Literally every year after Country 2 Country, I spend the next fortnight (at least) rolling in my own sadness, mourning the passing of the best weekend of the year.

It's no exaggeration saying that extending the festival to Scotland has done the most for the growth of the country music community up here than any move made before that. Not only does it allow fans to see artists they could only dream of seeing before (someone like Brad Paisley who I'd wanted to see live for almost my entire lifetime, but had always avoided performing in Scotland) , but it provides a platform for acts to showcase their work and introduce a new wave of fans to their music - while simultaneously allowing them to market returning tours to the UK. In the past 3 years alone, with the help of C2C in one way or another, and without leaving Glasgow, I've been able to see around 30 country acts, and many more than once. I'm now part of a growing community of wonderful people who also probably underestimated just how many country music fans there are around the country (and beyond).



This year I was lucky enough to be able to find tickets for the Q&A at BBC Scotland for both the Friday and Saturday, and unlike previous years, some of the artists gave a couple of acoustic performances - having fallen in love with Midland's debut album from the day of it's release in September, and not being able to afford tickets to the actual Friday night show (although Little Big Town are a definite favorite of mine, having just seen them in September and at their last C2C appearance in 2016, it wasn't totally essential - and I would have been going almost solely for Midland), this was might have been my highlight of the weekend. Midland are spectacular, their harmonies are flawless and almost ironically the classic country sound is totally refreshing. Like they said during their interview, the Texas sound gives an edge to their music that can be lost in the very pop/RnB influenced current country charts. Lukas Nelson's acoustic performances completely blew me away, with my dad fumbling for his phone to record a snippet to show his friends - which is honestly rare. Although I wasn't able to attend the Friday, I heard that due to sound issues, his performance in the arena itself left a bad impression - and I would encourage anyone who was left with a sour taste in their mouth to listen to his music, or at least to the acoustic performances that will be released in coming weeks.

<-Midland                         Lukas Nelson->

Unsurprisingly, Brett Young's performances at the Q&A were smooth and beautiful, and he was as charming as ever. Having missed a lot of his set when he opened for Lady Antebellum, being front and centre at such an intimate performance made up for it beyond anything I could have imagined.
Although disappointed Kelsea Ballerini didn't perform, being so close to someone I've admired for so long - having followed her career from the release of her debut and being able to see her at only her second performance at the Grand Ole Opry - being able to just listen to her talk about her career and the industry (AND ANSWER ONE OF MY QUESTIONS!!!!) was wonderful. She was bubbly and friendly and easily the best interviewee of all the sessions in terms of her answers and interactions with both Ricky Ross and the crowd.


<- Brett Young          Kelsea Ballerini ->

The beauty of the Hydro is that every seat has a great view, so for where a lot of the intimacy of past C2C's in the Armadillo was lost, I would trade it any day for a good view (rather than that of the nosebleed seats we had a few years ago for Miranda Lambert) - and even better, people in the upper levels don't get SCREAMED at and almost forced back down after standing up, and don't have their phones practically ripped from their hands when recording their favourite songs (which from my video of Carrie Underwood surprising us with a duet with Sam Hunt, I have both audio and visual proof of). Despite this, I would have still liked to see some of the acts in a smaller setting, but don't feel like we lost out on too much - and hopefully as the community only grows, more seats will be taken up, and the arena will be a little warmer.

Although the overall lineup didn't (PERSONALLY) quite match up to last year, as I honestly don't think you could top seeing Cam, Jennifer Nettles, Chris Young and Brad Paisley in the same night, and that doesn't include seeing LEGEND Reba, my new favourite Darius Rucker, queen Maren Morris and the list goes on and on - basically, I loved every single artist, it was a dream come true. HOWEVER that in no way lowered my hopes and expectations for this year seeing Tim McGraw and Faith Hill was a bucket list item, and Kacey Musgraves is someone who helped strengthen my love for country music with the release of Same Trailer Different Park when I was in high school - again, not to mention seeing Luke Combs and Sugarland in the same night.



