Festival Reflections - The Long Road 2023

For us, a festival usually means working – whether it’s looking after a stage and all the artists on it, or a bar and all the drinkers in it – so to be able to spend a weekend at a festival without an actual job is an absolute dream or just a bit weird!  Thanks to The Long Road Festival, all our friends and the friendly faces we were able to live out that dream and we felt at home! 

Just like many of you it was our first time at the Long Road Festival too.  It’s hard to exist in the UK Country scene without hearing people talking about it, and to be honest we were suffering a bit of FOMO – the big stages and that by now quite iconic sign, welcoming back old friends.  Baylen Leonard told us he designed the sign, wanting everyone to feel like returning home from the first festival.

The Long Road Festival is held each year at Stanford Hall in Lutterworth, which is just off the M6 and therefore close enough to Birmingham for us to not have to brave camping in this hot summer we are experiencing (cough!).  We loaded the car with hats, suncream, jumpers, and waterproof jackets and off we went! 

With four stages there an array of talent and something for everyone, so even when wandering around you will easily hear something you like, even without having to plan your day.

There's an App to help plan your day and ensure you don’t miss your favourite or someone you've heard a lot about but trust me those plans can easily go a miss when you see a friend (new or old) a dog or an artist and you just need to say a quick hi or maybe grab a selfie. Therefore, we let to music do the talking and followed our ears to what grabbed our attention.

Aside from the music, what is there to do?  Does it live up to the hype?

First impressions – coming from the smaller independent festivals, there is no question that The Long Road is a major step up, a large scale, commercial operation.  We arrived on the second day (Saturday) so avoided the mass influx of campers and caravans.  Access through the local village was easy and well signposted, the car parking on site plentiful and well-staffed.  £10 on the gate for a day doesn’t seem steep – and it can be pre-booked with your admission ticket.  A short walk past the corn fields (horror movie fans- you have been warned) and  the camper vans took us to the box office for our accreditation and then straight through the check point for our wrist bands. 

10am may not be that early but it felt quiet (those who arrived and partied Friday night were recovering) you could hear sound checks and smell food. 

The site is quite big – although it doesn’t feel too big, at least not until the evenings after a day of walking!  If you’re not styling it out in your boots, you need to think about sensible footwear.  Thankfully, it stayed dry and there was no mud in sight. Even on this scale, it has the intimacy of all the other festivals, and we hadn’t even taken our first selfie before our first hello and a hug (Cody Pennington and his wife!).  Those meet ups continued as we started to get our bearings.  The sign says “Welcome home old friend” and we certainly felt that!

 

Ok, so we have seen your planning your outfits online and know that some of you have already started thinking about next year – it paid off and you looked great, even if there were times where the weather got the better of you and you needed to wrap up for a seafaring expedition.

Despite those efforts, it seems we can’t help buying more. Is it the inspiration from the crowd or the stars on stage? Luckily the stalls had you covered, from the tiniest piece of jewellery up to an outdoor stove.

 

The Long Road is a friendly festival, and it is specifically both child and dog friendly!  If the music, food and even funfair aren’t enough for the little ones, there was a dedicated area for them with activities and games under the watchful eye of the leaders who organised everything from games to space hopper races! Lil’ Possum County was popular all weekend – with envious adults watching on, although there were games around the site to try out!

For the dogs it was a chance to strut their stuff with many – or most – wearing bandanas, jackets, hats, some even had their own cowboys on their backs!  They also had a dedicated area for running off a bit of energy, nothing is too good for the pooches!  The festival also featured some invited VIP dogs who welcomed attention and cuddles!

 

The festival has a number of areas and stages.

Buddys has a chilled out acoustic vibe. Hidden away in the woods with its own bar it played host to some wonderful intimate shows, included the last Round Up songwriters round, and was a great place to get close to some acts that you may not have seen before.

Front Porch is a beautiful set up and is literally a house with a front porch and smoke curling from the chimney! As well as featuring a number of artists and takeovers including Color Me Country and the Americana Music Association.  Despite not having a covered seating area the crowd would frequently spread out across the field!

The Interstate stage is the next biggest, with acts to match!  A big marquee, it is the second stage for the festival and hosted artists from both the US and UK, with some of those absolutely blowing the roof off!

 

The Rhinestone Stage is easy to find and hard to miss!  Visually it is clearly a big festival stage and is situated by the entrance to the festival, overlooked by Stanford Hall.  The area in front of it was usually full when there was an act on stage, and adjacent is the VIP area (with posh toilets!)  Headliners Blackberry Smoke and Cam drew huge crowds, but as with all festivals it is worth seeing the other acts too, especially those who are on earlier…

 

As well as these stages –there are other areas playing music – everywhere you go, there’s music! 

 

The Showground played host to not just music but also to dancing and eating competitions.

Festival partners Team Kentucky had a marquee where you could relax and find out more about Kentucky Tourism – and on Sunday afternoon their small stage featured Kentucky native Tyler Booth who played an incredibly popular set which filled the tent and beyond!

