Rochelle Mills

Day 2 at C2C for our team was hectic as they made the most of the opportunity to speak face to face with subscribers, industry insiders and artists. We started our day off with some live music though as Ward Thomas kicked things off in the Indigo on the Radio 2 stage. They released their latest album on Friday and took the chance to play some of those songs live. A particular highlight was their song ‘Love Does’ as the sisters showed why they’re one of the UK’s crown jewels of country with their incredible harmonies and well crafted songs. They may have been the first act of the day but there were plenty of people who had braved the after-party hangovers and powered through the morning to sing along to their fabulous songs. It felt like the best of British this morning as we then headed across to the new barrel house stage which is a really cool venue. It has it’s own vibe with the raised booths around the edge and stained glass windows. Opening the live music on that stage was new supergroup First Time Flyers who were energetic and went down well with the London crowd as they kicked things off with ‘Happier’. Not only does this band have an abundance of talent but they gel well as a group and really look the part as well. They will go on to big things no doubt. After a day filled with catching up with the likes of Pillbox Patti, Willie Jones, Morgan Evans, 49 Winchester, Sam Williams, Adam Doleac, George Birges, Tigirlily Gold, Tyler Booth, Paris Adams and Amanda Shires, we headed to the main arena where Matt Stell began with an energetic set. All the artists so far this year seem to have really taken it up a gear in their live shows as I think artists know not to take it for granted anymore due to what we experienced during the pandemic. Tell and his band got people up on their feet from the off. Morgan Evans took to the stage after we had spoken backstage. He’s come a long way and achieved a lot since I first saw him at Buckle and Boots all those years ago. Since then his music has taken him to new heights; he shared the stories behind the songs and engaged with the well. He never let the tempo drop so the energy levels stayed high. Over on the spotlights tonight were Drake Milligan who’s been the name on everybody’s lips this weekend as his unique sound captures peoples hearts and Sam Williams who performed an energetic version of ‘Wild Girl’ all kitted out in his sparkly boots and jacket. Many on social media wanted this next band to headline, Midland. Personally, though I thoroughly enjoyed their set they perhaps won’t headline for another year or so. They connected with the audience well and though it goes without saying that people were on their feet singing to ‘Drinking Problem’, most were on their feet singing to every song including the cover of ‘Wicked Game’ which they made their own. The main event next and, Lady A put on the best headline show I’ve ever seen at C2C – what a way to celebrate ten years of the festival. They opened with ‘Own The Night’. Hillary in a bright, pink sparkly suit called herself Boss Barbie. They went on to perform hit after hit. The band was tight and cohesive as they went into ‘Downtown’. They alternated between playing their most recent releases and going back in time a little to fan favourites such as ‘I Run To You’ and ‘Bartender’. Charles looked well as he, Dave and Slim stripped it back to perform his solo song ‘As Far As You Could’ which was his love letter to Whiskey. A poignant moment came when sang ‘’Cause you took me high but sure as hell brought me down/You put up a good fight but look who’s standin’ now’ and he got to his feet from the stool he’d been sat on and the audience broke out into rapturous applause at the symbolism. The audience (including myself) was stood up, arms stretched out, belting the words out. When Hillary came back on stage, the trio did a medley of ‘Help Me Make It Through The Night’ and ‘Joloene’ which they interpreted very well. Hillary spoke of forcing herself to do something that scares her and at the moment that thing was playing the piano. She took a moment to soak up the spotlight as she merged a popular cover with ‘Just a Kiss’. From there on in, the trio took it up a notch as they performed the energetic rocker, ‘You Loo Good’ and ‘Bartender’. The O2 stamped their feet, clapped their hands and hollered very loudly to demand more from the exiting trio. They returned to the stage and they concluded this part with their mega-hit ‘Need You Now’. They were fantastic, clearly glad to be back together and on the road and the London crowd was buzzing!

