Festival Reflections - Buckle and Boots 2023

 

Let’s start by looking at the crowd, we talk a lot about the “Country Family” and I need to start by thanking both those new and returning to the festival; it is your presence, enthusiasm and support of one another that plays a central role. Whether you used the attendees page to ask about clothing, the temperature, money, parking, taxis, or anything else there is always someone prepared to help you out and it’s the same on site. People may arrive on site alone, but they always leave with new friends. About 80% of the attendance is returning and most of those newbies can’t wait to come back and stay for longer next time.

Why are the people so important? You help create an atmosphere where the artists don’t want to sit in a green room but are happy to mingle among you, which adds to the whole intimacy of the festival.  How many country artists did you spot that were not on the line-up but came anyway to be a part of the festival?  From those trying to break into county music (Leanne Brumfitt), those on their way (Alan Finlan) and some of the best we have (Kezia Gill)!

It is probably the one festival where Laura Hancock does not have to worry about getting volunteers. Yes, you read that right, every one of the crazy people behind the bar does it as a volunteer. There are even those who buy a ticket and want to be the other side!

Most people turn up regardless of the line-up -just look at ticket sales, people booking the moment they get home, whilst some of us need a few days to recover.  It is lovely to read messages where people say “I don’t care about the line up as its always amazing”. Rest assured that the Hancocks and Gary Quinn will always look to promote UK country music and secure you international artists. In fact, every year the festival grows and gets a little bit better.

This year had the added bonuses of:

·       The Nashville Sounds in the Round Take-over on Thursday afternoon

·       The Old Time Sailors

·       The Country Orchestra

·       Purple Rabbit Pilates and a beach

I’m not sure that they can take credit for the weather, but it was fantastic and certainly better than when it rains.

Everyone will have their standout artist, but this year we think the UK artists stole the show. Why?

Robyn Red – at just 18, this young lady is making waves. With a phenomenal voice, she is growing in confidence with every performance and just wowing her audiences.

Gasoline & Matches – not only did they bring their Birmingham based show ‘Nashville Sounds in the Round’ to the Paddock stage giving you a reason to arrive early, but then they went on to set the stage alight with the full band which included a saxophonist, to close out the Paddock stage on Friday night.  They are a polished act who just keep getting better. We were very impressed with the intro track and stage presence.

Backwoods Creek – despite working hard as the house band, it was nice to see them take to the stage under their own name to headline the Paddock stage on Saturday night. They bought their usual raw energy which got the crowd to their feet and kept them there, blowing the roof off the tent. The addition of Jeremy McComb for their cover of Walking In Memphis showed how versatile and spontaneous they are as a band.

Emilia Quinn – moving up to the main stage, she absolutely smashed it, looking very natural up there with enormous amounts of energy.  Appreciated by the other artists who brought her on stage, we’re all so glad she announced her headline tour.

 

Finally lets not forget the food vendors, who work long hours to keep many of us going but with some amazing tasting food.  The stall holders who help us look our best and help keep it country.

Holding tight to my Buckle and Boots cup by the handle but sadly only containing coffee, I’m shattered and my body hurts, voice is non-existent and like many of you I need sleep and vegetables, but you know what - I’ll see you next year!

In the meantime, please go and support local acts.

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Gig Review - Nashville Sounds In The Round take-over at Buckle and Boots Country Festival

You asked, they delivered!

Birmingham's premier country songwriter night 'Nashville Sounds In The Round' hosted by the British country music duo Gasoline & Matches (aka Sally and Steve) was transported from its usual home at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall to the Paddock Stage to launch the festival.

Like all writer’s rounds, this is an opportunity to hear about the stories behind the songs and often an opportunity to showcase new artists.  On Thursday afternoon, 12:30pm to 2:00pm to be precise, Gasoline & Matches were joined on stage by their guests: Namywa, Kylie Price and James Berryman.

Namywa, a fellow Brummie is an international recording artist but this was her debut country festival performance. Supported by her dad in the audience, she showed off a powerful voice and some great earrings.  If she was nervous in this new setting, it never showed. Her soulful voice absolutely filled the Paddock Stage

Kelly Price is from New Zealand and loved the setting of Whitebottom Farm/Etherow County Park but nothing gave her roots away more than when she referred to “Stevo”.  Loved her stories that she was crazy but still got her man, and actually she is still crazy – that’s very country. Check her out at Kylie Price website .  Whilst she will freely (and frequently) admit that her songs are a little downbeat, her storytelling is fantastic in both her songwriting and conversation, and her personality shines.

