THE CC Smugglers have kicked off on a UK-wide tour – stopping in at places like London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Oxford, Cardiff and Glasgow.

Their stellar reputation was originally established by busking outside every UK tour date of the ‘two-time Grammy award winning’ US Country musicians Old Crow Medicine Show.

After the old-time country legends caught the Bedfordshire boys’ performance on the street, the platinum-selling Old Crow Medicine Show members refused to leave CC Smugglers playing outside and completed the tour by sharing the stage, side-by-side, at sold out venues including Shepherds Bush Empire and HMV Manchester Ritz.

Since then, the band have played a large cross-section of major UK festivals (including Glastonbury, Cornbury, Cambridge Folk Festival, Secret Garden Party and Bestival), headlined festivals in Europe and have sold out venues across the country already this year.

Now following their recent appearance live in sessions for both BBC 6Music and BBC Radio 2, the bods at the BBC have released the ‘road map to UK Country music’.

The ‘info-graphic’ (available on the Radio 2 website) shows CC Smugglers not only alongside five of their peers in the UK Country music scene – Ward Thomas, Flats and Sharps, Lucy May, The Shires and Raintown – but also compares them to the Carter family, labelling them as New Traditionalists.

CC Smugglers front-man and songwriter Richie Prynne reflects: “Showmanship and really good music invariably speaks way beyond any genre.

“We play good, original music with inspiration plucked from the rhythms and instrumentation that inspired most of today’s modern music.

“We like to think most people connect with that in some way.” Catch the CC Smugglers at the Classic Grand in Glasgow Thursday 7 May.