The recent positive news that two different Coronavirus vaccines have been approved for use in the UK has made many wonder if we have finally turned a corner with the virus that has blighted our lives for much of the last 12 months.
With a handful of exceptions, live music has pretty much been at a standstill since the middle of March.
My own introduction to country music came back in the early part of 2017. Kevin, a friend and former work colleague, recommended that I listen to a live broadcast that was happening on BBC Radio 2. It was a pop-up station at a country music festival called "Country to Country" and the show was being broadcast live from the O2 Arena in London. I had never given country music all that much thought but Kevin has never steered me badly when it comes to music suggestions so, "What the heck" I thought, and switched on the show.
I was immediately greeted by the sound of a band performing an excellent cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody" - the most well known song of my favourite band Queen. After listening to the remainder of the broadcast, I found out that it was a group called Zac Brown Band. The singer had a decent voice and the band sounded excellent. Their own songs sounded great also and were more than enough to kick off my interest in country music.
Zac Brown Band - Bohemian Rhapsody - C2C London 2017
Following on from this, I became a regular listener of the Country Show with Bob Harris which broadcasts on a Thursday evening. My interest in country music grew exponentially and I have Bob to thank for introducing me to so many great artists.
Fast forwards a few months and I found out that a friend of a friend was also a country music fan and we were introduced at a gathering we were both attending. We spent some time together reeling off the names of artists we liked and it turned out we had quite a few favourites in common. One thing led to another, and we ended up booking tickets to attend the 2018 Country to Country event in London.
I enjoyed both the 2018 and 2019 Country to Country festivals, the latter containing my favourite live performance to date - Chris Stapleton's headline set on the Sunday evening. There was so much to see - live music for over 12 hours a day, every day - I went home at the end of the weekend happy but utterly exhausted.
Chris Stapleton - C2C London 2019
Country to Country started back in 2013 and on the back of its growing popularity in the UK, other country music festivals have sprung up in various guises all over the country. There is clearly a strong market for it now and these extra events afford a greater number of fans the chance to see some live country music by artists from all around the world.
One such event came to my attention in the Spring of 2019. The Long Road is a relatively new festival and takes place in the grounds of Stanford Hall in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. Geography being something of an interest of mine, without checking I knew roughly that this festival was less than an hour away from home. This provides an immediate advantage over C2C, which involves a three or four hour trek and all the logistical difficulties that a trip to London entails.
I didn't know much about The Long Road festival but it sounded promising enough so decided to buy a ticket for the Saturday just to see what it was like. The parking arrangements were straightforward and after a small amount of queuing I was admitted into the grounds. I attended with a friend, another country music fan and fellow first time visitor to the festival.
The Long Road is predominantly an outdoor festival and this is one of the main reasons that I enjoy it. It feels to me much more what I imagine a country music festival in America to be like. Obviously the festival being held in early September, as opposed to C2C which takes place in March, gives the event a much higher chance of being availed of decent weather. I could imagine that if the weather was rainy, the grounds could quickly be transformed into a Glastonbury-esque mud bath. If the forecast was poor, wellies should definitely be packed!
Fortunately the weather was favourable on the day I attended. Pleasantly warm, sunny spells in the afternoon although at that time of year the temperature can drop quickly in the evening. A choice of thin layers would be my recommendation. But anyway, enough talk about weather.
The festival is made up of several different stages. The main (Rhinestone) and smaller Front Porch stages are outside and completely open to the elements. The Interstate stage is a spacious covered tent area with a bar at one side which is always quite busy. The small, intimate Honky Tonk is a smaller indoor stage with very limited capacity. This stage is especially good for artists who are particularly good in a more up-close setting. The downside to this stage having a limited amount of space is that it tends to get busy early in the day and stays that way. If you're lucky enough to get a good spot, it's not something that you're going to want to give up. Quite often the less fortunate end up having to watch from the doorway. Being over six feet tall does have it's advantages in this kind of situation, however I am always conscious of not blocking the view of others!
Aside from the excellent choice of live music, there are also several stalls and various establishments dedicated to keeping you fed and watered. There were also some classic American cars on display. I didn't look too closely but they looked interesting and I would definitely have a closer look if they were there at future festivals. All of these things add to the excellent atmosphere and authenticity of the festival.
The first part of the lineup was released a little while ago and it is fantastic. It is especially good if, like me, you are a fan of female country artists. Brandy Clark, Sunny Sweeney, Gretchen Peters, one of my personal favourites Whitney Rose, Sarah Shook, Lilly Hiatt, Roseanne Reid. It's just tick, tick, tick of artists that I want to see live. Backed up by up and coming British talent like Jess Thristan and Morganway - it really is a line up to savour. In fact, one of my friends who saw the line up described it as, "The best country festival line up I've ever seen in the UK". To think that this is only the first part of the line up, it could get a whole lot better which is incredible to think about!
As the terrible year of 2020 draws to a close, I look towards 2021 with a flicker of tentative optimism. I don't think anyone knows what form live music next year will take. Many of us are desperate for its return but we have to balance this with the overall picture of what is going on in the world.
At the time of writing this post, it has been 290 days and counting since I saw any live music. I'm sure that it could be quite a few more before I am in the presence of it again. When that day comes, it will be an emotional one - of that I am sure.
