C2C 2025 Scrapbook
Whilst you can find my holistic Berlin review HERE along with my London Friday account HERE, Saturday piece HERE and Ian’s thoughts on Sunday HERE, I wanted to tie the entire fortnight together. I did our end of 2024 look back as a Ted Kravitz style race notebook and people seemed to really like our “scrapbook” so I thought that would be a good way to tie the whole experience together. I really enjoy writing this way as it’s as pure and expressive as I can be because it’s quick, it’s to the point and it allows me to just throw out fast observations from an honest perspective.
Dierks Bentley and those Hot Country Knights gatecrashing the party: Without question the best headline set we have EVER seen at Country to Country! Such a joyful production and they did what a headline set MUST do and that is leave the ENTIRE audience buzzing when they leave, not just die hard fans of an artist.
A balloon popping may have scared Dasha shitless when she was on stage but she was the undisputed queen of Berlin. To stand out and be on par with Charlie Worsham in a writer’s round is without question one of the most difficult and things to accomplish but she excelled on stage at the Passion Church and then brought the heat for a kick ass set with her band at the Uber Eats Music Hall. She will return to the UK with Kane Brown in the fall and ticket information is available HERE for a show which you don’t want to miss out on.
My entire adventure started with a gentleman incredibly keen to vacuum around the feet of me and Meghan Patrick, but I had the absolute honour of getting to see MFP (and definitely not forgetting the amazing Nick Ryan) no less than seven times across the two weekends. She is just the best, I love her songwriting, I adore her personality, she has the best team around her and she is an absolute fucking badass who I am so excited for her to return with a full band.
Dierks Bentley and those Hot Country Knights gatecrashing the party: Without question the best headline set we have EVER seen at Country to Country! Such a joyful production and they did what a headline set MUST do and that is leave the ENTIRE audience buzzing when they leave, not just die hard fans of an artist.
A balloon popping may have scared Dasha shitless when she was on stage but she was the undisputed queen of Berlin. To stand out and be on par with Charlie Worsham in a writer’s round is without question one of the most difficult and things to accomplish but she excelled on stage at the Passion Church and then brought the heat for a kick ass set with her band at the Uber Eats Music Hall. She will return to the UK with Kane Brown in the fall and ticket information is available HERE for a show which you don’t want to miss out on.
My entire adventure started with a gentleman incredibly keen to vacuum around the feet of me and Meghan Patrick, but I had the absolute honour of getting to see MFP (and definitely not forgetting the amazing Nick Ryan) no less than seven times across the two weekends. She is just the best, I love her songwriting, I adore her personality, she has the best team around her and she is an absolute fucking badass who I am so excited for her to return with a full band.
Credit: Anthony Mooney
Midland, ah Midland! These boys at their best are so good but they are a band that have really frustrated me in the past because I know how good they can be yet have often underwhelmed me but in the German capital were by far the finest they have ever been. Like Dasha, they did not perform at the British event but are scheduled to return later in the year including a headline set at The Long Road festival.
The whole event for us concluded with a late night radio show from Saskatchewan as Jake Vaadeland & The Sturgeon River Boys may not want to go back to Nashville, but they are already set to come back to London in September for a show at Bush Hall as part of a just announced UK tour with tickets available HERE. The blend of fifties rockabilly and bluegrass is so cool, it’s so different, it stands out and it captivated every audience that they entertained in London.
The whole event for us concluded with a late night radio show from Saskatchewan as Jake Vaadeland & The Sturgeon River Boys may not want to go back to Nashville, but they are already set to come back to London in September for a show at Bush Hall as part of a just announced UK tour with tickets available HERE. The blend of fifties rockabilly and bluegrass is so cool, it’s so different, it stands out and it captivated every audience that they entertained in London.
Credit: London Backline Photography
Talking about people who stand out because they do things that are different, let’s keep it in Canada and the festival’s first ever performer from PEI. When I met Alli Walker in Germany last year, we became fast friends and that little electric bagpipe of hers is something that really grabs your attention. Fans at both festivals were loving the dudelsack which you can hear in her new single “Ride It Out” which dropped on Friday and she has already booked another British show in my hometown of Chelmsford, Essex to play Country Calling in the summer.
Credit: Anthony Mooney
Moving back across the pond, we saw one of the hardest working people in the industry who has been flying the British flag so proudly and she represented Derby so well on the CMA Spotlight stage. Where our seats were gave us the perfect position to see Kezia Gill get one of the most deserved slots since the festival’s inception. Things are so busy for her right now as she packs the Factor 50 as well as her guitar when she heads to CMC Rocks next weekend to showcase the best of British on the other side of the world.
Credit: London Backline Photography
I had a couple of opportunities to see Caleb Lee Hutchinson in both cities (along with having a late night drinking in Camden with his management) and this dude is awesome. His “Southern Galactic” album has pretty much been the only music that I have streamed since I first saw him live, he is such a great bloke to be around who absolutely slaps with a full band which I hope we will get to see again very soon.
My interview in Berlin with Caleb was one of my favourites but there was one person I was really excited to get to talk to and I dug my heels in to make it work in person. One of my best friends works for the record label of Maggie Antone and when their loose lips let slip during the AMA UK Music Week that she would be playing C2C even before it was publicly announced, it became my number one priority to arrange. When I watched her set on the Radio 2 stage following our chat, I saw her manager who paid me one of the biggest compliments that I had ever received and that was Maggie knew she was safe when talking with me. That was probably heavily due to her being greeted by a Charli XCX “brat” t-shirt but it was definitely one of my favourite hangs ever. She’s a badass, she’s so witty as a lyricist and man, what a voice!
