Country Calling 2026 Review
The North Carolina quartet Parmalee released “Carolina” which was the first of their six number one songs on February 4th in 2013, so it only took them a mere thirteen and a half years to perform in the UK for the first time but it was well and truly worth the wait! These guys and their team were truly exemplary on and off stage which was a real pleasure to experience this debut performance that happened at Kings Farm in Writtle on the outskirts of the city of Chelmsford in Essex on Saturday 15th August which was the second day of this year’s Country Calling festival.
This marked the third running of the festival and due to exponential growth year on year would see a brand new venue for the second consecutive year and with the addition of the ability for festival goers to stay at the venue, saw a site over four times the size of the one we visited twelve months ago.
This marked the third running of the festival and due to exponential growth year on year would see a brand new venue for the second consecutive year and with the addition of the ability for festival goers to stay at the venue, saw a site over four times the size of the one we visited twelve months ago.
The lineup grew from last year, both in terms of the number of artists and the stature of the performers who were both homegrown and showcasing the array of global country music talent from right across the United States accompanied by stars from Canada, Denmark, Ireland and Australia (plus not forgetting the Belgian and pair of Italians who fans would have seen on stage more than anyone else over the weekend) to put on a truly international event of the highest calibre in the heart of Essex.
For me a music festival should be able to have the music sell itself and be the primary focus of the event, which whilst yes there was a family friendly ethos along with a great array of food vendors, high quality traders that reflected western fashion and lifestyle, a funfair, opportunities to meet the artists and plenty of line dancing, the six performing stages were definitely the real selling point and country music was the driver to bring the fans in.
This festival brought an array of artists that are not just incredible performers, singers and songwriters but personally have become good friends of mine. I sadly didn’t get to see some of my favourite people like Zoe Unsworth or The Jackson Line or Lucy Blu or Jonny Morgan & The Moral Support or Simeon Hammond Dallas (although I did get to have some drinks with her and witness her epic line dance moves during Tori Darke’s amazing feel good set which was her first of hopefully many trips to the UK from Australia) play because there was so much going on across the festival and there was so much to see and it was impossible to be in twenty seven places at once.
The Outpost or main stage was (for a reason that will become very apparent as this piece progresses) the stage which saw the majority of my gaze and I could reel off the list of incredible performances all the way from Jake O’Neill bright and early on Saturday morning right through to Randy closing out on Sunday night where it is fair to say everyone truly brought it.
Some highlights included this being the second festival of the summer which saw my ray of sunshine and best friend in the music industry Halle Kearns win over more and more fans in the UK, the now independent and super fun Erin Kinsey showcased her stunning new record and rock out a UK main stage once more, my main man Tyler Rich reiterating why (despite being an Arsenal fan) he is THE BEST guy in music both on and off stage where getting to watch his set stood next to his wife Sabina (who is always right in the middle of the crowd) is genuinely going to go down as one of my favourite festival memories, getting to see the UK debut from the Canadian Queen Madeline Merlo in its entirety and my personal headline set which came from the little rock-country badass Kasey Tyndall who just happens to be one of the nicest and most chilled out people I have ever been fortunate to work with.
For me a music festival should be able to have the music sell itself and be the primary focus of the event, which whilst yes there was a family friendly ethos along with a great array of food vendors, high quality traders that reflected western fashion and lifestyle, a funfair, opportunities to meet the artists and plenty of line dancing, the six performing stages were definitely the real selling point and country music was the driver to bring the fans in.
This festival brought an array of artists that are not just incredible performers, singers and songwriters but personally have become good friends of mine. I sadly didn’t get to see some of my favourite people like Zoe Unsworth or The Jackson Line or Lucy Blu or Jonny Morgan & The Moral Support or Simeon Hammond Dallas (although I did get to have some drinks with her and witness her epic line dance moves during Tori Darke’s amazing feel good set which was her first of hopefully many trips to the UK from Australia) play because there was so much going on across the festival and there was so much to see and it was impossible to be in twenty seven places at once.
The Outpost or main stage was (for a reason that will become very apparent as this piece progresses) the stage which saw the majority of my gaze and I could reel off the list of incredible performances all the way from Jake O’Neill bright and early on Saturday morning right through to Randy closing out on Sunday night where it is fair to say everyone truly brought it.
Some highlights included this being the second festival of the summer which saw my ray of sunshine and best friend in the music industry Halle Kearns win over more and more fans in the UK, the now independent and super fun Erin Kinsey showcased her stunning new record and rock out a UK main stage once more, my main man Tyler Rich reiterating why (despite being an Arsenal fan) he is THE BEST guy in music both on and off stage where getting to watch his set stood next to his wife Sabina (who is always right in the middle of the crowd) is genuinely going to go down as one of my favourite festival memories, getting to see the UK debut from the Canadian Queen Madeline Merlo in its entirety and my personal headline set which came from the little rock-country badass Kasey Tyndall who just happens to be one of the nicest and most chilled out people I have ever been fortunate to work with.
