Raintown

While most folks think of country music as something purely American, Paul Bain and Claire McArthur are determined to remind folks that country has an international appeal, and as the leaders of the group Raintown, they've brought the Nashville sound to their hometown of Glasgow, Scotland. The pair began making music in 2009, and they made their recording debut the following year with the album Hope in Troubled Times, released on the independent <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Raintown+Partners%22">Raintown Partners</a> label. Bain and McArthur's tuneful but passionate songs and their strong, subtly emotive duet vocals earned Raintown a following on the U.K. country scene, and the pair, backed by a five-piece band, became a popular touring attraction. In 2011, Raintown were invited to perform at the Global Artist Party event at the Country Music Association's annual CMA Fest in Nashville, Tennessee, making them the only U.K. act on the bill. They went over so well with the Nashville crowd they were invited back for the 2012 CMA Fest. The group released a single in time for the 2012 holiday season, "Still Believe (Love This Time of Year)," and continued to make inroads on the U.K. country scene, winning the prize as Duo of the Year at the 2013 British Country Music Association awards. In 2014, Raintown traveled to North America for a tour of Canada, and Bain and McArthur expanded their musical relationship into a romance and got married. The duo also began work on their second album in late 2014, financing the project through a crowd-funding campaign. The album, Writing on the Wall, is scheduled for release in October 2015. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi