You know, it was drawn rather forcibly to my attention the other day that the legendary showband era never really went away.
We might associate it with the late 1950s and early ’60s, that simpler time before beat clubs, flower power, LSD, and taking trips (both self-induced and geographical) to Kathmandu in a Volkswagen bus.
But the showband era is actually still here, alive and well, and apparently as much loved as ever.
The Hot Country Awards, and country music generally, featured on last week, where it was made clear that many showbands, particularly those playing rural venues, built their reputation around big country’n’western numbers. (Larry Cunningham and the…