Country star Martina McBride is prepping for her first concerts in the United Kingdom and Ireland in almost 15 years. According to Billboard.com, the dates will be a precursor for a yet-to-be-announced American tour in November.
"It's been a long time since I've been over there, probably '94 was the last time," the Country star said. "I'm looking forward to it, we made so many great memories last time I was there.
McBride will play London's Indig02 July 31, then six shows in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland Aug 2-8.
"I've got such a limited amount of time I can tour, with the kids and their schedules," McBride stated -- she and her husband, sound engineer John McBride, have three daughters. "So finding the time to pull back from my touring here and make the trip was a challenge.
"But finally this year, we got offered these dates and I said ‘You know what, we hadn't planned to tour this summer in the U.S. so it's a perfect opportunity, and the perfect window for me to do it.'"
McBride’s ninth studio album, Shine has reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums in the U.S. RCA will release Shine in the United Kingdom July 27.
"We're starting our U.S. tour in November, we're just now starting to put it together and come up with set designs,” she said. “Typically what we do is put out an album and start touring right away. We took some time this time."
So far, McBride is pleased with the reaction to Shine, which also reached No. 10 on The Billboard 200. "The challenge when you've made nine records is to just figure out a way to move things forward, creatively, and trying not to make the same record over and over again,” she explained.
