Photo credit: Time Out
*If you've not read my Day 1 review, check it out here; and make sure to scroll down to the bottom of this article for a photo gallery of all the artists!*
The following day, we returned to Canada Square Park – well,
some of us, as it seemed the rainy weather had put a lot of people off and
there were significantly less festival-goers than the day before. Nevertheless,
those of us who were there were ready for another day of live music, no matter
the grey skies.
First on was two piece band Holloway Road, who I had heard
plenty about over the years but never actually seen. They were quite rocky with
songs like A Little Harder and Under Cover heavy on the guitar and drums,
making it difficult at times to distinguish them as country. But hey, that’s
part of the fun of the genre, right?
The long sets of roughly an hour gave acts time to play a
good deal of songs, with Holloway Road giving us hints at their upcoming EP
with Get The Girl, showing off a new
song written by US artist Levi Hummon called Reckless (which the wind wisping away the sound quality had
initially led me to believe was called Breakfast),
and their most popular song to date If
She Falls. However, it was actually when they suffered sound issues and
were forced to play Good Thing Go Bad acoustic
that I enjoyed the most as we got to hear how they sounded just by themselves.
The following act was quite the change indeed, with Worry Dolls being much more
folk/Americana. The two girls took to the stage with banjo and guitar in hand,
and started singing in breathy voices, almost lullaby like. Their soft songs
were good as in spite of the band, it was clear to hear what they were singing,
a nice change from some of the more ‘band-heavy’ acts.
With songs like Miss
You Already, you could almost hear a pin drop, with the crowd entranced by
the duo. Again, something quite different than what you might hear on
commercial country radio, but what a great opportunity at Nashville Meets
London to introduce new listeners to all facets of country and beyond.
We went even more international with next act Two Ways Home,
with one half of the group hailing from Austria and the other half from the
Cotswolds. These two were an enjoyable blend of infectious country pop with
songs like Short Years and Still In Love actually getting people to
get up and dance.
A highlight for me was a song written with Nashville Meets
London alumnus Logan Brill who had been the standout star of the first year of
the festival. Together they had penned the beautiful Don’t Give Up On Me Tonight, a clear sign of great songwriters
meeting great songwriters.
The bar was set high after that, so I was expecting good
things from following act The Sisterhood
Band, and was certainly not disappointed. The two girls have music in their
DNA, with Ruby being the daughter of Rod Steward and Alyssa the daughter of
members of 80s country music group Baillie and the Boys.
They came right in with fun tracks that matched their really
strong voices like Walk Away and Thirteen from new record Summer Setlist.
What particularly impressed me was their showmanship, as some of the other
artists had chosen to stay at their microphone and that was that, but these two
moved around the stage constantly, singing together and shaking colourful
tambourines for dear life.
The set had great variety, from guitar thumping Irish
inspired song Tenderize My Heart to
breakup song Half Way and the most beautiful
cover of Dixie Chick’s Landslide –
again, another song that you have to know you’re good to tackle, and they certainly
showed that they can take a hit like that above and beyond. What a band to
watch – I hope they’ll be back soon.
Before we knew it, we’d come to the final act of the
festival, Tyminski. Now if you don’t know who he is by name, you’d certainly know
his songs – country fans know him as a member of Alison Krauss and Union
Station; movie buffs would have heard him as the singing voice of George
Clooney in O Brother, Where Art Thou;
and just about everyone would recognise his voice as that from Avicii hit Hey Brother.
Tyminski’s voice was quite reminiscent of Chris Stapleton,
very hearty and strong and one that worked both on upbeat tracks to ballads. He
shone on songs like Devil is Downtown, the
groovy Hollow Hallelujah and fun Good For Your Soul. Having read about
his album Southern Gothic online, I’d
been expecting darker songs, but in fact even tracks like Haunted Heart were catchy as anything.
He engaged well with the crowd too, telling us about being
disallowed from playing a song against drugs on a morning TV show because even
having the lyrics “getting high” in the song were seen as too risqué, so chose
to play the somewhat saucy Wanted instead.
Hardcore fans loved Alison Krauss & Union Station’s song Dustbowl Children and new fans loved
Tyminski’s genuine nature with comments like “I’m not really a songwriter, I’m
just a guy who writes songs” and, whilst tuning his guitar, “If it doesn’t
sound good, it’s okay, it’ll still sound good.” And yes, for those wondering,
he did perform Hey Brother and I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow! What a
star. You can count me in as a new fan!
All in all, another great festival from Nashville Meets
London. The organisers have a knack of picking great but lesser known acts to
come and play for us, who we then tend to see a few months later playing bigger
festivals or their own tours – and you’re telling me we get to see it all for
free? I love festivals like this where most of the acts are a mystery to me,
and by and large, I’m impressed and go home having liked them on Facebook and
put their albums on my wish list. Long may Nashville Meets London continue – I’ll
be there as long as it does.
Thanks for reading today's review! More festivals and concerts lined up soon so make sure to stay tuned to the blog and follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry - if you were at NML, I'd love to know what you thought of the weekend. Interviews from Nashville Meets London artists coming very soon!
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