C2C 2026: The Boat & Back
The range of emotions and feelings you go through on the morning after C2C: Country to Country in London is a marvellous concoction floating around your head whilst the blood-alcohol content remains firmly weighted in favour of the latter. Yes, everyone is hungover, everyone loves their bed more than anywhere else in the world and everyone is still smiling as they reflect on a great weekend so there is some sadness that it is over but also a sense of warmth about how special this community is. However doing press and #sundayfunday being our ninth day of events, with an international travel day thrown in there too, you’re absolutely broken and there is almost a sense of relief (it’s not really the word I’m looking for but can’t think of a better one that works) that I’m not pounding my liver for at least a couple of days, I’m not constantly typing on my phone all day or I don’t have to listen to my own voice over and over again on voice notes for a little while so it’s nearly time to stop putting off redoing the sealant in my shower and have time to go to a supermarket for something other than a meal deal, alcohol or vapes.
Whilst Berlin was a glorious weekend in the sunshine that was fuelled by vibes and Kinder with so many highlights I will come on to, then a first ever Brooks & Dunn show in London was a massive pull, the star attraction at The O2 and definitely worth waiting for, neither were actually the biggest talking point between the weekends. Manchester was the word coming from everyone’s mouth and we would eventually find out that it will take over from Belfast as the third city for the UK weekend in 2027 and logistically it will make things a lot easier for artists to travel between the festival sites. A lot of things are finding their way to the third city in England (I’m sure any friends from Birmingham will appreciate me giving that reminder) with both the Brits and MOBO Awards taking place there this year so it’s fantastic for country music fans in the north west to be having something coming to their doorstep and possibly more convenient than coming down to London which is obviously a very expensive city. From our standpoint, it doesn’t really change anything as (I’m sure this will go down like a fart in a lift to some people) whether it is Belfast, Dublin or Manchester, it’s the same as what Rotterdam or Glasgow are to us in that as we wouldn’t be going there, it is just where the artists are when they are not playing in Berlin or London. However I definitely think change is good, it keeps things fresh, it opens up to a new audience and we will obviously be keeping our eyes open for what they have planned up there.
On this cold grey Monday afternoon in London, it’s a good vibe if you take your mind back to the German sunshine in Berlin and the vibes were great. Vibes are sort of the atoms of the festival which everything revolves around and they were there in abundance during both weekends, Berlin vibes were running off Kinder bars whilst London was genuinely “All Vibes, No Kinder” so whilst streaming platforms are great partners, our London feedback is that finding a confectionery sponsor would be much appreciated in 2027. Whilst I wasn’t sure if my veins were filled with more Staropramen or chocolate, the culinary delights of large breaded pork escalopes (that’s the best way to describe a schnitzel if you have never tried it) along with a copious amount of chicken wings and McRibs from everyone’s favourite restaurant with golden arches were my main sources of proper nourishment in the German capital.
We really like the atmosphere of the festival in Berlin and if you haven’t been over yet, I would definitely recommend heading over but it is a completely different experience to London. The vibes are much more chill (maybe it has something to do with the Kinder) and the daytime stages are far more intimate, then the arena is smaller than The O2 and is not seated on the floor so there is a cool change in energy between day and night. It’s a lot closer together and I know that the artists are very relaxed there as they like the opportunity to play a tonne of sets, hang out with their pals, watch their sets and just have beers with people. From a media standpoint the relaxed nature there suits what we do a lot more than it does on site in London and this is why we did all of our 27 interviews this year either remotely on Zoom or at a variety of places over there. Ian spoke to Blake Proehl at a rooftop bar, I hung out with Ashland Craft in the lobby of her hotel, we spoke to Max Jackson, McCoy Moore plus Jack Wharff and the guys in a luxury portacabin (and I’m not talking about ones like the VIP toilets at The Long Road) where we were the only people in the space and most excitingly Tyla Rodrigues and Dawson Anderson came to join us on the roof of the boat where we were staying and we even remembered to record some #CONTENT.
On this cold grey Monday afternoon in London, it’s a good vibe if you take your mind back to the German sunshine in Berlin and the vibes were great. Vibes are sort of the atoms of the festival which everything revolves around and they were there in abundance during both weekends, Berlin vibes were running off Kinder bars whilst London was genuinely “All Vibes, No Kinder” so whilst streaming platforms are great partners, our London feedback is that finding a confectionery sponsor would be much appreciated in 2027. Whilst I wasn’t sure if my veins were filled with more Staropramen or chocolate, the culinary delights of large breaded pork escalopes (that’s the best way to describe a schnitzel if you have never tried it) along with a copious amount of chicken wings and McRibs from everyone’s favourite restaurant with golden arches were my main sources of proper nourishment in the German capital.
