The British Country Music Festival 2021

 

Forget your buckle and spade, we might be off to Blackpool but to attend The British Country Music Festival, a weekend of Americana, Roots and Country Music.

Friday 3^rd September:

Trying to miss the illuminations traffic, people checked into hotels/B&Bs and made their way to the Winter Gardens. From the outset it was clear that something different was occurring in Blackpool as the queue outside the box office was full of cowboy boots, a few hats and plenty of denim. We took our place and made it into The Arena to catch Jack & Tim mid set.

Eddy Smith & The 507 were next up, recently seen at Buckle & Boots. Eddy has a beautifully deep voice and the band is upbeat getting the first dancers up. 

The Remedy Club set up on the 2^nd stage to the side of the room. This is a husband-and-wife duo from South East Ireland. Silverball Country has introduced them previously at Millport. Sally Haden was host for the room, her introduction explained that they were called the Remedy Club because they cured all ills and elements and were good for the soul.  She reflected that due to the pandemic the lyrics of the songs had more significance.

Juna N Joey closed The Arena. This is a very young duo from Florida, they found their way into the British Country Music Festival because they are currently supporting Twinnie. Very interesting and uncommon for them to play to a backing track rather than having a band.

There were queues outside The Empress Ballroom before 7pm as nobody wanted to miss Kezia Gill. She looked amazing in a short, sequinned jumpsuit and along with The Good Old Boys they kept everyone on the dance floor. After finally getting a capo she admitted she could have missed the next song out but it was where it all started and therefore the crowd sang along to Build It Up.  The Friday night crew were not to be missed waving around a large flag.  We managed not to cry as she sang Local  Man’s Star and The Mess I Made was a nice plug for the merchandise table.

The Essex duo Holloway Road who claimed to have travelled “a long, long way to get there” changed the musical style.  Promoting their own brand of beer, which unfortunately is currently out of stock, we got to be the first to hear the newly released (as in that day) single (if you don't count their mums). If you looked closely, that was Luke Thomas supporting on the guitar.

Nathan Carter showed off his skills on the accordion and flattered the ladies in the audience with a rendition of She Don't Know She's Beautiful.  With classics such as Rhinestone Cowboy and Wagon Wheel the crowd were clearly having a good time. Despite the Liverpool accent, he did his Irish followers proud with Donegal, with a request to shine your mobile light, and Irish Rover.  His band were amazing, all the usual instruments but the sax added something extra.

 Sadly the room emptied out a little before Peter Donegan and band took to the stage. He played his dad's songs along with other covers including Strawberry Wine.

Tucked into the corner of the stage Matt Spracklen who as acted as host to the stage closed the night off with a disco, there were several people who just didn't want the night to end or to sit down.

At 1am, many a merry reveller, in tassels and Stetson embraced the bars around Church Street, particularly The Galleon Bar.

 

Saturday 4^th September:

12 noon saw the start of the second day of the festival with Demi Marriner on The Arena stage in an amazing pair of silver sparkly boots. Acts then alternated between stages 1 and 2 throughout the afternoon including Tennessee Twin, who we discovered were named after a deal on Jack Daniels, a more confident and at ease Robbie Cavanagh, and Hayley McKay who is completely new to Silverball Country. She is an ambassador for the Prince's Trust and has been compared to Kate Bush and Eva Cassidy. There was a strong folk feel to stage 2.

We switched to the Horseshoe Pavilion at 14:40 to witness the Songwriters Carousel hosted by Tim Prottey-Jones featuring Wildwood Kin, Elles Bailey and Pete Riley. Always a festival favourite to hear how the songs came to be, we heard songs about: walking on water (EB), childhood fashion (PR), sunrise (WK), regret (EB) and sticking it to the man (WK). Tim PJ’s humour was present with a great line about tagging the 'to be confirmed music festival' and his desire to start the chav genre of country, complete with trainers and trousers above the ankle. Oops -  the sound engineers put the background music on before Wildwood Kin played their last song.