James Berryman isn’t new to the round having played back in September and spotted as a one to watch. Believe it or not he has 17 years of experience.  A writer’s round leaves the artists with nowhere to hide – but with James he is not only a talented singer songwriter, but he could probably double as a comedian! Maybe next time we just have an impressions show with James and Steve!

A very large crowd, which actually felt like it was everyone who had arrived on site, was attracted to the Paddock stage, why wouldn’t anyone want to sit in the sun (or shade) and listen to great music?  Sat in front of the stage or stood at the back by the bar, sound quality was amazing.

The high energy that Gasoline & Matches put into any performance is difficult to contain and so they are often spotted adding harmonies and playing along with their guests.  This is only a taste of their ability and I hope everyone stuck around to see their headline performance with their full band.

What a takeover, setting everyone up for a festival that you need to buckle into but hopefully it may have convinced a few of you to make the journey down to see their next ‘In the Round’ on Thursday 1^st June with a truly international line up.

B:Music website

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Gig Review - Cody Pennington Country Show - O2 Academy Birmingham

 

It was a slightly different kind of gig for us on Friday night in Birmingham – the Cody Pennington Country Show.  Different in that it was a mostly a show of big Country Music hits performed by Cody and his band, interspersed with some of his original material.  Not really a “covers show”, more a tribute to Country music.

In a show of two halves, Cody Pennington opened for Cody Pennington with some big crowd pleasing songs to get everyone singing along in the first half of the show, kicking off with Luke Combs’ smash hit Beer Never Broke My Heart which really got the show going. The whole of the sell out audience were certainly up for a party, singing along to pretty much every song, including favourites Wagon Wheel and the set ending The Gambler.

In truth the set list was Luke Combs heavy – Cody wasn’t shy about wanting to open for Luke on his next UK tour and he even asked the crowd to tag Luke in their photos and videos to persuade him that Cody would be ideal for this!  The crowd roared their approval of the songs and also the idea - Luke may get a surprise when he checks his social media! 

After around 45 minutes the band took a short break, partly for Cody to change into a T shirt as it was – in Cody’s words – “a hot sweaty gig”! Academy 2 is not the largest of the rooms at Birmingham’s Academy and as Cody’s popularity grows he will almost certainly return to a larger room or larger venue.  The heat allowed Cody to show his humbler side, as he turned his fan round to cool down his pedal steel player - he also made a point of thanking the venue staff and especially the bouncer at the front who was handing out water in front of the stage

In the show’s second half Cody showed off those vocal, musical and showmanship skills including – not easily done by a male vocalist – Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 and Shania Twain’s Man! I Feel Like a Woman! complete with a bum wiggle – to the crowd’s amazement and enjoyment.

As we looked around the crowd we didn’t see any familiar faces, so this was a crowd of Brummies out for a good night.  There were some glittery cowboy hats, some boots, plenty of plaid shirts, but when Cody belted out the big hits, the crowd were right there singing along, and when he dropped in his own singles – Downtown, Cowboy Sitting at The Bar, they still sang it back to him.

 

If you haven’t come across Cody Pennington yet, Cody is a “unicorn” - he is actually from Nashville!  He told us a fascinating story of how he first met Chris Stapleton when working in CVS in Nashville.  On checking a customer’s ID, he noted the name was C Stapleton.  That was it – that was the story!  It was a great intro to performing a Chris Stapleton song though! 

Cody is now UK based, taking the Nashville sound around the country with his show.  Cody plays electric guitar throughout the show, accompanied by Holly Carter on pedal steel, plus his drummer and bassist. Cody does use some reverb on his mic and a small amount of backing tracks to allow a banjo sound plus piano when he sang Walking In Memphis.  The microphone effect brings a big sound to a small venue – while other acts offer us the feel of a Nashville Honky Tonk, Cody and his band are without doubt bringing us the US Stadium sound, even in Birmingham on a Friday night.

The Cody Pennington Country Show delivers exactly what it says on the tin – some of the biggest hits of modern country performed as they should be.  For many, this is the only way they will hear the likes of Luke Combs songs performed live.  People will come out for covers, and they will love the originals.  UK festivals would do well to get Cody on their line ups – before Luke Combs steals him away!

The Cody Pennington Country Show is touring the UK throughout the year, with four shows in Scotland in November.  Tickets are limited for many dates – see CodyPennington.com for details.

If you can’t make it to a show, check out Cody’s music on Spotify, and follow him on Facebook and Instagram.