We really like the atmosphere of the festival in Berlin and if you haven’t been over yet, I would definitely recommend heading over but it is a completely different experience to London. The vibes are much more chill (maybe it has something to do with the Kinder) and the daytime stages are far more intimate, then the arena is smaller than The O2 and is not seated on the floor so there is a cool change in energy between day and night. It’s a lot closer together and I know that the artists are very relaxed there as they like the opportunity to play a tonne of sets, hang out with their pals, watch their sets and just have beers with people. From a media standpoint the relaxed nature there suits what we do a lot more than it does on site in London and this is why we did all of our 27 interviews this year either remotely on Zoom or at a variety of places over there. Ian spoke to Blake Proehl at a rooftop bar, I hung out with Ashland Craft in the lobby of her hotel, we spoke to Max Jackson, McCoy Moore plus Jack Wharff and the guys in a luxury portacabin (and I’m not talking about ones like the VIP toilets at The Long Road) where we were the only people in the space and most excitingly Tyla Rodrigues and Dawson Anderson came to join us on the roof of the boat where we were staying and we even remembered to record some #CONTENT.
London on the other hand, beyond writing all four reviews (one for each day and also an individual one with much more depth for Mackenzie Carpenter) and drinking tequila with Ashland, which was easily my highlight of both weekends, I just watched a lot of music really and it felt great to get to see it through the eyes of a fan once more. I had never been on the floor for the festival at The O2 before and that is another vibe in itself, then it feels great to never have people complaining about people standing up as (again another spicy topic) I believe your “seat” is your dedicated place to stand and that you should stay on your feet for the whole night to let the artists feed off the energy of the whole crowd. One last thing on the floor and it may well exist round the one and four hundreds too, where I just had never noticed it before, but I really liked the Amazon Fresh style bars when you tap your card and then with the cameras or scanners as you push the gate just adjusts the amount for what you picked up yourself as it’s so fast and efficient.
The other new things this year were that both festivals had two additional stages with Berlin’s VIA Broadway Stage in the L’Osteria restaurants and also THE BEST STAGE at either site situated in The Irish Pub Berlin and let me tell you we spent a lot of time at the Whiskey Barrel Stage hence why I earlier mentioned the amount of Staropramen I had been drinking. They had a better range of beers than other places and also Guinness, which I personally think is disgusting but delighted my friend Luke because he was now able to bring shame on his parents in Germany as well as at The O2 and could order a blackcurrant cocktail whilst watching live music in what actually was the most natural place for live performances on the daytime stages over there. London had a new area too and this was outside of the tent near where you got your late night taxi from, which our friend Amie and her guys in Greenwich erected two new stages from scratch but most importantly had a big impact on congestion and queuing at other stages. The two stages here worked really well as one had a lot of seating and the other predominantly housed the, let’s call them “bells and whistles” ancillary activities at the festival which I know a lot of country fans enjoy so it was good that there was an opportunity created to accommodate things like line dancing, countryoke and quizzes.
The other new things this year were that both festivals had two additional stages with Berlin’s VIA Broadway Stage in the L’Osteria restaurants and also THE BEST STAGE at either site situated in The Irish Pub Berlin and let me tell you we spent a lot of time at the Whiskey Barrel Stage hence why I earlier mentioned the amount of Staropramen I had been drinking. They had a better range of beers than other places and also Guinness, which I personally think is disgusting but delighted my friend Luke because he was now able to bring shame on his parents in Germany as well as at The O2 and could order a blackcurrant cocktail whilst watching live music in what actually was the most natural place for live performances on the daytime stages over there. London had a new area too and this was outside of the tent near where you got your late night taxi from, which our friend Amie and her guys in Greenwich erected two new stages from scratch but most importantly had a big impact on congestion and queuing at other stages. The two stages here worked really well as one had a lot of seating and the other predominantly housed the, let’s call them “bells and whistles” ancillary activities at the festival which I know a lot of country fans enjoy so it was good that there was an opportunity created to accommodate things like line dancing, countryoke and quizzes.
