After two years away due to the pandemic, the Nashville Meets London festival returned last week – in a new venue (Trinity Buoy Wharf in East London, overlooking the River Thames) and with an absolutely stellar lineup.
We were lucky enough to be there for both nights and were treated to some great performances, including artists like Shy Carter, Tebey, The Wandering Hearts, Matt Hodges and Essex County – and a special guest appearance from Seaforth! Whilst it was a challenge to whittle our list of highlights down to just five, we eventually managed to decide on our favourites.
So, without further ado and in no particular order, here’s who we loved at Nashville Meets London, and hopefully show why you should be there next year…
1: Kyle Daniel
It’s no secret that we’re big Kyle Daniel fans here at EF Country. After wowing audiences here with his debut here at Country Music Week in 2019, his return to the UK has long been anticipated – and his Thursday night set certainly didn’t disappoint. He absolutely rocked Trinity Buoy Wharf with tracks from his latest EP, ‘Following The Rain’ – including ‘Runnin’ From Me’, the title track and ‘Everybody’s Talkin” – as well as new tune ‘Deep In The Woods’, a standout cover of Brothers Osborne’s ‘Stay A Little Longer’ and older songs such as ‘Hangover Town’, ‘A Friend With Weed’ and ‘God Bless America (Damn Rock ‘n’ Roll)’. Plus he is by far the nicest man in country music, stopping to chat to pretty much everyone who came up to him, and clearly loves UK audiences as much as we love him!
2: Priscilla Block
TikTok sensation Priscilla was one of the biggest draws of the festival, particularly after her sell-out show at London’s Lexington the night before her Nashville Meets London appearance. She wowed the crowd with tracks including ‘My Bar’ and the brilliant body positivity anthem ‘Thick Thighs’, as well as showing her sassy side on ‘Bet You Wanna Know’ before taking a more introspective turn on songs like ‘Me Part Two’ and the rocky ‘Wish You Were The Whisky’. Throw in a raucous rendition of current single ‘Off The Deep End’, a 90s medley culminating in her take on Shania Twain’s ‘Any Man Of Mine’ and her viral hit ‘Just About Over You’, and it all added up to finishing the festival on an absolute high note.
3: Ruthie Collins
Ruthie Collins has already spent a lot of time in the UK this year with performances at C2C and touring alongside Sam Outlaw, and we were thrilled to see her back here for Nashville Meets London. She brought her delicate vocals and intricate, gentle acoustic guitar melodies to Trinity Buoy Wharf, delivering beautiful performances of songs like ‘Hypocrite’, ‘Joshua Tree’ and ‘Get Drunk And Cry’, along with a stunning cover of Roxette’s ‘It Must Have Been Love’. Our only complaint is she should have been higher up the bill!
4: Candi Carpenter
Formerly one half of Church Of Roswell, Candi Carpenter was the biggest surprise of Nashville Meets London to me. I loved her balance of sweet vocals with dark yet hilarious lyrics on tracks such as ‘Serial Killer’, ‘Novels About Vampires’ and ‘Go Ahead And Sue Me’. She also produced a haunting cover of the 90s classic ‘Creep’ (originally by Radiohead) and had a really warm, engaging manner that seemed to have won her plenty of new fans. It’s a winning combination and I hope it means she’ll be back in the UK soon to show even more audiences here what she can do.
5: Arbor North
Husband-and-wife duo Michael and AC – AKA Arbor North – were making their London debut at Nashville Meets London, and they did a great job of bringing up the audience’s energy on the Wednesday evening. Current single ‘Would’ve Met You Anyway’ – which they mashed up with John Michael Montgomery’s ‘Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)’, giving Michael the chance to show off his guitar-playing skills – provided a stomping start, balancing sweeter, slower tracks like ‘All The Right Mistakes’ and ‘You Me And Jesus’. I also loved ‘Castle’, which AC wrote for and dedicated to her niece, and which made me a little bit emotional with its beautiful message and gorgeous harmonies. They were so much fun to watch and I can’t wait to see them back over here before too long!
For more information about Nashville Meets London and to sign up for updates on future NML events, visit https://www.nashvillemeetslondon.com/