The highlight of the Saturday night was maybe surprisingly Kelsea Ballerini - my hopes were SKY HIGH for her set, having seen her twice before, I knew she was amazing and a born performer, and she exceeded them. I totally can't wait for her to come back with a (long overdue) headlining tour in the UK, where I'll be front and centre. I only say 'surprisingly' because I expected the highlight to be Tim McGraw and Faith Hill - and while SCREAMING along to This Kiss and Live Like You Were Dying might be tied for the best moments of the whole weekend, a couple technical aspects let down the performance overall a little bit. Being high up, the lack of screens was a struggle, as I couldn't see them a lot, and occasionally the band overpowered their vocals. Aside from that, I can't fault it. It was still a dream come true.

The overall highlight, and my personal favourite set of the two nights, came from Luke Combs on the Sunday - his album is solid country gold, in the words of Midland. It's just fab, his voice in unreal, and he undoubtedly managed to create the best atmosphere. Everyone was out of their seats, everyone clapping away. Incredible. SOOOO excited to see his headlining show in October!!

Sugarland mean more to me than most acts, as Baby Girl was the song that initially helped me realise how much I love country music (alongside Online by Brad Paisley, I talk about Brad Paisley a lot but can't explain how much he impacted my taste in music). Seeing it live for a second time, and with the full band this time round, was so important and so moving to me. It's one of my favourite songs of all time from one of my favourite albums of all time. Sugarland means the world to me - and crying along to Stay was just the cherry on top of a wonderful country cake :-)))

I haven't seen Kacey Musgraves since 2014, and she was every bit as good as I remember. I had mentioned before how wary I was of her being a headliner because as much as I love her and was extremely proud of how far she's come even since the last time I saw her, I know others didn't feel the same way. My favourite songs are those that tell stories, and country music is filled with them, with Kacey Musgraves being one of the greatest songwriters and storytellers of recent. Her music is beautiful, and the show was vocally unreal - she hit every note, sang every word with crystal clarity and brought her classic sparkle to the stage. Her slow songs are her best, I know that with plenty of years of experience, but I couldn't help thinking that her set was MOSTLY sad songs. I could listen to endless sad, or slow, beautiful songs rich in visuals, and ultimately poetry - however I know many weren't quite as content with ending their weekend on anything other than a party. I get that, I do, but you can't put Kacey down as a performer. She is spectacular and always has been. Sure, I really would have liked to see Dime Store Cowgirl, My House, Pageant Material or Blowin' Smoke played - but I had also longed to see Fine, and could never pass up on It Is What It Is. Life is about compromise I guess, at least the compromise wasn't quality (or the amount of glittery sparkles).


If anyone has read this far, I applaud you (or myself, in the future reading this back). Country music means the world to me. It is something that runs in my veins, and something that I'll always naturally gravitate towards - evidently even if I can't afford to lol. C2C only breeds that love; it gives me an outlet where I can express myself among people who share passions that I had only ever previously found online. It is a celebration of songwriting and storytelling, of different personalities, and the continuously growing love of country music in all it's many shapes and sizes.

I always try to find and listen to as much music as possible, and this month more so than ever, I have found so much noteworthy music that I thought I would make a list of my top 5 favourite artists/albums/songs I've found or re-discovered this month;

1. Chris Stapleton

By far my favourite discovery of this month was Chris Stapleton's entire discography. Everything he has ever wrote, recorded and performed. There are literally no words to describe how amazing he his. In only the past two weeks I've managed to fully immerse myself in Traveller to the point where I've pretty much learnt it off by heart. My dad, who I wouldn't consider someone who is easily impressed, even referred to the album as 'something special' - it is treasure, filled with lyrical gold and timeless soul. This is an album I can see myself listening to for the rest of my life.
To top it off, I only just discovered that he wrote Drink A Beer (sung by Luke Bryan), another piece of music I will carry with me forever. I could honestly gush over him forever so I'll round this off with a quick summary of my favourite songs by him;
Tennessee Whiskey - Easily my favourite song off the album. Despite not originally being written by or for him, he sings the words with so much soul it makes my heart melt. This is very quickly earning it's spot amongst my favourite songs of all time.
Traveller - The title track of the album was the first I heard from Chris, and what initially drew me to listen to the album. I don't even have the words to describe why and how much I love it, all I'll say is this; listen to it.
Other honourable mentions include Fire Away, Parachute and Nobody To Blame.