You’ll be pleased to know that apart from the music, there is isn’t much more for me to ramble on about really. The guys at Holler once again pleaded poverty and didn’t have any money with them in Germany so because I am such a kind and caring bundle of joy (either that or you think I’m a word that rhymes with James Blunt) I saved them from malnutrition and bought Laura the pretzel that she was craving, sadly I didn’t enough time in Berlin to check in on those gorgeous panda bears, but the Scandinavian bear (from Virginia via Chicago) Tyler Sjöström gave me the biggest bear hug when I first saw him on site in London, the temperature in Berlin was nice and warm unless you were Australian, whilst London was even more cold and grey than usual, Boom Battle Bar sells Bud Light in bottles which is an absolute game changer and beyond that let’s make the world a better place by having less WhatsApp group chats because I don’t need six different ones going off at once. If you have managed to stay with me, you’ve finally got to the main part of the piece which actually talks about what we saw on stage and I present the 2026 edition of my scrapbook:
- Benny G is the real deal! He was the most talked about guy in Germany, his voice is the most amazing thing you have ever heard, has some really cool songs and I don’t think I’ve ever been blown away more when seeing someone live for the first time.
- So are the Jack Wharff Band! A really cool sound and incredible live energy that will take them to selling out much bigger venues very quickly.
- Emily Ann Roberts easily is the person who “won the festival” as fans like to call it, being the artist away from the main stage to have the biggest impact and rightfully be the name on everyone’s lips. Also she was able to not only make an acoustic after party set an absolute barn burner where she totally got the assignment but she was the absolute super sub who stepped in and wowed whenever she was called upon over both weekends.
- McCoy Moore is an absolute hero to hang out with and he’s an awesome storyteller both lyrically and on stage. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited coming away from C2C about an album that has just been announced so mark May 22nd in your calendar to head down to the ‘Sunshine State’
- We need more girls playing the main stage, there were only four out of fifteen in London and three in Berlin where they had only one on International Women’s Day which I don’t think is a good look. To me you could have put over half a dozen of the ladies (also a number of other male artists in this bracket too) playing the daytime stages over the majority of the guys (excluding Keith, B&D, Russell, Scotty, Jordan D, James Barker Band or Jackson) on the big stage to easily make the shows more exciting.
- Ashland Craft would have been a great example of this and having never seen her live before was probably the artist I was most excited for before heading to Germany. I love girls with different and powerful voices (Kylie Morgan, I’m not forgetting you either on this girl) that are so fresh to be listening to. She’s an absolute badass with a heart of gold that is best friends with some of the most genuine people in the industry so I knew that I would love to get to hang out with her. Her sophomore record slaps and these reworked collaborations that are starting to come out are really cool, so girl we want you back because I need more people to drink tequila with in my life, we need you to bring a band and people need to book you on main stages over here!
- Talking about girls who played the main stage this year, Mackenzie was the absolute Country Queen and should have been higher up the bill so she could get more than six songs in - HEADLINE TOUR NEXT PLEASE!
- The other Queen on the main stage just mesmerised the entire arena with that blonde hair and those fiddle strings going like crazy as Natalie Stovall’s first time in London helped take that amazing Keith Urban show to even higher heights. I think everything about Keith’s set was great where I would say it was as good as I’ve ever seen him plus I think he was wonderful at Songwriters and that was a really special night.
- The way that Jordan Davis in Berlin and Russell D in London took the Saturday night party to another level was off the scale. Both of them totally got it and just played banger after banger where we really had the best times in the crowd.
- The Berlin in-joke was how there were too many Tyla/Tylers but they were all all fantastic and I really wish we could have have Tyler Rich playing in London too (however the good news is that he is bringing his full band over for Country Calling in the summer) as three of them at The O2 just didn’t feel like it was enough.
- The female member of the Tyla/Tyler club followed on from Hannah Ellis in 2024 and Meghan Patrick last year as the artist that I ended up almost seeing every single set that they played over both weekends. We are big supporters of artists down in Australia full stop but Tyla Rodrigues to me, is a very special talent where her ceiling is unlimited because she plays PROPER COUNTRY MUSIC and can really write those songs too! She has such a gorgeous voice where musically her style and sound is firmly embedded at the centre of my listening arc so I was thrilled that we got to have her over and really hope that she will be back, hopefully with a band and more importantly when it’s warmer because she really was not a fan of the cold.
- My new discovery in being someone I had not properly listened to before and really liked was Brendan Walter. Yes he has a collaboration with Abbie Callahan who I am absolutely obsessed with right now and everyone loves his manager Grady Smith so I’m not sure how I hadn’t picked up on him properly before, especially as some of my female friends had talked about how they found him very easy on their eyes. He has a beachy sound that sits right on the line between country and Americana so is right up my alley so hopefully a UK trip is next on the cards.
