I spent the most wonderful evening with Paul Bailey last night.

Paul was performing at an evening hosted by Jackie and John Barber of Shootin' Stars at a venue in Quedgeley near Gloucester.

It's actually my third time (I think) seeing him and it was an absolutely brilliant night, not only because I won a box of chocolate fingers in the interval raffle (much to the delight of my little boy this morning) but also because Paul is such a talented singer and overall entertainer.

Paul's first set started at 8.20 - 9.20 and this was when the fun really began. The venue was fitted with a sound limiter which basically means that if the volume in the room reaches over a certain level then the limiter trips the power and that's exactly what happened. It's a common hazard in the entertainment industry, and many venues across the country have these. For my partner, a mobile DJ by trade, it's part of the job (which is why I'm familiar with the problem) and he specifically asks on his booking form so he is prepared as there are a few ways around the problem. These include keeping the volume below the limiter's maximum level so it doesn't go off (easier said than done), turn the limiter off (if management onsite know what they are doing) or as a last resort the PA system can be plugged into a plug on a different circuit usually via a long extension lead so that when the limiter trips it doesn't turn off the power that's currently powering your equipment, but that can be a bit of a pain.

Luckily for us, Paul is well versed on the issues of sound limiters from his experience on the circuit - it's part of the job and whilst these limiters are a pain they service a purpose in protecting locals from anti-social noise disturbance in the evenings. When the music cut off in his set, the limiter was reset and Paul more or less just picked up from where he left off, altered some of the volume controls and got on with the show.

One of the reasons I really enjoyed listening to Paul was that he really knows what's popular on the line dance scene at the moment and he has updated his set to include a lot of the top dances in the line dancer charts. I'm not just talking about country music either, Paul played 'Ain't misbehaving', 'Until the Dawn' and 'Save the Day' along with a good number of Rock and Roll tracks so there really was something for everyone.

Paul's last set was from 10-11pm and we did a few more of the older classic, dare I say, party tracks like 'Just a memory'. It's a song I always love hearing live and I really enjoyed dancing to it. He also did 'Somebody like you' - A clip of which you can view below so you can hear him for yourself. There are plenty more clips on youtube of Paul performing if you want to see more. I will also share links on my facebook page for any photo's that are uploaded from the event for you to view.

All in all the night was really great fun, with a nice atmosphere and lots of dancing. It was also the first time Shootin' Stars had had a live act and I just want to say what a great job they did and a big thank you goes to Jackie and John for organising such a great event. (I'm looking forward to the next one)

Paul with Jackie & John

That's all for today - if you enjoyed reading please share to your friends and please like us on Facebook.

For those that were there please feel free to add your comments below and let me know which was your favourite song from last night that Paul performed. Please also take a look at his website -

http://www.paulbaileymusic.co.uk/

A few weeks ago I was watching a television show on BBC2 called 'Back in time for the weekend'. It featured a family called the Ashby Hawkins who each weekend would experience family life in a different decade. Each episode featured a different decade starting with the 1950's and ending on what the future might look like. What was of particular interest was that in the 1990's the parents went line dancing.

It was good to see line dancing on mainstream television particularly to country music which is currently seeing a resurgence of popularity in the UK and I do hope that it inspired a few more people to dance

Country does seem as popular as ever at the moment, so popular that a new music channel 'Keep it Country' has recently been launched to meet the demand for Country Music in the UK. Launched in early March, the channel features shows such as"The Smith and Rogers Country Show", "Live Laugh Linedance!" & "Hot Country" to name just a few, with country music of all genre's featured and not just from America either but from the UK and Ireland too. It's great to see and is very unique as we don't have any other dedicated country music channels so if you wanted to see/listen to country music you either had to hope that it was in the music charts and featured on the normal music channels such as MTV - (although you will have to wait a while for a track to appear and then it will most likely be Taylor Swift). Or listen to the radio and hope a country song features in the playlist (but again other than Lady Antebellum's 'Need you now' or a bit of Shania or Taylor, that is all you are likely to get). Of course we are lucky that we also have Ranch Dance Radio's show on a Wednesday which plays a great variety - but the music is not just country. Looking forward, it seems  it will be easier to get that 'country fix'.