My interview in Berlin with Caleb was one of my favourites but there was one person I was really excited to get to talk to and I dug my heels in to make it work in person. One of my best friends works for the record label of Maggie Antone and when their loose lips let slip during the AMA UK Music Week that she would be playing C2C even before it was publicly announced, it became my number one priority to arrange. When I watched her set on the Radio 2 stage following our chat, I saw her manager who paid me one of the biggest compliments that I had ever received and that was Maggie knew she was safe when talking with me. That was probably heavily due to her being greeted by a Charli XCX “brat” t-shirt but it was definitely one of my favourite hangs ever. She’s a badass, she’s so witty as a lyricist and man, what a voice!
Credit: London Backline Photography
Another person that I had waited to interview for a long time was the cutest little thing from Texas. When Abby Anderson last came here, I was at my old gig and someone else had the chance to speak with her but I knew that she was someone that I would be able to vibe with. Her team are so lovely, she has an amazing ability to have an entire room wrapped around her finger when she sits alone on stage behind a keyboard and she really can take you to church when she sings.
Whilst Caleb, Maggie and Abby became new friends I also got to have a very long overdue catchup with Kassi Ashton. As we had met before, it’s right back at ya with saying “Hey baby!” My the daily reviews along with the interview piece on the way recall the story of me and my friends meeting her father in Nashville but there is a real reason why Sassy rhymes with Kassi. We waited a long time for her debut album and it was a joy to get to hear those songs played live.
This festival is all about good vibes and Niko Moon took us to the lake with an eagerly anticipated UK debut. This set was far, far, far too short as it was so positive, uplifting and really set the tone for an epic Saturday night. He is the “Good Time” guy and fingers crossed he will return across the pond to transport us back to the water again very soon.
Whilst Caleb, Maggie and Abby became new friends I also got to have a very long overdue catchup with Kassi Ashton. As we had met before, it’s right back at ya with saying “Hey baby!” My the daily reviews along with the interview piece on the way recall the story of me and my friends meeting her father in Nashville but there is a real reason why Sassy rhymes with Kassi. We waited a long time for her debut album and it was a joy to get to hear those songs played live.
This festival is all about good vibes and Niko Moon took us to the lake with an eagerly anticipated UK debut. This set was far, far, far too short as it was so positive, uplifting and really set the tone for an epic Saturday night. He is the “Good Time” guy and fingers crossed he will return across the pond to transport us back to the water again very soon.
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Nate Smith and Avery Anna absolutely smashed it with both performances we saw but the one act who caught our attention most across both weekends were three sisters from Georgia. The Castellows were not what I had envisioned and whilst the airline did not deliver their luggage to the UK, they brought serious heat to both performances and absolutely rocked everyone’s socks off especially with one of the coolest interpretations of “Come Together” by The Beatles that I have ever seen. The hype behind these girls is so justified and they are going to be on a rocket ship to the top.
It was awesome to see our buddies Austin Jenckes, Tyler Sjőstrőm and Kenny Foster (luckily we avoided watching the first chaotic leg of Spurs playing in the Europa League) out in Germany and not just have beers with Tyler Halverson in an Eintracht Frankfurt Ultra’s pub in Berlin but see his audience grow with every single show for his wonderful blues rock sound. Evan Bartels was someone else I talked a lot about pubs with and I hope he did actually make it to The Grapes in Limehouse to get fish, chips and MUSHY PEAS along with seeing the staff of the white wizard! This man from Nebraska is one of the, if not the best storytellers that I have discovered. He sets songs up better than anyone else you will come across and I really enjoyed spending time speaking with him. |
Credit: London Backline Photography
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Credit: London Backline Photography
I repped: Taylor Swift, Guns N’ Roses, Spice Girls, Charli XCX, Kiss and Sabrina Carpenter (twice) as my t-shirt choices so I think I SLAYED the outfits game. Thank you to Dustin and everyone at Semmel in Germany, to the absolutely amazing Johnny & Kara from SJM who are far too good to us and you are the best people in the world to work with, Dante at Snakefarm, Chris at Gardenia (I love you man along with all that you and Steve do for me), all my fellow Sabrina STAN’S at BMLG - Alex, Flo, Roxanne and Iren may have had a chilled C2C by their standards but as always it’s always a thrill to work with you all and once again are people that are so good to me, to Luke and all the gang (Amie, Jenny, Annabelle and especially Sara) at Lime Tree, Claire Horton, Kat at DediKATed, Cayleigh from Big Loud and all of the artist teams that have been a real joy to work with.
I’m looking forward to being back at the #boatel in Berlin before embracing this he glorious chaos of London again in 2026 and we would love for you to come back and join us.
C2C: Country to Country will return to Berlin in 2026 across the weekend of March 6th to 8th where you will be able to find more details on their WEBSITE and keep in the loop regarding lineups and ticket information on INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK. Then we will see you again in London (or maybe even Belfast/Glasgow) a week later across March 13th to 15th with early bird tickets set to go on sale at 10am on Friday 21st March where you can find more details on the WEBSITE and socials (FACEBOOK X and INSTAGRAM)
I’m looking forward to being back at the #boatel in Berlin before embracing this he glorious chaos of London again in 2026 and we would love for you to come back and join us.
C2C: Country to Country will return to Berlin in 2026 across the weekend of March 6th to 8th where you will be able to find more details on their WEBSITE and keep in the loop regarding lineups and ticket information on INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK. Then we will see you again in London (or maybe even Belfast/Glasgow) a week later across March 13th to 15th with early bird tickets set to go on sale at 10am on Friday 21st March where you can find more details on the WEBSITE and socials (FACEBOOK X and INSTAGRAM)