- Lastly, I reckon those Sunday night headliners were pretty good and could probably have a fairly long career. Legend is an over used term but there is no more fitting way to describe Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn. They closed the festival with a hit factory of the genres most iconic songs of all time and was just the most memorable headline set that the festival has ever seen and this long awaited first London show was completely worth it for every country fan over here.
I think this year, more so than ever, it’s really important that we support each other and recognise the guys behind scenes as much as the fans and the artists themselves so kind of treat this like the credits at the end of a film where your artists are at the top as it starts scrolling through and then you see all of the random job titles as it goes on.
Firstly to Alex Hannaby who was the greatest plane pal of all time. I’m so happy that you made it over to Berlin this year, I love how freely we can talk to each other and bring out the spice in each other, I love how much you trust me with things, I love how that you, Flo and Iren look after me and more importantly look out for me! I truly mean it every single time that I tell you how you are the best so I can’t wait to to have more Wetherspoons catchups to right the world some more.
Then my other label queen Cayleigh Shepherd who was running on Kinder and vibes in Germany and the source of London’s “ALL VIBES, NO KINDER” tagline. Like Alex, I really value your friendship and how you let me remove my filter without having any concerns, I love that you really respect and understand what I am doing as a writer, I adore your honesty, then most importantly I love your warmth, kindness and how much fun you are as a drinking buddy.
Of course there is London’s most incredible hostess Amie Croft who once again turned everything up a notch with a whole extra area to factor in where not even securing tents with a forklift or Zach Top running over (which I one hundred percent warned you would happen) seemed to cause you any panic. I love how obsessed you were with my Hannah Montana t-shirt, how you always brighten my day whenever I see you and how you are able to make the event better and better each you.
To Chris Dean, Steve Ager, Kat Williams and Claire Horton, these guys are my bread and butter who I work with more directly than the label girls and they all not just get what we do, how we do it and why we do things the way we do but support how written content with real depth is here to stay and that artists really value it. I wish you guys all had more clients at the festival this year because you’re all a dream to work with, you all look out for me and you all “play the game” fairly with me in a way that some other publicists do not.
To Jenny Whiteway and Annabelle Schulte, thank you both for sorting everything out and being as lovely as ever in Berlin, I’m massively grateful for how helpful you were with facilitating so much pre festival content and most importantly being people like Alex and Cayleigh were, who I could confide in with things that are very sensitive when I really needed to.
Then my media gang with the likes of James Daykin, Pip Ellwood-Huges, Justin Thompson, Chris Chilvers, Ross Jones, Laura Halse, Maxim Mower, Holly Smith, Pete Woodhouse, Matt Clewes, Paul Clampin and not forgetting Bobbie Pryor because she is the most wholesome human being in the world, but guys we all survived! In the same way I am really proud of what I achieved this year, all of these guys have also absolutely smashed everything at the festival and it really, really, really makes me so happy that we can all play nicely together, help each other when we need to and we are all so motivated right now to do what we’re doing and keep spreading the Gospel of how wonderful this genre is in a meaningful and professional way.
To my real colleagues, Charlotte Lehmann who is our dream to have behind the camera and I’m really disappointed, mainly in myself that I couldn’t get you to be able to shoot in the arena again this year - my number one goal for the festival in 2027 is to change this! Then to Ian Varley who I have known for nearly twenty years now since we worked together at PGL and when I needed a home in the middle of the pandemic to carry on doing this shit, you gave it to me and I’m really proud of how hard we are working. Being passive aggressively told “I’m sure it will happen if you keep going” in regard to something has fired me up so much and let’s keep proving the point, just please try to be onsite a bit more next year to save my head from exploding.
Finally to Johnny Rogerson, you knew how much everyone loves Kara so to be running a ship without any problems and was so smoothly that she would be really proud of and impressed by is a credit to you man. Thanks as always for letting us do what we do and being able to completely keep out of your hair for a change. I’m sure the Manchester element for next year really is exciting for you guys as much as the enjoyment you will get from mocking me when Spurs get relegated and I’m even more sure that every single one of us is delighted to be able to archive this year’s WhatsApp group chat.
Firstly to Alex Hannaby who was the greatest plane pal of all time. I’m so happy that you made it over to Berlin this year, I love how freely we can talk to each other and bring out the spice in each other, I love how much you trust me with things, I love how that you, Flo and Iren look after me and more importantly look out for me! I truly mean it every single time that I tell you how you are the best so I can’t wait to to have more Wetherspoons catchups to right the world some more.
