George, John, Andy and Billy don’t have a lot in common and come from wildly different backgrounds. Their various roads first intersected in the band Evangeline – one of a very small pioneering group of artists performing original UK country music in the early 2000s. Regulars around the then vibrant county club and festival scene, the band were fiercely proud of the quality of their songwriting – which took them as far afield as Hampden Park in Glasgow and the legendary Bluebird Café in Nashville.

Frustrated at the lack of opportunities for original country artists in the UK, the four formed OneDay40 in 2005 – so called because John and Billy are 364 days apart in age – and recorded their debut album “Unfinished Business” in the iconic (and sadly missed) Park Lane Studios in 2006 under the careful eye of Paul McGeechan. Critically acclaimed, the album went on the win the 2008 Album of the Year award at the BCMAs – with the band then signing a recording contract with a small Nashville record label.

It was another “nearly” moment for a collection of individuals who have often made it close but then missed out on the cigar. John and George were one night away from being the support act to Oasis on the night of their famous discovery at King Tuts. The 2008 BCMA awards, where “Unfinished Business” took the “best album” spot, were the last ones before a significant revamp took them to another level, coinciding with the arrival of social media. And the offer of six weeks touring the US as part of the recording deal was just too high risk for a bunch of guys who were committed to families, jobs and mortgages – so the band split up.

Fourteen years later, they met up again and found that they were older, smarter and all in much better places in their lives – and a shared passion for the music remained (even if the songwriting themes had shifted considerably with age). “Finished Business” is the end goal for this new incarnation of their deep and lasting friendship – an album of mostly new material slated for release sometime before the twentieth anniversary of its predecessor.

Watch this space.