@herring1967.bsky.social (PS how many times have people offered to buy you a present which involves placing a celestial body which controls the ocean tides on a thin piece of wood?)

@herring1967.bsky.social Very happy birthday to you, but when's International Catie Wilkins Day?

In this week’s Sunday Hymn Sheet, I take the pulse of homegrown country music in the UK, in a big year for the genre generally. Subscribe to the Substack page to get pieces sent to your inbox! countrywol.substack.com/p/sunday-hym...

What a great plot. But who plays Ravel and who plays Ralph in the movie, Jonathan?

I knew Simon H was good at talking to people with a dictaphone running, but this is one of his best. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...

He sees a flame and, rather than douse it, goes to fan it. When will the people of Clacton realise they elected an arsonist, not a firefighter? Ditto Boston & Skegness, Ashfield, Newark, East Wiltshire, Runcorn and Fareham. As for the poor people of Great Yarmouth...

Same thing that made them flip with Johnson then Truss in 2022: the risk of becoming a laughing stock. It's all a game to Marshall, Murdoch, Rothermere and, to a lesser extent, the chap who has just bought the Telegraph, Mathias Döpfner.

@georgemonbiot.bsky.social Odd to see Patrick Maguire of the Times wang on about neoliberalism today. I look forward to your rebuttal/agreement.

You know how Joey Barton and Nick Griffin were gently shoved out of public life because they poisoned the well? That's happening now with NF and may well happen with Rupert Lowe. Come on, establishment!!

Is this the future of culture: doing things from before the Internet for audiences who grew up without the Internet and, maybe, for people who grew up with the Internet? www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ju...

I discuss the return of The Shires, progenitors of UK country music, in this week's Midweek Notes on the Country Way of Life Substack. Subscribe to be reminded of new posts via your Inbox: one in the middle of the week, and the Sunday Hymn Sheet. countrywol.substack.com/p/midweek-no...

The most interesting thing about all this is that the media are treating an intergalactic space warrior as seriously, if not seriouser, than an elected member of parliament and party leader. There's hope. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XO3...

Someone needs Steve Bray to play music underneath Reform UK spokespeople. I suggest the Curb theme music. #r4today

@countbinface.bsky.social Well, I hope you and Jon didn't book a summer holiday.

Happy 86th birthday to Ringo from the Dingle. Peace and love, peace and love. #ringo

Je suis Belgique.

@davidsquires.bsky.social Looking forward to the cartoon. 'How to stop Robot Man', with next week's sequel 'We stopped Robot Man'.

Lewis Capaldi is playing Hyde Park on Saturday. What will they do with the screen afterwards?

For this week's Sunday Hymn Sheet, I've put together a packed piece about Americana, a genre for rootsy, rocking country music without a defined genre. Here's Part One: countrywol.substack.com/p/sunday-hym... And here's Part Two: countrywol.substack.com/p/sunday-hym...

@adamleventhal.bsky.social Is there a reason your old Athletics pieces stop in the Edwards era? Is there an online archive of your work from 2018-23? Hope all well etc.

Danceteria by Madonna is the best song she has made in about 20 years, possibly more. The album's fine. Her Coachella/Glastonbury set will be the show of 2027. www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Lf...

@secondmentions.com I love what you do, and many more do. I didn't realise there was a book!! 'The enjoyable tome'? 'The lexicographical cornucopia'?

Instead, why not read a book that maps the England men's football team on to the nation's politics?? Sixty Years of Hurt is out now in paperback. www.amazon.co.uk/Sixty-Years-...

In between Hymn Sheets on the Country Way of Life Substack, I celebrate America on the occasion of its semiquincentennial (two-fifty!) and the music that best represents it. countrywol.substack.com/p/midweek-no...

I'm sold on this theory, which I am amazed @cmolanphy.bsky.social didn't come up with before David Browne did. brownebag.substack.com/p/are-pop-he...

Happy birthday Troy Deeney, Watford's second best ever Brummie player (behind Tony Coton). Let's hope Watford don't get relegated this year, as Deeney recently thought would happen. www.youtube.com/shorts/mCpvA...

Don’t fear the repeat: my new #HitParadePod on @slate.com is about 2-Hit Wonders—fluky acts who could’ve been one-hitters but made lightning strike twice. It’s all about the hit gap—the best 2HWs come back years, even a decade after their 1st hit…from Gloria Gaynor to Murray Head to Golden Earring.