Next to the lake was the Lucky Dice area – reminiscent of an old American car lot, but sadly these beautiful cars, trucks and motorbikes weren’t for sale, they were on show to be admired and asked about, with proud owners on hand to tell you the history of their pride and joy.  Everything from classic chevy trucks to a range of mustangs, Harley Davidsons and Mom’s station wagon!  Car exhibits are becoming more frequent at Country and Americana shows, and you don’t have to be a petrol head to appreciate them.

 

With so much to see and do on the site, it is important to keep your strength up and keep well hydrated – at least that’s our excuse!  For food, there really was something for everyone, ranging from a smokehouse with its own fire truck smoker; to Game and Flames roasting venison; toasties, Cajun; pizza; Persian street food…. You could have a different type of food for every meal!  There were also bars aplenty, plus specialist outlets selling craft beer, moonshine cocktails and more.  The prices were reasonable, bearing in mind it’s a festival, and the quality was great.

Our aim for the weekend was to walk around and just soak up the atmosphere and listen out for music.  There were many great acts, but our attention was especially grabbed by Tyler Booth at Team Kentucky and later on Buddys stage; by Alana Springsteen who delivered an absolutely superb show as first act on Rhinestone on Sunday afternoon and by seemingly everyone’s favourites Chapel Hart who played on the Front Porch as part of Color Me Country and truly grabbed our attention and our ears!

As with life, the festival shows that not everything goes to plan. I’m sure a great deal of people were disappointed that Jon Pardi had to pull out but credit where its due, the Long Road team reached out and got Cam at short notice (evidenced by the lack of backdrop in her set).

So, if you’re asking, should I attend, ask yourself, do you like country music? Do you like having a good time?  If so, this festival is not going to disappoint.

See you there old friend.

 

 Silverball Country attended The Long Road as guests of the festival  and Zeitgeist

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Gig Review - Nashville Sounds In The Round - Birmingham Symphony Hall August 2023

 

And so to the beautiful Symphony Hall Birmingham on a Saturday morning for the latest episode of Nashville Sounds In The Round.   The popular songwriters round started in 2017 as a collaboration between hosts Gasoline and Matches and curator Dan Wharton of Your Life In A Song.  Since then it has moved on from its first home in the intimate Kitchen Garden Café , replicating the feel of the Bluebird Café in Nashville – as well as its capacity of roughly 60.

As the show has grown it has moved to its new home in rather grander surroundings at the Symphony Hall in partnership with B:Music, the charity who run the Symphony Hall and Town Hall in Birmingham.  Normally setting up in the Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space the increase in capacity was very much needed for this show with the audience well in to triple figures.

The show is hosted by the familiar faces of local artists Sally and Stephen, and their guests range from unsigned artists to touring acts, especially in festival season – and this year it even took to the road with a special event on the paddock stage at Buckle and Boots festival.

While the format remains the same, the ever changing line up means that no two shows are the same, as every writers round is affected by the interaction between performers as well as with the crowd which ensures that even a regular event stays fresh.

The line up this month was three relatively new acts who are all making quite an impact on the UK Country scene, and who all played at Buckle and Boots this year.  For us it is an extra treat to be able to sit and listen to acts that we may have missed while working at the festival, as well as hearing them talk about their songs and tell their stories.

 

Robyn Red is a familiar face to us now, having hosted her on the paddock stage as well as seeing her perform at Country In The Afternoon and Country on the Clyde.  With her trademark red hat (now available to buy from the merch stand – great idea Robyn’s mum!) Robyn is hard to miss!  When she talks between songs Robyn displays a disarming charm, although she still sounds very quiet and nervous when speaking, but the moment she starts singing it is almost a different Robyn with her powerful vocal! Singing clearly releases her confidence and in orchestrating audience participation, encouraged by her facial expressions her stage presence belies her age.  Still only 18, her songwriting tells her life as seen through a teenager’s eyes, including a story of her friend drunk at a party!  Its honest, it’s hilarious and it is beautifully delivered!

In his first year on the UK Country scene, Luke Flear is having a blast!  Having met him on Thursday night at Buckle and Boots and then seeing him on and off during the weekend we saw the personal side to him, keen to make the most of his opportunities and keen to be a part of the festival, including helping out with keyboard for a songwriters round.  21 year old Luke was brought up on music (mostly rock) and was bought a drum kit when he was only 5/6 years old.  Noise complaints took him from drums to piano (self taught) to guitar (self taught) and now to stages!  He carried his keyboard all the way up to the performance space only to be told he could use the Steinway grand piano – and use it he did!  Luke seemed so at home on such a beautiful instrument and his songs did it justice.  Luke’s songwriting comes from personal experiences, including a touching tribute (Tattoo) to his brother’s friend who lost his life recently to a song inspired by his girlfriend wearing Tassels and Flares, and his voice has a raw, country edge to it.

photo courtesy of Nashville Sounds In The Round

The third of the guests was MattHodges who owned the main stage at Buckle and Boots performing with the Country Orchestra.  On that night he looked and sounded every inch a Country star, as he did again in Birmingham.  A hard working musician he performed at 311 gigs last year, travelling 87,000 miles in the process.  He has realised that the best way to placate his partner when he is way so much is to write her a song and buy presents!  With a friendly Yorkshire charm and a deep booming voice Matt is funny and entertaining, as well as a joy to listen to, with songs including a reply to “my boyfriend cheated” type songs and his forthcoming single inspired by a cocktail menu!