Silverball Country attended The Country Show as guests of Cody Pennington

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Gig Review - Nashville Sounds in The Round - Up! - Birmingham Symphony Hall

 

image by Nashville Sounds In The Round

Songwriters Rounds, or “in the rounds” (sometimes called “guitar pulls) are becoming increasingly prevalent in the UK Country scene.  A little different from a standard gig they allow more artists to perform on one stage at the same time.  If you haven’t been to a round, the basic idea is to have a few artists on stage singing songs in turn, but telling the story behind each song as they go along.  There are always popular rounds at Buckle and Boots festival, and this year you will have the opportunity to see several!

Away from the festivals there are a few regular songwriters rounds, notably the Birmingham based Nashville Sounds in the Round hosted by Gasoline and Matches and the London based The Round Up with Two Ways Home.  This year Lewis and Izzy of Two Ways Home decided to take the Round Up on the road as a UK tour, taking in three countries, 11 shows and around 35 guest artists.  Their penultimate show was in Birmingham – so as the two shows share the same DNA it seemed like a great idea to combine the two for one morning only into Nashville Sounds in The Round-Up!

Hosted by Gasoline and Matches’ Sally and Steve but curated by Two Ways Home the show added two guests to the line up – Welsh based The Goudies and London brothers The Blue Highways.  A round is always a great opportunity to see new artists, on this occasion for us at least that was the Goudies having met The Blue Highways for the first time in 2019 - and interviewed them

 

With four different artists on stage you will often get a real mix of styles as each choose their own playlist, sometimes in advance, sometimes reacting to the previous song.  The first round opened with Smiling Viper from our hosts which was a wake up call for a Saturday morning, the Goudies countered with a soft er country song Where We Belong allowing Two Ways Home to bridge the styles with their song Waiting On Luck.  The Blue Highways was a solo performance for the first half with Callum on his own singing “Don’t Leave Me Alone” from their recently released album.

 

The rounds are as much about the stories as the music, and we were told the story of Maggie, who has a Grandmother was obviously a big part of the Goudie’s life, leading to the beautiful Maggies Prayer, a tribute to her memory.  Trained pianist Callum obviously couldn’t resist the magnificent Steinway Grand piano which he used for his own tribute – to a Harrow music venue where the band played the first gig.  Teardrops In The Storm was possibly the standout performance of the morning, and perhaps the North West London influences helped the very Elton John vibe.

 

The Steinway opened the second half, with Callum now joined by brother Theo, as all the participants played us new songs, old songs, songs available at the merch table, songs never played in public, songs played at family weddings and even a song added to a birthing playlist!

How do you end a show with so much talent all together?  With a group song of course – all combining (with the audience too) for a rendition of Sweet Home Alabama, rounding off a superb collaboration and a fine start to a Saturday in Birmingham!

Nashville Sounds In The Round have two very special shows coming up – the May show will actually be on the Paddock Stage at Buckle and Boots Country Festival, while the June show back in Birmingham will be a Buckle and Boots Takeover!  Tickets for June can be found at B:Music

The Round Up will also be festival bound, taking their round to The Long Road Festival in August!

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

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Single Review - Cowboy Sitting at the Bar - Cody Pennington

It is clear that shows where you can hear “all the hits” from current and past Nashville performers are very popular in the UK – as we discussed when we recently reviewed One Night In Nashville.  For many, this may be the only chance to hear the songs that you hear on the Radio performed live, albeit not by the original artists.  UK Based Nashville artist Cody Pennington is about to embark on a UK tour where he will be performing such songs with his band, but Cody is absolutely not just a covers artist, he writes and records his own music and this week sees the release of his latest single which he even produced himself!

This ain’t the first bar I came to tonight

Its just the closest to the last

Cowboy Sitting At The Bar is a recognisable story to anyone familiar with the Country music genre – a heartbroken cowboy who turns to drink to try and ease the pain.  Most of us can relate to that!  The approach that Cody has taken is to put the lyrics against a quite upbeat, happy production.  The song writing is first rate, the words and emotion so recognisable and the contrast with the music and tempo give a different dimension, conjuring up the cowboy sat in the corner of the bar while around him people are having a good time. 

I’m searching for healing in a bottle of Jim Beam

The pedal steel helps to set the tone and describes the heartache as only pedal steel can before the guitar takes us on to the forced jollity of the uptempo chorus reflecting the fact that, although drinking away troubles, the story is set in a bar full of other people

This place feels like a second home

A place you can sit at the bar on your own

You’ve got enough cash you’ll never really feel like you’re alone

It is rare to find a song where the words and music almost contradict each other but come together in such a well thought out way.  The performance itself is also spot on – a little tiredness in the vocal, and real country sound overall so that you almost see as well as hear our storyteller and his weariness and heartache.