When I spoke with Kasey on the Thursday night before the festival, I mentioned how an American playing in the UK with an Italian drummer and a Belgian guitarist was probably leading into the start of an incredibly unfunny joke but in all seriousness, Yannick Van Riet along with his top drawer crew of Anselmo Morello, George Price and Cristiano Pochesci are not just absolute pro’s but were once again the hardest working people you will find at the festival. These guys were your resident house band that backed the majority of the international artists on the main stage and (coming into me switching gears with my writing perspective) made my life so easy backstage.
Unlike at festivals, backstage became my home for the weekend because Donna Zanetti and Pete Woodhouse who organise the festival trusted me to look after the artists in theirvillage and be the point of contact between the main stage artists and the approved media. As much as you want to imagine that this is pure glamour, it had been rather hot so things were a little dusty backstage (and everywhere else on site) so moving things around on Thursday and Friday was not overly pleasant and my black cowboy boots stood no chance but all of the people you saw on the main stage (in addition to Tyler Halverson, Blake Henderson, Tori Darke, Shelly Fairchild and Jonny Morgan) are as down to earth as you think they are.
Before looking ahead to next year which we are already counting down the days to, I want to acknowledge the biggest new addition to the festival and that is the Caffé Nero family. Between Pablo Ettinger and Ray Jones at TALENTBANQ they not just ran the biggest and best coffee shop in the galaxy and curated an incredible live performance roster for one of the six stages but made people realise how much good coffee is a necessity at a festival which my artists really appreciated along with the level of service that they received.
At Country in the UK, we are a written media outlet and the one thing I personally have always advocated for is how we need to work together and celebrate each other’s wins as we are all striving to achieve the shared goal which is the growth of the genre. The level of toxicity towards content creators is something that is hurting this goal which I hold my hands up to say that I was guilty of in the past and yes there are wannabe “influencers” around that want to just show they are at places where the sole focus is about them but there are a growing number of people that work really hard and their front of house posting extends to a level that written media, radio and photographers who spend the majority of their time in the pit or media area cannot showcase so even if it isn’t for you, it is for someone else and massively helps to grow the audience to a wider level.
Unlike at festivals, backstage became my home for the weekend because Donna Zanetti and Pete Woodhouse who organise the festival trusted me to look after the artists in theirvillage and be the point of contact between the main stage artists and the approved media. As much as you want to imagine that this is pure glamour, it had been rather hot so things were a little dusty backstage (and everywhere else on site) so moving things around on Thursday and Friday was not overly pleasant and my black cowboy boots stood no chance but all of the people you saw on the main stage (in addition to Tyler Halverson, Blake Henderson, Tori Darke, Shelly Fairchild and Jonny Morgan) are as down to earth as you think they are.
Before looking ahead to next year which we are already counting down the days to, I want to acknowledge the biggest new addition to the festival and that is the Caffé Nero family. Between Pablo Ettinger and Ray Jones at TALENTBANQ they not just ran the biggest and best coffee shop in the galaxy and curated an incredible live performance roster for one of the six stages but made people realise how much good coffee is a necessity at a festival which my artists really appreciated along with the level of service that they received.
At Country in the UK, we are a written media outlet and the one thing I personally have always advocated for is how we need to work together and celebrate each other’s wins as we are all striving to achieve the shared goal which is the growth of the genre. The level of toxicity towards content creators is something that is hurting this goal which I hold my hands up to say that I was guilty of in the past and yes there are wannabe “influencers” around that want to just show they are at places where the sole focus is about them but there are a growing number of people that work really hard and their front of house posting extends to a level that written media, radio and photographers who spend the majority of their time in the pit or media area cannot showcase so even if it isn’t for you, it is for someone else and massively helps to grow the audience to a wider level.
This festival is fun and the best example of why we all love the community of country music along with highlighting why this genre means so much to so many of us. Donna and Pete will listen to you, they want to hear what you don’t like and want to make it better for next year and the next year and the next year (so the more people that mention that completely banning chairs from the arena would be a good idea, the better). Keep the weekend of August 13th to 15th 2027 free and come and join us in Chelmsford for what promises to be an epic year four as Country Calling is set the become the heart of the British country music summer.
Country Calling will return to Kings Farm in Chelmsford over the weekend of August 13th to 15th 2027 where you will be able to find more details of the lineup along with ticket information in due course on their WEBSITE whilst you can relive this year’s event on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK or FACEBOOK.
Country Calling will return to Kings Farm in Chelmsford over the weekend of August 13th to 15th 2027 where you will be able to find more details of the lineup along with ticket information in due course on their WEBSITE whilst you can relive this year’s event on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK or FACEBOOK.