Wayne Stewart.