Cody Pennington may be performing other people’s songs in his stage show, but he writes as well as they do, and if he performs their songs as well as he does his own, then the shows will be a really great night out!

Cowboy Sitting at the Bar, the new single from Cody Pennington is available to download and stream from Friday 21 April

For more details and tickets for his UK tour go to CodyPennington.com

Find and follow Cody on Facebook, Instagram, Spotify and sitting in the corner of a bar drunk on whisky and you…

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Single Review - What Have You Got To Lose - Katy Hurt

Katy Hurt is quietly taking over the world.  With her singles still being played on Canadian and Australian radio stations (Sirius XM and KIX) and her album being available to listen to on Lufthansa flights, 2022 and 2023 have been both exciting and rewarding for her and her career.

 

With her new single What Have You Got To Lose, Katy has taken a more soulful route to tell the story of being able to take risks and push yourself, while having the feeling of safety of a strong and supportive relationship.

 

Is there an echo of risk taking in her writing and releasing a Country Soul song when her previous singles have been more upbeat?  Absolutely not!  With an instrumental that has a similar tempo to Girl Crush, Katy’s voice just soars while displaying an absolute purity, nailing every note.  As ever with Katy’s music, just by listening you can absolutely picture her singing, picture the setting for the song.  With the storyteller being the supportive back up to the risk taker, you feel like you can achieve anything as long as you have someone behind you.

 

It is looking more and more like Katy herself can do anything, and with her debut album coming soon, we believe that too!

What Have You Got To Lose, the new single from Katy Hurt is available to stream and download from Friday 21 April.

You can find and follow Katy on Facebook, Instagram and on Spotify

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Gig Review - One Night In Nashville - Birmingham

 

Country Music is the fastest growing genre in the UK, with many people loving the sound without admitting to being a country fan.  30 years of DJing at weddings and events has taught us that any crowd will go wild for 9 to 5 or Country Roads.  The UK audience is keen to hear the Nashville classics – Dolly Parton, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, John Denver as well as the 90s big hits – Shania Twain, Billy Ray Cyrus, Garth Brooks and the current crop of Luke Combs, Maren Morris, Chris Stapleton.  While its hard to see these artists live outside expensive stadium gigs in the UK – unlike in the US – there is a growing market for tribute shows that aim to transport you to the Broadway bars of Nashville.  These shows can be found in bars as well as theatres with an audience that spans from hardcore country fans to pink hatted hen parties.  The age range is just as wide, with younger guests word perfect on songs from decades before they were born, such is the appeal of Country Music.  These touring shows include A Country Night In Nashville, Nashville Bad Boys Of Country, Honky Tonk Roadshow and possibly the original – One Night In Nashville.  People will never fail to love a good night out with songs they can sing along to, a bit of dancing or sat least foot stomping and clapping – ideally with a beer in hand.

 

Last Friday, dressed in our boots, belts and bling we headed to Birmingham’s Bierkeller for one of these shows.  

One Night In Nashville sets out to “replicate the experience of being in a Honkytonk in Nashville Tennessee” Maria and the band have certainly achieved this with the added bonus of their chosen venue, Bierkeller, which permits the dancing on tables and benches to really get the party going (not seen that in a Honkytonk!)

Whether you are a regular follower or stumble across the night by chance you’ll know you’re in the right place as its one of the biggest collections of hats shirts and boots seen outside of C2C.  Maria herself didn’t let the side down with awesome silver boots tied in with her outfit.

Right from the off we were straight in with the classics, only Maria’s showmanship and powerful voice can do justice to the range covered getting away with jumping between everyone’s favourite Dolly song Jolene right back to the classic Tammy Wynette Stand by Your Man and up to date with Maren Morris, Luke Combs.  Audience participation did not fall as One Night In Nashville is timeless and appeals across the ages.

The show is scripted to ensure that the audience are having a good time, there wasn’t a drop in energy, even when the audience were treated to one of Maria’s own song.  Maria Jordan - check her out on YouTube and other socials.

Maria couldn’t give such a high energy show alone, she’s accompanied by her band including Dave Heyes, an incredible drummer who happens to be Maria’s husband and Sam Heyes on bass.

The 90 minute show comes to end far too quickly with the crowd left screaming for an encore.  In Birmingham we were treated to not one but two songs and a promise that they will be back – before the country disco kicked in to round off the night.

 

If you’d like to experience One Night In Nashville make sure you buy your tickets soon, as shows are already selling out!

Silverball Country attended One Night In Nashville at Bierkeller Birmingham as guests of the band

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