Facebook [Release date 02.08.19]

The Rising – Chris Logan (guitars, banjo, mandolin), Chantelle McAteer (vocals) and Brian Mellors (bass) – have been gaining attention and interest in their mix of country, pop and rock. They have released two albums and a number of singles to date, with ‘Moving On’ their latest album which was released last year.

‘Endless Summer’ has the uplifting lyrics, an instant chorus and the melodic vocals of Chantelle McAteer. All this and neat little guitar solo, what more could you want?

Fans of Lady Antebellum and the Shires will I am sure love this song, as will anyone who wants a new summer anthem. A song that does what the title suggests being a perfect piece of summery filled pop music. ****

Review by Jason Ritchie

Chris Logan kindly answered some questions about the new single and the plans for the Rising -

Why did the band decide to release a summer song and how did you guys make it so damn catchy?

Well, firstly, thank you. We are so glad you like the song and think it’s catchy. The whole idea of the song was to create an ear worm that would get stuck in your head. We didn’t in a way deliberately didn’t set out to write a Summer song. But it would seem that we kind kind of become the band to celebrate the seasons with, since we have released a Christmas EP and now a Summer song in a matter of months.

It came about simply because we set ourselves a goal to continually release new music, with a new release falling every two months. So when we noticed at the start of the year that one of the singles would drop over summer we thought that we should try and write a summer time song. So since about January we tossed around lots of ideas for songs and wrote a truck load of songs in a small period. We started talking one day about how Summer always seemed to be a magical time when you were a kid. So we wanted to try and capture those feelings. Soon the title ‘Endless Summer’ came about and we began to write around the idea of a couple first meeting and falling in love on a magical summer night down down by the beach. All in all we wrote the song pretty quickly in one days writing session. But then we began to record and finesse the lyrics etc over the course of two months.There is a video to accompany the single. How important is it to have a visual to go with any new music? How does the band go about getting more known on the streaming services and getting onto the promoted playlist

There is a video to accompany the single. How important is it to have a visual to go with any new music? How does the band go about getting more known on the streaming services and getting onto the promoted playlists?

Visuals are incredibly important these days, but, it is a fine line. We don’t like to be too literal with our music videos as we want the listener to get their own visuals while listening to the song. Sometimes when you see a video that literally tells you the meaning of the song line-by-line it ruins the song. So we like to try and create mini movies and stray away from performance videos as they can be very tacky. But today’s music industry is all about people getting to know you and buying into you as a person so as it really is a fine line of being artistic but still hitting certain points commercially. Which in a way has killed allot of the creativity and diversity in today’s music.

Well the big Spotify curated playlists are largely controlled by the major labels. So its hard for independent bands to get onto those playlists. One way to get onto the radar is to mobilise your fanbase to pre-save the song on Spotify. That way Spotify can see there is hype around the release. But on the other hand the playlists made by bloggers are often a good source as you can directly contact them and build up a relationship with them. Hopefully, they will put you on their playlists.

The pop side of country music seems to be undergoing a boom, especially here in the UK. Why do you think this is and have the Rising managed to benefit from this?

Well there is a bit of a double edged sword on that one. While yes, Country Pop and indeed Contemporary Country Music is indeed going through a bit of a boom there is still somewhat of a disconnect. Allot of Country fans in the UK are only interested in the big names from Nashville and don’t really care about bands from the UK playing it so it is very hard to gain fans in a way. Not to mention the old debate that rages about what is Country and what isn’t.

There have been a few bands such as The Shires, Ward Thomas, Catherine McGrath who have come from zero to hero in a short space of time. But this is largely big money label experiments to cash in on the growing boom. There is a huge disconnect in the Independent scene. So we as a band have tried to keep one foot in all scenes. Whilst we love country music and its story telling we know that the audience in still quite niche. So we have made it a deliberate point to be a kind of fusion of traditional Pop, Rock and Country. That way we can garner your traditional fanbase as well as people who really like Country Music. I think if we depended on the Country Music fans to build a fanbase in the UK we would struggle.

Though in saying that we have noticed allot of younger people getting into Country Music. Largely thanks to the ‘Taylor Swift effect’ and simply because modern pop music has become so dumbed down with nothing to say. So we find that younger people are turning to the classic bands such as Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Eagles etc but they are also turning to an accessible brand of Country Pop/Rock. As it still sounds new and contemporary but it tells a story and is generally performed by people who can really play and sing.

What have the band got planned for the rest of the year and into early 2020?

Well as I touched on above today’s music industry has changed the game. We used to think in terms of Album and throw out some singles from the album. But today people want constant content. So we have now adapted to a focus of continually releasing new music. So we have several new releases coming up between now and the end of the year including singles, EPs, music videos, online content. So we will be constantly putting something out.

We also have a big gig in London’s Water Rats on 12th Sept. Kind of a celebration of Women In Music. We are running the gig as a showcase and it will feature Hannah Paris, Jeannie Barry and Roisin O’Hagan.

Tickets available here: https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/London/The-Water-Rats/The-Rising–Jeannie-Barry–Hannah-Paris–Roisin-OHagen/13499438/

What have been the live highlights for the band to date and if given the chance, who would you like to support and go out on tour with?

We have had many. We recently played a showcase gig with BBC Introducing Coventry & Warwickshire, where we were band of the month. The gig was a showcase of three acts in a venue called the Temperance. All the acts played a stripped back set to a sold out audience. The audience was so open and receptive to new, original music and we were a little taken back. They got involved in the songs, sang along and interacted with us onstage. So that was a huge highlight.

Our recent UK Tour was also a major highlight. Likewise, playing Country 2 Country Festival at London’s O2 as a gig we will never forget.

We have so many acts we would love to support and collaborate with. They include Queen, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Cam and Old Dominion. But the most obvious one for us would be Bruce Springsteen who we are named after. Writing a song with him and supporting him would be a dream (even though he doesn’t have support acts).

Message for you fans…

A: Firstly, thanks so much for being part of our journey. We really appreciate every one of you. We can’t wait for you guys to hear the new music and content we have planned and also see you on the road. In the meantime keep in touch with us via our socials. We love hearing from you all.

Social links:

web: www.therisingmusic.com

Insta: @therisingmusic

Twitter: @therisingmusic

FB: @therisingofficial

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