Page 32 - August 2021

LIVE MUSIC IS BACK
It’s been a long 18 months for everyone since ear- ly 2020 and it was no exception for the live music industry. Theatres closing, gigs being cancelled and suddenly being out of work. The pandemic had put everything to a standstill and we were no longer able to perform or record new music for sometime.
Saturday 24th July 2021 marked a new phase for us UK musicians as one of the first festivals was ac- tually going ahead without restrictions. The country music social media festival was held at the Victoria Biker’s Pub in Coalville, England and what a great event it was. Sunshine, beer and good live music. I was very excited to be on the bill and being back on a festival stage was amazing for everyone.
There were 8 UK unsigned artists on the stage that day and the show was very expertly opened by Paul Jupe recently seen on the cover of this mag- azine. With just a guitar, he performed his original tracks and his amazing cover of Copperhead Road. I was the next act on and performed a few originals from my Chasing Dreams and Unbroken albums and although this was the first acoustic gig I had done since losing my hearing after radiotherapy, the response was amazing.
Craig Gould was next and what a voice he had, performing his own tracks which were from his heart, he had everyone mesmorised.
Next we had the duo’s. Stuart Rolfe and Dylan Smith, Adele and Andy and Charlotte Young and Scott Wesley all performing their own tracks and the odd cover thrown in. Stuart had some excellent self penned tracks, Adele blew us away with her voice and Charlotte with her wit and brilliant guitar playing took us on a journey hearing amazing tracks by all these artists.
Taynee Lord and the Crookes who were a very tight band. Taynee is a very confident front woman and they have some very good songs and were a plea- sure to listen to. Headlining the night were the es- tablished Heartland Roots Band , who provided a fantastic set of their own material and covers bring- ing the house down to close down a fabulous day of live music.
Let’s keep live music going and support Unsigned artists. It’s been a difficult year for the entertainment industry so let’s get out there and listen to some mu- sic. It’s been a long time coming....
We were then treated to 2 full bands. First up was 32