In this week’s Hymn Sheet: Casey Donahew, Boots on the Beach festival, independent Texas music and the perils of signing to a major label. Read more about Texas music in this month's Country Music People magazine, out this week! countrywol.substack.com/p/sunday-hym...

Big up Trevor Nelson, a giant of British broadcasting. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

@mrjonharvey.bsky.social Nice namecheck for the Count in Parliament just now.

Get up to speed on B-Listers in country music in this week's Midweek Notes on the Country Way of Life Substack page. countrywol.substack.com/p/midweek-no...

@jenwilliamsft.bsky.social Will AB import his mayoral team to number 10? Who will be the McSweeney figure or Cummings figure, and how crucial will the media-facing aspect of the job be? Have a lovely few weeks/years!

@msmirandasawyer.bsky.social I'm glad the BBC saw sense (re Talk...to Me). I had a great time with Uncommon People, which I devoured in an afternoon. Very sensible putting Tricky and The Prodigy in there. I suppose we'll get a 30th anniversary of Fat of the Land with Liam H next year.

How ironic that the newspapers of June 23 2026, the tenth anniversary of the Brexit vote, will splash with photos of a man who, as Labour's shadow Brexit secretary, was appointed to oppose what the Conservative party he trounced in the 2024 election set in motion. History, eh?

It's a Jo Moore Day today, a fine day to bury bad news. Be vigilant in case someone says or does something stupid.

In this week’s Hymn Sheet for A Country Way of Life: stadium country and the superstar seat-filler, a long piece for the longest day in British Summer Time. Subscribe to get the Sunday Hymn Sheet into your Inbox! countrywol.substack.com/p/sunday-hym...

Football and country music, united at last. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

@jamespiotr.bsky.social Raced through Engulfed, and can't wait to see what you've got up your sleeves next.

@danielgraywriter.bsky.social I don't know if you have officially announced the topic of your next book, but I've spotted it on Waterstones forthcoming titles and am very excited. Hope to see you down at the Vic when Boro come down and walk the Championship next year.

@matoswk.bsky.social I've just learned of the existence of your forthcoming book. Lou got plenty of praise in Rob Hilburn's Randy Newman biography so I'm looking forward to a full exegesis. Your other two tomes are both brilliant, and the 1984 book is in our local library in Watford, UK.

I think it is quite relevant to note that Lindsay Mackie's daughter Bella is married to the host of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. I only mention it because she does not. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

As well as the Sunday Hymn Sheet on the Country Way of Life Substack, I also offer Midweek Notes. This week, why has country star Lee Brice delayed the release of his new album, and why did he associate himself with Turning Point USA? countrywol.substack.com/p/midweek-no...

@benjaminmyers76.bsky.social Had a really good time with Rare Singles. Enjoy the 8 pence you receive after I borrowed it from the library, and I hope some day Bucky's songs get recorded by a proper NS band. Keep the faith etc

Thanks to @mattchorley.bsky.social for having me on to talk about Sixty Years of Hurt, cannily timed for the 2026 World Cup, on his 5 Live show. I'm on at the 40-minute mark to plug the book, which deals with England, its politics and its football team. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Sixty Years of Hurt is a book about England's football team and the nation itself, taking in Harold Wilson and Wayne Rooney, hooliganism and World Cup bids. I wrote it! It's out now as a paperback and eBook. www.amazon.co.uk/Sixty-Years-...

192 number ones later, my celebration of country chart-toppers in the 1990s closes with LeAnn Rimes, Aaron Tippin, Brooks & Dunn and Alan Jackson. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

The last but one post in my 2025 series It's The Nineties, celebrating country number ones from that decade, dwells on songs by Brooks & Dunn, George Strait, Clint Black and Alan Jackson, titans of country music in the 1990s, and all still performing today. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

Four more country chart-toppers from the 1990s arrive at Nashville Worldwide. This time they come from Ty Herndon, George Strait, Shania Twain and Alan Jackson. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...

My contribution to the long-running series on Americana-UK, with an aching middle section.

I've spent the last year celebrating country number ones from the 1990s. To start the December run, here are four from KT Oslin, Deana Carter, Randy Travis and Alabama. nashvilleworldwide.com/its-the-nine...