Then my other label queen Cayleigh Shepherd who was running on Kinder and vibes in Germany and the source of London’s “ALL VIBES, NO KINDER” tagline. Like Alex, I really value your friendship and how you let me remove my filter without having any concerns, I love that you really respect and understand what I am doing as a writer, I adore your honesty, then most importantly I love your warmth, kindness and how much fun you are as a drinking buddy.
Of course there is London’s most incredible hostess Amie Croft who once again turned everything up a notch with a whole extra area to factor in where not even securing tents with a forklift or Zach Top running over (which I one hundred percent warned you would happen) seemed to cause you any panic. I love how obsessed you were with my Hannah Montana t-shirt, how you always brighten my day whenever I see you and how you are able to make the event better and better each you.
To Chris Dean, Steve Ager, Kat Williams and Claire Horton, these guys are my bread and butter who I work with more directly than the label girls and they all not just get what we do, how we do it and why we do things the way we do but support how written content with real depth is here to stay and that artists really value it. I wish you guys all had more clients at the festival this year because you’re all a dream to work with, you all look out for me and you all “play the game” fairly with me in a way that some other publicists do not.
To Jenny Whiteway and Annabelle Schulte, thank you both for sorting everything out and being as lovely as ever in Berlin, I’m massively grateful for how helpful you were with facilitating so much pre festival content and most importantly being people like Alex and Cayleigh were, who I could confide in with things that are very sensitive when I really needed to.
Then my media gang with the likes of James Daykin, Pip Ellwood-Huges, Justin Thompson, Chris Chilvers, Ross Jones, Laura Halse, Maxim Mower, Holly Smith, Pete Woodhouse, Matt Clewes, Paul Clampin and not forgetting Bobbie Pryor because she is the most wholesome human being in the world, but guys we all survived! In the same way I am really proud of what I achieved this year, all of these guys have also absolutely smashed everything at the festival and it really, really, really makes me so happy that we can all play nicely together, help each other when we need to and we are all so motivated right now to do what we’re doing and keep spreading the Gospel of how wonderful this genre is in a meaningful and professional way.
To my real colleagues, Charlotte Lehmann who is our dream to have behind the camera and I’m really disappointed, mainly in myself that I couldn’t get you to be able to shoot in the arena again this year - my number one goal for the festival in 2027 is to change this! Then to Ian Varley who I have known for nearly twenty years now since we worked together at PGL and when I needed a home in the middle of the pandemic to carry on doing this shit, you gave it to me and I’m really proud of how hard we are working. Being passive aggressively told “I’m sure it will happen if you keep going” in regard to something has fired me up so much and let’s keep proving the point, just please try to be onsite a bit more next year to save my head from exploding.
Finally to Johnny Rogerson, you knew how much everyone loves Kara so to be running a ship without any problems and was so smoothly that she would be really proud of and impressed by is a credit to you man. Thanks as always for letting us do what we do and being able to completely keep out of your hair for a change. I’m sure the Manchester element for next year really is exciting for you guys as much as the enjoyment you will get from mocking me when Spurs get relegated and I’m even more sure that every single one of us is delighted to be able to archive this year’s WhatsApp group chat.
Anyway, me and the lads have already rebooked the Shipotel (and that is definitely a “P” rather than a “T” in there) for four nights in Germany between the 4th and 8th of March 2027, where we cannot wait to be back for more vibes and more Kinder and downing pints all afternoon in The Irish Pub Berlin and complementing that with late night chicken wings from McDonalds when we get to start this whole adventure once more in Germany and the guys at Holler will probably still owe me a pretzel by the time we get back there.
C2C: Country to Country will return to Berlin in 2027 across the weekend of March 5th to 7th 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 the event will head back to The O2 Arena in London across the weekend of March 12th to 14th 2027, where along with an event taking place in Glasgow, Manchester will become the third host city to join the rotation of artists over the festival. Early bird tickets will go on sale on Friday March 20th and you are able to find more details on their WEBSITE and socials (FACEBOOK X and INSTAGRAM)
C2C: Country to Country will return to Berlin in 2027 across the weekend of March 5th to 7th 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 the event will head back to The O2 Arena in London across the weekend of March 12th to 14th 2027, where along with an event taking place in Glasgow, Manchester will become the third host city to join the rotation of artists over the festival. Early bird tickets will go on sale on Friday March 20th and you are able to find more details on their WEBSITE and socials (FACEBOOK X and INSTAGRAM)