The three guests had all travelled quite a distance to perform, Robyn from Glasgow and Luke and Matt from Yorkshire – Leeds and Wakefield respectively – as had some of the crowd.  There were familiar faces dotted around from both the north and the south, as well as a couple of other performers – Leanne Brumfitt and Sarah Riches both enjoying the show.

photo courtesy of Nashville Sounds In The Round

Our hosts Gasoline andMatches as ever held the show together with ease, introducing the guests, playing along with them and of course telling their own stories and performing their own songs. Their latest single – Patient Wolves - was held over to the second half “To make sure you all stay” and of course there was some talk of the Crooked House fire and the media circus around it.  Some people did notice the fire engines outside the building, but we were assured it was just coincidence!  Sally and Stephen have such a wide catalogue of songs they can pick and choose the set list for each show, opening this time with their first release Fools Gold and including their excellent last single Afraid To Fall.  It is a joy to hear that they sound just as good whether as an acoustic duo, full band or in a studio.

 

Nashville Sounds In The Round goes from strength to strength, showcasing independent artists and showing that there is a definite country scene in Birmingham.  The next show is a weekday lunchtime show on 6 September – and its free!  The line up includes Neeve Zahra, Eleri and Emily Lockett, hosted by Sally!

More details of this and future shows can be found on the B:Music website

Silverball Country attended Nashville Sounds in the Round as guests of Gasoline and Matches and B:Music

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Single Review - Patient Wolves - Gasoline and Matches

 

In recent times, Gasoline and Matches have been on fire, they have definitely ignited their performances and set the world alight.  Sparks fly whenever they pick up a guitar.  But enough about their cancelled performance at the ill-fated Crooked House!

Ok, in all seriousness, due to their entirely coincidental connection to the well-publicised fire at the Crooked House Pub Sally and Steve have been handling press enquiries from radio, TV, National Newspapers and even the Ladbible website  If you’ve missed that one, an old pub was sold and mysteriously caught fire…and the band originally booked to play on that date were – Gasoline and Matches!  Of course, the media absolutely loved this.  Both Sally and Steve approached this infamy in an incredibly professional and smooth way – which is just how they approach their music! 

If you’ve seen the full band perform recently (including Jamie Clayton on bass, James Randle on drums and Chris Proctor on saxophone) you’ll see that they have moved up a gear in terms of performance and showmanship.  The inclusion of the one man brass section, radio packs to allow them to move around the stage and the crowd freely as they showed at Buckle and Boots, when opening for Jessica Lynn and no doubt when they play at the Long Road festival later this month.

Their new single, follow up to the sublime Afraid To Fall is perfectly timed, not just because of the unexpected media interest, but also as a teaser for their appearance at The Long Road.  The song itself will be familiar to those who have seen the band live, especially at their regular Nashville Sounds In The Round shows at Birmingham Symphony Hall.  Although we are used to hearing it, we were keen to sample what a studio arrangement can do to it.  In this case, the addition of  “south of the border” brass, brought to life by Emma Miller on French Horn and cornet.  In truth, the whole instrumentation has a kind of spaghetti western feel to it, the guitars and indeed the joint vocal bringing an edge, and with the title you start to feel that the song is almost a movie in 3 minutes!  As ever, the songwriting is based on perhaps not personal life, but personal observations of life.  As Stephen explains

There was a point in my life when many of my female friends were being treated badly in their relationships by their male partners. I felt protective but at the same time was conflicted by my own instincts.

This is certainly caught in the lyrics, where the story teller is both protector and wolf

When the ground is moving fast beneath your feet. 
Running with the pack white with heat. 

I’ll be howling at the moon. 
Don’t let him make a fool out of you. 
Gentlemen are Patient Wolves.

Powerful writing, energetic music, great instrumentation – Patient Wolves is everything we expect from Gasoline and Matches, and with this run of releases to accompany their run of live shows can we expect an album in the near future?

We hope so – because we know it will be LIT!

(sorry, last fire pun)

 

Patient Wolves, the new single from Gasoline and Matches will be available to stream and download from Friday 18 August.

 You can see the band live at the upcoming Long Road Festival and catch Sally and Steve at Symphony Hall on Saturday 19 August hosting Nashville Sounds in The Round

Find and follow the band on Facebook, Instagram and on Spotify

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