Back in The Arena, we watched Blue Rose Code - our find of the festival, Pete Riley, Morganway - who have not been slowed down by the pandemic and gave a very energetic performance, lifting the atmosphere of the room and seeing dancers take to the floor. Tommy Atkins was the last to perform on stage 2 and was joined by Eleri Angharad to provide the female harmonies. Last but not least, Bailey Tomkinson was the last performer in the room. The afternoon saw a decline in the sound quality, and it was difficult to hear the introductions which was a real shame. 

At 7pm the Ballroom was set alight by Katy Hurt, my floor buddy from the carousel (full house so we sat on the floor in front of the stage with Gasoline and Matches) with Unfinished Business.  Who would have guessed it was her first gig back, and despite the early hour the crowd obliged with mobile phone lights.

Followed by Elles Bailey, as she promised in the Songwriter's Carousel her set was much happier, moving into Americana. Giving a shout out to Katy, she explained it had been too long since she had performed and was happy to be amongst friends again.

Next up were Wildwood Kin, a trio of sisters that have more contemporary folk sound, dividing opinion within the crowd. By self-admission they love country music but don’t feel country, especially given the other artists but thanked Bob Harris without whom they wouldn’t be where they are.

Just as everyone was tiring a new burst of infectious energy was released from Gareth Nugent. Starting with a couple of covers he had the audience rocking along with him. Accompanied by an almost full band (Keys has covid) they blended covers and his own material perfectly, encouraged a little drinking alongside a rendition of happy birthday and a congratulatory message on the engagement of Sinead (which we now know is Irish for Jane). 

The night was again rounded off with a DJ set from Matt Spracklen and revellers spilled out into the neighbouring bars whilst the sensible headed to bed.

 

Sunday 5^th September:

It was an earlier start to the day, but it didn’t stop us and there was a strong turnout to watch Tim Prottey-Jones with a full band. Tim took the time to explain the background to each song, strongly featuring his family members before knocking it out of the park with the upbeat Fire.

Fine Lines, the six-piece roots infused Americana group took the stage next. There was great banter between David and Zoe but the crowd wasn’t buying in, not even when Paul asked how the beer was. The tale of covid changing their Lanzarote filming plans to the Wirral in March is something we sympathised with.

Martin Harley brought a touch of the blues to the stage next and went down well with the audience who were growing in number and by now slightly more awake. Seated for his 1^st number to show off the slide guitar, it was hard not to tap along.

Candi Carpenter stole the hearts of the majority of the attendees, with the biggest meet and greet queue we saw all weekend. Her first performance in the UK, she smashed it. She was even complimented on her outfit by Matt Spracklen, sparkling like the star she is. With her gospel roots, her performance focused on her vocal quality but as an American we are not sure how she met the criteria for the festival – but we were glad she was there!

Lisa McHugh may be Scottish but it’s evident she now lives in Ireland, “living the dream” in her own words, as she has mastered the winning formula seen by fellow Irish artists of mixing covers and original material to get a party started and keeping everyone on their feet. Despite the baby on board she gave a great performance and treated the audience to the unreleased About Last Night, a first date song that paid off for her. We will forgive the trainers because we loved the glitzy guitar strap.  

This festival stands out because it is indoors but what it really offers is diversity! Therefore, we much appreciate that not everything will be to everyone's liking, but hey it’s in Blackpool so there are plenty of other attractions that can help pass the time.

The Winter Gardens is a beautiful historic building but is it the right setting for this event? Whilst it is great to see a festival approached in a different way, there were numerous times when the atmosphere was flat, it lacked the outdoor festival feeling. We can’t help but wonder if the table and chairs make it too relaxed and should be removed but then is it too big of a venue? Unfortunately, the sound quality was an issue and the lighting seemed to be the wrong way around - a photographer’s nightmare - and the bar staff were another let down, with little knowledge and speed causing big queues to form throughout the event. We had hoped that these problems would have been resolved from the event back in 2019 but there have been some changes and hopefully as time goes on, the event will improve and grow.