By far the worst thing about any festival is that it has to end, so the last day of C2C is always the hardest for me – but at least it still meant one more full day of great music! Check out the previous days’ reviews here first, and read on for my thoughts on Sunday!
Things kicked off on a high with Alexandra Kay making our Sunday morning feel like a continuation of Saturday night. She brought the party with fun songs like Tall Boys and Best Worst Ex, before giving us a great country medley of some of her favourite songs by artists like Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, Jo Dee Messina and George Strait.
She spoke of her gratefulness of being an independent artist, meaning she can release the songs she wants when she wants. Case in point – new single Skip This Part and a cover of blink 182’s Dammit. Alexandra was well and truly a powerhouse, hinting every word and note with ease. Watch this space!
Next up was Willie Jones – if you’re a fan of Breland or Nelly’s style of country, you might like Willie Jones too. He showed off his Southern charm and bass vocals on songs like Slow Cookin’ and Back Porch. I liked the songs Good For My Soul and Bachelorettes on Broadway, but wasn’t so much a fan of No Tellin’ – since when are we encouraging cheating? Not my cup of tea, but maybe somebody else’s.
I caught a glimpse of Kezia Gill’s set (looking fabulous in a sparkly red outfit which perfectly matched her red hair). She seemed like a real crowd favourite as she played the soulful Whiskey Over Ice and a song about Nashville that she wrote in Music City itself – Country Song. Songs like that make me want to book a ticket to Nashville right now – anyone coming with me?
I dipped out to see a few songs from my interviewees SmithField and Haley Mae Campbell (check out that interview here!) before going to something very, very special – a secret set by Adam Doleac. I’ve been a huge fan of Adam since the very beginning of the pandemic, so being invited to an intimate set of his was about as exciting as things could get.
Sitting casually on a small stage in front of a room of about thirty people, Adam began with a Q&A where he answered questions from the audience ranging from who he would want to write a song for (Kenny Chesney), who he’d like to perform a CMT Crossroads with (Maren Morris), to which songs he wished he’d recorded (Lee Brice’s Rumor, Chris Stapleton’s You Should Probably Leave and Miranda Lambert’s The House That Built Me)
Like a real Bluebird Café set, he told us the stories of his songs before he played them – from a song surprisingly inspired by the name of an apartment building that ended up blocking his view of downtown Nashville – Solo, one that starts with real details of how he met his wife – Coulda Loved You Longer, and one that had ended up becoming part of a lot of people’s love stories – Another.
As if the show couldn’t get any better, Adam then brought out C2C headliner Mitchell Tenpenny to join him on stage for a chat and some songs. Mitchell played Anything She Says (only missing my buddies Seaforth!) and Bitches before the two sang a song from an artist they both love (me too) – John Mayer’s Slow Dancing In A Burning Room. I tell you, there’s something so special about hearing your favourite artist play another of your favourite artist’s songs live.
After Mitchell left, Adam played a few more songs – Whiskey’s Fine, a brand new song Biggest Fan (so cute!) and a medley of some requests – Famous, Drinkin’ It Wrong and Til Dawn Do Us Part. Honestly, I wanted a three-hour Taylor Swift ‘Eras Tour’ style show where we just got to hear every Adam song, but I did get an interview with him (check it out!), so that would do. Adam, please come back very, very soon!
I had time for one more BBC Radio 2 stage artist after that – 49 Winchester. Another artist I wasn’t familiar with, so I had no expectations when going in. The band were rocky, groovy, and fun as they played songs like Annabel, a love song to their hometown – Russell County Line and Everlasting Lover. The lead singer had a powerful voice even more impressive than you hear on their recordings. This is a band that deserves to be enjoyed live. And any band with a steel guitar is going to be a winner by me.
A great morning, and still six acts (and a very special interview) to
come! Stay tuned to @CiarasCountry to be the first to know when they're posted!
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