Day one of C2C was a busy one! Here at Maverick it was fantastic to catch up with artists we’ve interviewed over zoom over the last few years and see them in person. We chatted with a number of artists and we can’t wait to share those conversations with you in subsequent issues of the magazine. There was so much top quality artists on throughout the day before the main arena opened it’s doors. UK artists like Ward Thomas and Brooke Law as well as US artists such as Hannah Ellis and Nate Smith, both of whom were buzzing to be here in the UK. Two artists in particular impressed me and seemed to go down a treat with the UK crowd and both performances took place in the Indigo on the BBC Radio 2 stage. The first was Ashley Cooke who was speechless at the end of her set, flabbergasted by the amount of people crammed in to see her set and singing along to her songs too. She played acoustically with her guitarist but she held the room in the palm of her hand. Later on in the main arena she took to the Spotlight stage and performed the duet she released with Brett Young, ‘Never Til Now’ whilst her guitar donned a Union Jack flag. Mackenzie Porter also sounded flawless on the spotlight stage as she sang her latest single ‘Pickup’ along with the number one she had with Dustin Lynch which stayed there for six weeks, ‘Thinkin Bout You’. The second artist to blow me away on the daytime stages was Drake Milligan who came on immediately after. His energetic set couldn’t have been more different from Cooke’s, his old school, rock n roll style of country was something completely different to anything else I’ve heard. I’ve followed Drake’s career for a long time, since he first played Elvis in the dramatisation of Sun Studio and to watch him grow and evolve and be taken in by this UK crowd is heartwarming. He was born, not just to sing, but to entertain and he was the talk of the festival today. In the main arena the Introducing Nashville segment, introduced last year, proved popular. Caylee Hammack’s reminds me a little of Dolly Parton’s, her fiery personality and well crafted songs couple with that voice make her one to watch. Alana Springsteen knows how to speak directly to the heart and need I say any more about Tyler Braden? Braden is a future Entertainer of the Year. He gives me chills when he sings, a bit like Eric Church, whilst the way he crafts his choruses makes his songs hit-worthy like Luke Combs. The writers round style shouldn’t suit an arena but somehow it does! Lainey Wilson was up next and the energy levels ramped up. In Gold bell-bottom trousers, she strutted her stuff up and down the stage. She performed ‘Watermelon Moonshine’ from Yellowstone, the TV show she featured in. Though she kept apologising with that deep southern accent because she’d lost her voice, she continued to hit the high notes. You could hear how fantastic her voice was in ‘Wild Horses’ as she belted out and sustained those notes. She surprisingly sang the duet she recently performed with HARDY – Wait In The Truck and the crowd lapped it up. She finished on her big hit, ‘Things A Man Oughtta Know’. The only criticism I have is that I think she should have been on just before Thomas Rhett. Jordan Davis kept the energy turned up to rock. His band were excellent, tight and regional in their sound. A particular stand out moment in his set was when he performed ‘Detour’ before the band transitioned seamlessly into a rendition of ‘fix You’ by Cold Play. He spoke less to the crowd than what Lainey did but he got through a lot of songs which the crowd were buzzing off. ‘Slow Dance In A Parking Lot’, one of his slightly older tracks, was a favourite amongst the London crowd whilst the witty lyrics of ‘Tucson Too Late’ really had me sitting up and paying attention. He concluded his set on the hit ‘Buy Dirt’ which he released with Luke Bryan. The whole crowd joined in. Now for the main event, Thomas Rhett who instantly connected with the crowd. After two high performance sets from Wilson and Davis it was great to keep building that momentum. He opened with ‘Craving You’ a song he originally duetted on with Maren Morris. ‘Look What God Gave Her’ followed as he strutted around the stage. The whole auditorium was on their feet by the third song. He continued to bounce around for ‘Life Changes’ before lowering the tempo and stripping it back for a moment for ‘Marry Me’, the graphics on the screen were well thought out and I particularly thought these worked well for ‘Paradise’, a fairly new song he sang after he performed a medley of his earliest songs. After Paradise he introduced special guest, Niall Horan and the pair duetted on the song ‘Slow Hands’. Rhett got the perfect balance of ebbing and flowing within the set. Following this, he spoke of how his wife and children should have joined him on this trip but unfortunately the couldn’t before breaking out into tear jerker ‘Angels Don’t Always Have Wings’. He went on to play the number one he had for Cole Swindell, ‘She Had Me At Heads Carolina’. He tried some new songs in his set such as ‘Feeling Country’ a foot-tappingly good track that had people dancing involuntarily. People raised their flashlights for his biggest hit, ‘Die a Happy Man’. It was a brilliant show, he’s certainly headline material, it was high energy and yet perfectly framed Rhett’s vocal.

