Make sure you read my Day 1 review of The Long Road here first - enjoy!
We were granted a lie-in on Saturday morning, with music not
starting until 11am, which gave ample time to stock up on a hearty breakfast as
food is not allowed inside the site. This is a shame as it would be nice to
bring a picnic in, but there were plenty of lovely food stalls inside – the Mac
Mart’s mac & cheese was hands down the best I’d ever had, and I’ve had a
lot of mac & cheese!
I began my day back at my beloved Honky Tonk for the Women
in Country songwriters round featuring Megan
O’Neill, Laura Oakes, and Danielle
Bradbery. I LOVE songwriters rounds, and the Bluebird Café in Nashville is
one of my favourite places in the world. They could easily have had a full
weekend of songwriters rounds and I would have been there. Each artist played
two songs each, Megan opting for Don’t
You and Now That You’re Mine; Laura
singing Old Ghosts and Learn To Be Lonely; and Danielle Goodbye Summer and Sway. They were all fantastic, and what I really appreciated was
the mutual appreciation they shared for each other, which was really pleasant
to see.
I think someone the night before had recommended that I go
see
Dori Freeman, an artist I’d not
heard of before but thought I’d check out on the Front Porch. I’m glad I did. I
definitely wouldn’t have previously said that her style of
Americana/traditional country was up my street, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
She played a great set with her own songs like
Just Say It Now, Over There, and
You Say and covers like the Carter Family’s
Gold Watch and Chain and Jim Reeves’
Yonder Comes a Sucker (what a great song title
.) Her music reminded me of that in O Brother, Where Art Thou –
well worth a listen.
I went to see Australian Americana singer
Ruby Boots who sounded almost a bit
punk with her rough voice, something that I think would sound great on vinyl.
It was then time for a quick interview with Saturday night headliner
Aaron Watson (coming soon to the blog!)
I then headed back to see
Angaleena Presley
perform. I loved her satirical songwriter which you can see even in
just the titles of some of the songs she performed –
Knocked Up, Drunk, and
Unhappily
Married for instance. She certainly wasn’t afraid to make a statement with
her lyrics like
“You’d knock a girl down
/ So you could feel tall / You’d burn Cinderella’s dress / So you could feel
like the hottest girl at the ball / You’re a beauty mark on the human race /
And if you bless my heart I’ll slap your face.” It certainly wouldn’t be
country music without lyrics like that.
Laura Oakes kicked
off proceedings on the Rhinestone Stage, showing a very different side to her
self when compared to at the songwriters session earlier that morning, with
songs like Better in Blue Jeans, Make It Look Easy and her love song to
Nashville, Nashville Stole Your Girl.
Back at the Honky Tonk,
Yola
Carter was setting the room alight with her incredibly powerful voice.
Having interviewed her a few years ago (you can read that
here) I was thrilled
to hear that her album was finally coming out, with heartfelt songs like
It Ain’t Easier and
Whatever You Want, which will definitely be going in my book as one
of the best songs of the festival. She has so much power, it’s incredible – it
was no surprise that her set got the best response of any artist that I’d seen
yet.
Up on the Front Porch,
The
Adelaides (I’ve interviewed them too, check it out
here!) were showing off
their great harmonies on tracks like
Reckless,
I’d Do It Again, and
Don’t Want to
Love You Anymore. Their fashion sense remains impeccable and they certainly
looked the part.
Caroline Spence was
next to take to the stage in the Honky Tonk, another artist that I wasn’t
familiar with and pleased the festival had opened me up to. She had well
written and meaningful songs like
Softball,
about girls not being allowed to play baseball, something I’ve always found
stupid; and a song recently played by ABC/CMT
Nashville’s Clare Bowen,
All
The Beds I’ve Made. A great act to watch, and undoubtedly one I probably
wouldn’t have come across on my own.
