In our latest podcast interview, here at Ron’s Honky Tonk we had the pleasure of talking with Ags Connolly, a veteran of the UK county music scene. Ags is well known for his authentic, Texas-inspired country sound. Notably, he performed at the very first C2C festival in 2013, which was headlined by country music stars Carrie Underwood and Tim McGraw.
During our interview, Ags shared some of his early inspirations for his own music and spoke about the changes he’s witnessed in the UK country scene.
Ags began playing live in 2011, with his debut album being released in 2014. When asked how country has changed since then, Ags replied “when I first started, there wasn’t all this stuff going on now… there was nothing like podcasts like this starting up!” He mentions popular names in the modern country scene such as Luke Combs and Taylor Swift, and discusses how these artists differ from the authentic Texan sound of more traditional artists. “It has changed,” Ags divulges, “but I’ve just tried to keep my path the same all the way through it and just kept doing what I’m doing.”
Growing up, Ags took inspiration from Johnny Cash and Hank Williams, as well as big country influences such as David Allan Coe and Johnny Paycheck. He mentions the greats Randy Newman, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, citing them as “masters of songwriting,” and praises the direct and hard-edged lyricism of his “favourite songwriter of all time” Loudon Wainwright III.
As well as playing gigs in the UK and Texas, Ags has had the privilege of supporting Charlie Crockett during his 2023 UK & Europe tour. Speaking about Charlie, Ags says; “He’s a very cool guy. The thing about Charlie is I wasn’t sure what he’d be like because he’s so well known for his image. But he’s someone who absolutely loves the music…all he wants to do is tell everyone how much he loves music.”
During the Charlie Crockett tour Ags played the biggest shows of his career so far, at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London and Vega in Copenhagen.
Charlie and Ags also share a love for a slightly lesser known Texan country artist- James Hand, whose music is the basis of Ag’s latest album released on 22nd November.
The album is titled “Your Pal Slim”, a nod to James Hand’s famous nickname, and consists of covers of James’ own songs, sung by Ags and featuring many musicians, such as Brandon Lee and Beth Chrisman, who all played with James at some point.
Ags relates that it was important to him to include these friends and colleagues of James’ in his tribute album. James Hand sadly passed away in 2020, but before his death he was both an inspiration and a friend to Ags. “The thing about James Hand is he was everybody’s friend… and if he met you he’d be your friend. That’s why he’s so special to so many people”
When asked what makes James’ songwriting so important to Ags, he replied “it’s so direct, that’s what I love about it. He really wore his heart on his sleeve. You hear that a lot about people, but he really did- and you can hear it in every note.”
Ags wants James’ legacy to be remembered and celebrated, which is why he has released this album of covers. “I think even people who don’t know James Hand will enjoy it, and it’s about as traditional honky tonk as you can get!” He summarises.
Ags Connolly’s album of James Hand covers “Your Pal Slim”, was released on November 22nd and is available here. If you want to listen to our full podcast with Ags, check out our YouTube channel that has two exclusive acoustic sessions from Ags and a long form interview found below.
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