CMA Songwriters Series for many UK country fans, signifies the start of the best weekend of the year – Country 2 Country! For me personally it has always been my favourite night, an intimate writers round with some of the best songwriters in the genre sharing the stories behind the hits they penned for the stars. This year, arguably the most successful songwriter in country music hosted the round, Ashley Gorley. At present he has 62 number one hits and has had over 400 of his songs recorded. He has won 20 CMA triple play awards and last year was named NSAI Songwriter of the Decade. There couldn’t have been a worthier host! Lainey Wilson gave him a brilliant introduction saying, “every song you’ve ever heard, Ashley probably wrote it.” In the first round, situated at the keyboard, he opened the show with ‘One of Them Girls’ which went on to become a smash hit for Lee Brice in 2020. Instantly the crowd loved what they were hearing with many singing along. In every round Gorley played a song that had topped the charts. He spoke of what it was like to develop the next song with Chris Stapleton. ‘You Should Probably Leave’ was another released in 2020 but it topped the charts last year. The next time his turn came around he had everyone bouncing along to a song Cole Swindell made famous, ‘She Had Me At Heads Carolina’ which Gorley explained came from a session where they looked to take a country song and flip it. Being big fans of nineties country they chose the Jo Dee Messina’s ‘Heads Carolina, Tails California’. Worley, Swindell, Jesse Frasure and Thomas Rhett made lyrical and melodic references to that song and credited the original writers on their chart topper. For his final song of the night, Gorley finished on a ballad, explaining that he loves to write piano ballads but they don’t always get cut, let alone be chosen as the single. He went on to play one of his biggest hits last year, made famous by the man of the moment Morgan Wallen, ‘Sand In My Boots’. The unsuspecting audience members who were perhaps not aware previously of the talent Gorley possessed were blown away by him. Those of us who were aware were just grateful to have been able to see him and hear the stories behind some of these record-breaking songs. Many were delighted to see Lainey Wilson in this setting who was sitting to Gorley’s right. Dressed in her signature style of bell-bottom jeans and a cool hat, she endeared herself to the crowd with her talk between songs. She opened with a song she wrote about her Dad, telling the story of how the biggest win for her at the CMA’s was getting to walk in with her dad. She went on to play ‘Those Boots’. She had many fans in the crowd who sang along to her second choice, ‘Heart Like a Truck’ whilst ‘Hillbilly Hippie’ had them bouncing in their seats. Wilson who had been suffering all week having lost her voice was nervous about hitting the high notes but the delivery of her hit ‘Things A Man Oughtta Know’ was near flawless. Dalton Dover was a fairly new name to me when he was first announced but I am walking away tonight converted. I enjoyed what I knew of his catalogue before but he’s a really exciting artist who is certainly going places. He joined in tonight with some backing vocals here and there when his fellow writers were performing. In the first round, he introduced himself with ‘Giving Up On That’ which was released earlier this year. He also shared a new one, fresh from the writers room which was exciting to hear and has a lot of potential called ‘You Need A Rock’. The song he concluded with was actually penned by the man sat next to him, Nate Smith. ‘Baby I Am’ changed and shaped Dover’s early career and the two men shared a moment of gratitude for each others roles in that song. Dover has a lovely voice and is full of enthusiasm, I think he has a bright future as both a writer and performer ahead of him. Nate Smith is a man quickly on the rise. Wilson says he is as lovely as he is talented and he certainly seems happy to be here. His voice grew as the show went on, that grittiness from his records shining through but he kept that power as he hit the big notes too. ‘I Don’t Wanna Go To Heaven’ really tugged on the heartstrings as he told of the different ways that people have connected with this song and written to him about it. He saved his first number one until last as the audience joined in with him for ‘Whiskey On You’. Smith is one of my favourite new artists and I’m looking forward to seeing where he can go as both a writer and artist. For the first three rounds, a special guest joined them for a song at the conclusion of the round. To begin with, we had the talented Alana Springsteen who played a song that clearly resonated with a lot of people in the room, myself included as she performed ‘Twenty Something’. Second was Tyler Braden who blew me away as he belted out the cleverly crafted, ‘Try Losing One’ which Ashley Gorley said he wished he’d written. The way that chorus builds to that pay off line is brilliant. He signed a copy of his CD and gave it out to a fan in the front row. Finally, Caylee Hammack took to the stage, a popular addition as the audience whooped. She played ‘Small Town Hypocrite’ and told the story behind how Chris Stapleton came to duet on the song. A special mention has to go to the two musicians on stage who accompanied our songwriters, jumping in and adding extra licks