BY MICHAEL CHOWNE

While 70,000 or so country fans baked in Hyde Park on Saturday 27th June 2026 to pay homage to a 64 year old American legend, we took in an entertaining gig at the other end of the spectrum.

With a seated, and air conditioned (!), capacity of just 40 at 21Soho Below, Leeds born Luke Flear put on a great performance showing why he was named the BCMA British Country Music Association Male Artist of the Year in 2024.

Luke is a young man forging his way in a difficult industry. After announcing himself on the independent UK country scene in 2022 with the release of his ‘Looks Country To Me’ album, Luke moved south to pursue his dreams in London in September 2025. Many covers gigs have followed but this one was a really great opportunity to hear Luke’s original music in an intimate listening venue.

With his trademark Bon Jovi looks, Luke’s brand of country is country rock but it’s so nice to hear intelligent songwriting and some softer moments too. There were some favourites from the album – ‘Sounds Country To Me’, ‘Red Vodka’ (the song that got him in to play The Bluebird in Nashville) and, of course, his signature banger ‘Tassels and Flares’, along with his most recent single ‘April Again’.

Particularly pleasing to hear that new music is on the way – Luke”s been hard at work in the studio – and we were given a run through of some of these last night. ‘Higher’, ‘Which Way Is Home’ and ‘I Just Might’ all impressed but it was a slower song (‘Beg Me To Stay’? I’m not sure Luke told us the title) that really caught our attention with a nice change of pace. A lovely tribute too for Luke’s recently departed grandad, with the only cover – Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Proson Blues’ – dedicated to him. Luke wears his prominent St Christopher now in memory of his grandad.

We’ll look forward to seeing Luke again at Country Calling UK Festival in August where he’ll be playing on the Caffè Nero stage organised by our good friends at TALENTBANQ on the Sunday. This gig too was organised by Talentbanq, presented by James Gamble, and was part of the Everywhere At Once Festival powered by the National Lottery. Running just for this weekend, aided by the Music Venue Trust amongst others, this was billed as ‘The UK’s Biggest Music Festival On Your Doorstep’ with 1,200+ gigs across 500+ venues and we were pleased to support it.