Outside,
Brent Cobb was
bringing the rocky side to the Interstate stage with songs about moonshine
(#onlyincountrymusic) before heading back to the main stage to see an act I was
very excited for –
Logan Brill. I’d
thought she was great the first time I saw her perform at Nashville Meets
London in 2016 (and yes,
there’s an interview for that too!) so it was great
she was getting even more UK exposure. She played mostly new music including
Good Story and
Giving Up and well as oldie-but-a-goodie
World’s Still Round. I was supposed to rush off for another
engagement, but she started playing one of my favourite songs, inspired by
Bonnie Raitt
If We Didn’t Break Each
Other’s Hearts, and I had to turn around and stay!
I managed to catch the end of
Erin Rae’s set in the Honky Tonk, and I maintain that it’s unfair
someone should be able to sing that pure without autotune. Back in the tent,
The Wood Brothers were dancing their
way across the stage with great energy to songs like
One Drop of Truth,
The Muse and
drinking song
I Feel Alright.
Back on the Rhinestone Stage,
Striking Matches were shredding on guitars, as is what they’re
known for – they certainly know how to put on a show, particularly given that
it was just the two of them, their guitars and a kick drum on stage. My
highlight was watching them perform the song they wrote for ABC/CMT
Nashville –
When The Right Ones Comes Along – it’s absolute beauty.
I walked into the Honky Tonk briefly as
Frontier Ruckus were performing but found their style a bit weird,
with most songs sounding like they were written when high and lyrics like
“Your eyelashes are like needles” repeated
multiple times. To each their own!
Jess
Morgan was playing at the same time on the Front Porch, and I appreciated
her not trying to hide her British accent as too many UK country singers do,
and she put on a chill set for those of us who needed a break from dancing,
with
In Brooklyn making me nostalgic
for a trip to New York.
With Carrie Underwood
having had to pull out of the Saturday headline spot due to illness,
arguably the artist with the next highest star power was Danielle Bradbery, previous winner of the US version of the voice
and probably the most commercially successful of the rest of The Long Road
artists. As she took to the Rhinestone Stage, her mic wasn’t working but she
went on singing Mad At You until it
was fixed. I had to duck out of her set for another interview, but she showed
her star power to its full extent on tracks like Young In America, Messy and a cover of Lady Antebellum’s American Honey. Her vocals shone as she
sang, making it clear why she’d won a singing competition. Without a doubt a
highlight of the weekend.
Another highlight for many was
Lee Ann Womack on the Interstate stage, who undoubtedly should have
been on the main stage as the tent was completely packed, so much so that I
couldn’t even get in to see her perform. Hearing her beautiful voice was enough
as she sang songs like
Last Call,
Sunday and the song everyone seemed to
know all the lyrics to,
I Hope You Dance.
I’m sure the organisers won’t make the mistake of having her on one of the
smaller stages again should she return!
The revised headliner that evening was
Aaron Watson, whose career has spanned impressively over a decade,
particularly given that he remains an independent artist. He certainly knew how
to work the crowd, showing off his honky tonk country side with songs like
These Old Boots Have Roots and
That’s Why God Loves Cowboys as well as
his softer side with
July in Cheyenne about
the tragic death of rodeo rider Lane Frost, written after the death of Aaron’s
daughter. He seemed like a genuine guy (as you’ll see in my upcoming
interview!) bringing some kids onto the stage to play the fiddle, allowing his
band to shine in an extended introduction, and even thanking the interviewers
who’d spoken to him throughout the weekend. Now that, I appreciated! We ended
with catchy hits
Run Wild Horses and
Outta Style, proving that Aaron was a
worthy stand-in headliner.
The night wasn’t over yet, and we headed back to the Honky
Tonk for another
Logan Brill set
which again was very busy. She played similar songs to earlier, including
Good Story, Giving Up and
World’s Still Round as well as showing
off her unreal vocals on
Love Me Like A
Man. A well deserved standing ovation and a great way to round off Day 2 of
the festival.
Thanks for reading my Day 2 review of The Long Road! Stay tuned for my Day 3 review coming very soon to the blog, along with interviews with some of the performers. You can follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry to be the first to know when something is posted. If you were at The Long Road, I'd love to know what you thought - drop me a message in the comments below!
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