2. HalseyHaving listened to Colors on repeat for about 3 months, back in October my friend and I jumped at the chance of getting tickets for Halsey's Glasgow show. Through a stroke of luck, we managed to get tickets and naturally, as I end up doing with literally any concert, I didn't actually start properly listening and frantically learning the setlist until a few weeks before the gig. Because of this, I've spent the whole month listening to Badlands as much as I had time for, to the extent where I felt as though I had assigned myself homework every night. It wasn't until the night of the concert a couple of weeks ago that I fully discovered everything I had been missing in all those months I had put off properly listening to the album. It is beautiful, all the songs connect so smoothly and her voice is so beautifully unique. Halsey is a born performer, and you don't truly understand that until you see her on stage. The visuals involved added a whole new dimension to the songs and left me wanted to relive the entire concert the second I left the venue. (The only criticism I would have of that concert was that there was very little audience interaction, but that's beside the point). If anyone is looking for something slightly different, or just new and fresh to listen to, I would 100% recommend this album.
My favourite songs off Badlands (that I discovered this month in particular) include Roman Holiday, Castle, Strange Love and Haunting. 

3. Storyteller by Carrie UnderwoodI fell in love with this album the second I listened to it after getting it for Christmas, which isn't a surprise really, considering how much I loved Carrie's last album Blown Away. When I realised how sad I was that I didn't have tickets to see her when she comes to Glasgow as part of Country 2 Country in March, I tried to avoid the album for the second half of January and the first few weeks of this month. That was until I refreshed Ticketmaster again, and by sheer chance and the ultimate stroke of luck, I managed to find tickets. After months of trying to find tickets from any source at all, at any vaguely affordable price, I finally found them through the most reliable source available and at face value. I've been on cloud 9 ever since and Storyteller has been playing practically non-stop since that moment. The album is perfect for anything and everything, I've painted to this album, walked my dog to this album, drove around listening to this album and exercised along to this album at the gym. It has been the ultimate soundtrack to 2016 so far and I am BEYOND excited to see her at C2C!My recent favourites off this album have been Dirty Laundry, Church Bells and Choctaw County Affair. (another honourable mention and one that isn't on this album is Undo It which is obviously one of her greatest hits, but I hadn't properly listened to it until this month and I love it SO MUCH)

4. Little RichardAfter watching a documentary on the history of R&B and hearing so many songs that I know and love, I caught Little Richard's name and binged on all his greatest hits immediately after. Although I had heard the majority of his hits before, this was the first time I had appreciated them as an entire unit of work. The rhythm is infectious and just makes you want to dance, his music is music for a good mood. The discovery of Little Richard's music also led to a new appreciation for all kinds of 50/60's R&B, including Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin and James Brown. If anyone is ever needs an immediate pick-me-up, this is what I would turn them to.
Honourable mentions; Tutti Frutti, Good Golly Miss Molly, The Girl Can't Help It and Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On.

5. Work Song by HozierI've loved Hozier's album for around a year now, and I still find it as wonderful as I did the first 100 times I listened to it, but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I understood the hype about Work Song. It's actually the first time I can say that a spotify advert ever actually influenced my music choices. The song has every element of Hozier that I fell in love with to begin with and I'm astounded I got this far without genuinely listening to it and it just sounds so dark and wonderful. It's hard to explain why I love it so much at 2am.

I would 200% recommend every song on this list to anyone, and I'm actually sad there are so many good songs that I didn't have enough words to describe my love for and these include;
Fine by Kacey Musgraves, Are You Sure which is also by Kacey Musgraves, Sister Suffragette from the Mary Poppins soundtrack and Fast Car by Tracy Chapman (a re-discovery).

Love,
Lucy x