Save 25% off the price of Sixty Years of Hurt, out in February, if you pre-order via Waterstones with the code OCTOBER25. The cover shows various English football figures in states of hurt from the past six decades. Might the hurt end next summer in North America?

I've added my ten penn'orth to AUK's series, which was a pleasure to compile.

I'm pleased to announce the existence of Sixty Years of Hurt: England, and the England Football Team. It's a book that brings together football, politics and society. It's out in February and, today and tomorrow, you can pre-order it from Waterstones with a nifty discount, using the code OCTOBER25.

Here's another of my album write-ups for AUK. This is a terrific album by an artist worth hearing.

This week's quartet of chart-toppers from the 1990s comprise hits for Diamond Rio, Joe Diffie, Tim McGraw and Clint Black. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

Four relatively unremembered country chart-toppers this week in It's The Nineties from Brooks & Dunn, Bryan White, Lionel Cartwright and Tracy Byrd. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

I had a listen to William Prince's new album, out on October 17, which I enjoyed a lot.

Bruce Springsteen was born on this date in 1949. When someone called out Happy Birthday on the Devils & Dust tour, where regular requests enabled him to play almost 250 songs, Bruce refused: ‘This ain’t a Jimmy Buffett show’.

This week's country music foursome of 90s number ones include songs by Alabama, Alan Jackson, Mindy McCready and Trisha Yearwood. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

My old classmate and his band are the subject of this week's Classic Clip for AUK.

I've written about an album by country-rockers The Far West, their first for over a decade, for AmericanaUK. americana-uk.com/the-far-west...

Nineties number ones in this week's entry, part of my year-long series for Nashville Worldwide, come from four blokes who were seldom off the radio during the decade: George Strait, Clay Walker, Kenny Chesney and Tracy Lawrence. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

The latest quartet of country chart-toppers from the 1990s in my Nashville Worldwide series come from Brooks & Dunn, Shenandoah, Doug Stone and John Michael Montgomery. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

Bruce Springsteen played the final of six Born in the USA shows in New Jersey on this date in 1985. An appropriate song for the final sunset of the tour is Sundown, a highlight of the album Western Stars where, in the closing verse, Bruce also sings of a time ‘when summer’s through’.

Here's my review of a great new album by the duo DUG, who mix Celtic and American folk idioms. americana-uk.com/dug-have-at-it

Nineties number ones this week in country music history come from George Strait, Lonestar, Mark Chesnutt and Lorrie Morgan. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

Dan Seals, Rhett Akins, the Dixie Chicks and Alan Jackson feature in the latest item in my series for Nashville Worldwide, It's the Nineties. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

The album Born To Run was released on this date in 1975. Writer Fred Goodman is keen to point out that, ‘at a time when rock and roll acts were looking and sounding more and more like product, Springsteen held himself out as the real thing’.

It's The Nineties continues to profile four country number ones at a time. This week: Ricky Van Shelton, Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson and Garth, doing a Bob Dylan song. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

On this date in 1975, the third show the E Street Band played at the Bottom Line was broadcast live on radio station WNEW. I’ll Work For Your Love, a title which matches what Bruce was doing in those early days, appears on the album Magic. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkWl...

It's The Nineties returns with four more country number ones from bygone days. This time, big hitters Shania Twain, Alan Jackson and George Strait are joined by a nifty tune by Ricochet. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

In his early days playing outside of New York and New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen supported Steely Dan in Boston, then headlined a show which earned him his first review. At a show in support of Chicago, however, kids were throwing loo paper and beach balls.

I chose Kacey Musgraves for the @americanauk.bsky.social feature Can't Live With It, Can't Live Without It, picking my favourite and least essential of her albums. americana-uk.com/cant-live-wi...

I wrote about one of my favourite songs for AmericanaUK, which was the right one to arrive at the right time in my life, and which has taken on new meaning for the band in 2025.

The single Badlands was released on this date in 1978. It contains an intro riff that would be bellowed back to its creator for decades to come. Bruce sings of how ‘you spend your life waiting for a moment that just won’t come’ and that ‘a king ain’t satisfied until he rules everything’.

Garth Brooks, Travis Tritt, Collin Raye and Shania Twain offer up their number ones for the latest batch in my year-long series for Nashville Worldwide celebrating country music in the 1990s. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

I found a lot to enjoy on this set of blues-rock, which I wrote about for AUK. There's an Otis Redding cover, too.