Times are changing though, and not only do we have a country tv channel (Yay) but last year saw a British country duo top the album charts in the UK for the first time in UK history. The duo called 'The Shires' also broke another record as the first UK country act to be signed to Universal Music Group Nashville - one of the most well known and highly respected record labels for the country genre with other signings such as Shania Twain, Little Big Town, Lady Antebellum, Josh Turner and Alan Jackson (to name a few).

They first came to the attention of many in their appearance at C2C Country to Country - one of the biggest country music festivals in the UK. The festival first started in 2013 but has become hugely successful in only a few short years with demand being such that the London event had to be extended over a few days. The 2016 event featured some hugely successful acts which you will be familiar with including Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Little Big Town, and Kacey Musgraves to name but a few. Of course this doesn't even take into consideration all the other country music events going on this year all of which are seeing high demand and increasing numbers year on year. Just google 'country music festivals UK' and I am sure you will find one near you.

One of the more mainstream supporters of country music has got to be BBC Radio 2 which has a regular country show - 'Bob Harris Country Music show' which airs on a Thursday evening and features news, reviews and the latest country music. In addition BBC Radio 2 provided a 4 day pop up digital radio service from 10th-13th March this year providing coverage and special programmes related to the C2C- Country to Country Music event which was great for those who couldn't be there.

Country also made it onto mainstream television recently in a big way. I'm sure many of you recently saw the UK's recent "Eurovision: You Decide" which featured a female country duo called Darline. Whilst they didn't get through it would have been great if they did, and it shows how increasingly popular country is becoming in the UK for it to be featured as an entrant for the UK's Eurovision entry.

What are your thoughts about Country? - Are you a fan and want to hear more in the mainstream media? Please add your comments below.

Welcome to this week's review of Episode 6 of Live Laugh Line Dance. I have to say I'm really enjoying the new format, particularly the addition of the new presenter Rob Fowler. One of the particularly good things about the show now is the variety of dances shown each week, with both old and new dances in the mix, and the clips shown are compilations of various clubs dancing to the tracks and it's great to see the different classes each dance in their own unique way and with their own moves.

This week's show opened to Peter and Alison's "Sinatra & Chardonnay", which is a nice little improver dance to a proper country track which is very catchy to sing along to. The dance fits well to the music, it's a 2 wall dance and the tags are very straightforward so it's not too intimidating to improver dancers.

The second dance featured was the Crystal Boot Award winning "Ticket to the Blue" by Niels Poulsen. A fantastic beginner dance, this dance is still filling floors and currently sits at 7th in Line Dancer Magazine's Top 50 Chart and from what I've seen there are no signs of this disappearing any time soon.

"Chill Factor" was the 'Guess the Dance' Feature, I danced this myself at a social last night and I have to say it is still one of the best dances out there (Yes I'm biased as I've already declared this as my favourite). There is just something about he dance and the music that it doesn't matter if you aren't feeling great or have been having a bad day - this dance will leave you with a smile on your face by the end and gets your adrenaline pumping.

The next dance was by a lesser known choreographer, Gary Samms. His record on Line Dancer indicates he is a newer choreographer on the scene but despite this he seems to have some great talent, with a great little dance to a fantastic track that really makes me want to get up and dance. I definitely think he is a dancer to watch out for in the future and I also applaud LLL for giving lesser known choreographers the opportunity to showcase their talents.

Our final track was "Making History", which is Craig Bennett's last choreography before he retires. Its a great track and dance for him to end on - A way to go out on top and this dance is still very popular in our class. A great way for Craig to go out on top.

That's it for this week - here are the scripts from line dancer for you to view


Sinatra & Chardonnay - Peter Metelnick & Alison Biggs (Imp)
Ticket to the Blues - Niels Poulsen (Beg)
Chill Factor - Daniel Whittaker & Hayley Westhead (Int)
Superstar - Gary Samms (Imp)
Making History - Craig Bennett, Dee Musk & Simon Ward (Int)

Please let me know which was your favourite in the comments below and also check out the new Facebook page by clicking the link in the sidebar.