‘It was an honest persona,’ Stevie Van Zandt writes of Bruce’s early solo efforts. ‘I had witnessed his folk side in his room in Freehold. It suited his loner aspect, while being in a band forced him to be social’; having been signed to Columbia Records, ‘a folk singer was not who he needed to be’.

I wrote about this terrific album which deserves a wide audience.

Here's the 27th quartet of nineties country chart-toppers in my series for Nashville Worldwide. This week's number ones come from Alan Jackson, Wynonna, John Anderson and Clint Black. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

July 11 On this date in 2009, Jake Clemons played his first show alongside uncle Clarence, the man whom he would replace in the E Street Band. Written during the sessions for Born in the USA, today’s song Pink Cadillac, on which Clarence plays, was actually recorded by Bette Midler.

July 9 Bruce was in New Jersey on this date in 1981, playing the last of six arena shows to promote The River. From it comes The Price You Pay, a song Clinton Heylin calls ‘prototypical alt-country’, although it also recalls the rock’n’roll ballads from earlier in Bruce’s catalogue.

Four more nineties number ones for your delectation: two from Garth Brooks and one each from George Strait and John Michael Montgomery. You still hear all of them today, with good reason. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

For fans of #BruceSpringsteen and song-a-day calendars, the Daily Bruce is available now.

In 2024, I enjoyed writing two creative pieces with accompanying musical soundtracks. How's Steve Tonight is a love letter to rock'n'roll and the fans who dedicate their lives to following rock'n'rollers, in the form of a short story. Read it here. www.jonnybrick.com/hows-steve-t...

For fans of #BruceSpringsteen and song-a-day calendars, the Daily Bruce is available now.

Here's my review of the effortless new album The Last Revel for @americanauk.bsky.social americana-uk.com/the-last-rev...

I'm delighted to publish The Daily Bruce, a celebration of the music of Bruce Springsteen. The song-a-day calendar includes plenty of biographical titbits, too. It's available for £2.99 as an ebook, or free via Kindle Unlimited. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FFJG5N72

The latest piece in my series for Nashville Worldwide of number ones from the 1990s in country music includes one from Neal McCoy, two from Tracy Lawrence and a collaboration between Brooks & Dunn and Reba McEntire. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

I'm delighted to publish The Daily Bruce, a celebration of the music of Bruce Springsteen. The song-a-day calendar includes plenty of biographical titbits, too. It's available for £2.99 as an ebook, or free via Kindle Unlimited. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FFJG5N72

It's Saturday, which means another four country number ones from this date in the 1990s. This week, chart-toppers from George Strait, Joe Diffie, Patty Loveless and the first Billy Ray Cyrus song that has come to your head. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

The Nineties number ones series continues for Nashville Worldwide. This week, Diamond Rio, George Strait, Brooks & Dunn and the smash duet between Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

Four more country number ones from the 1990s join the parade, this time from George Strait, Ricky Van Shelton, Toby Keith and Clint Black. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

Four more country number ones from the 1990s, profiled as ever for Nashville Worldwide, include the forgotten (Bryan White) to the classic (Tim McGraw) to the evergreen (Brooks & Dunn) to a hit for John Michael Montgomery that Boyzone covered. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

The May 2025 Payday Playlist celebrates 30 acts who have brought their country music to the UK, including Kacey Musgraves, Midland and Shania Twain. countrywol.substack.com/p/payday-pla...

This week's Wednesday Essay is about the bad apples that populate every sector of life. These essays can't all be sweetness and light. www.jonnybrick.com/blog/bad-app...

Four more country number ones from the 1990s, this time from Clint Black, John Berry, Sawyer Brown and Mark Chesnutt, part of my year-long series exploring often forgotten chart-toppers. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

My review of a smart album by Charles Ellsworth americana-uk.com/charles-ells...

Here's the final part of the Country Way of Life series previewing this weekend's Buckle and Boots festival up in Compstall, a village near Stockport. Thanks to Gary Quinn, the festival's musical director, for talking to me. countrywol.substack.com/p/the-final-...

Tomorrow I'll be performing songs from the Gallagher brothers down in Brighton. This week's Wednesday Essay summarises the themes of the show: Noel's songs and Liam's attitude. www.jonnybrick.com/blog/an-even...