Now in its fourth year the Long Road festival has cemented itself into the hearts and minds of Country, Americana and Roots music fans across Europe. There’s a fierce loyalty around this festival that is lovely to see. There aren’t many festivals where people go to camp or visit on a daily basis and allow themselves to be curated in terms of new or unfamiliar music but the Long Road festival is one of those. Sure, for many, the names on the Rhinestone stage are largely familiar to regular Country and Americana fans, but not all, and beyond that stage, the Interstate tent, the Front Porch, the Showground and Buddy’s Bar have become places where people are willing to search out new and exciting talent.
We saw loads over the three days we were there but the Long Road festival is one of those events where no two people have the same experience. It’s like one of those old ‘build-your-own-adventure’ books from the 70s and 80s where the decisions you make at the bottom of every page give you a different pathway to the end of the story than the person reading the same book next to you. Here is our pathway, in no particular order, through the ten most iconic moments that we saw at the Long Road festival this year.
Tyler Booth: Buddy’s Bar, Saturday.
Tyler came all the way from Nashville, with a little help from Kentucky, plugged in early Saturday morning at Buddy’s Bar and treated the gathered crowd to some fine, old-school Outlaw Country. Songs like his new single, ‘G.O.B. by the G.O.G.’ and, particularly, the sublime ‘Different Kind of Blue’ really hit the mark and with his new EP ‘Keep It Real’ coming out on September 15th, we predict big things ahead for this young artist with a streak of the ‘Merle’s’ within him.
Tenille Townes: Interstate Tent, Friday.
Canadian artist Tenille Townes has a long standing relationship with us here in the UK so it always feels like something of a homecoming when she plays over here. We last saw her in her ‘Pat Benetar’ rock-mode at the C2C festival, but other times we get the acoustic songwriter and storyteller. Her Bluesy, raspy vocals are a delight and she didn’t disappoint in the Interstate tent on the Friday of the festival. The love affair just gets stronger.
Alana Springsteen: Rhinestone Stage, Sunday.
This set was the surprise of the weekend for us. After seeing Alana acoustic at the C2C festival earlier in the year we weren’t quite expecting this full-on, meaty, rockier performance but, boy, it was a great look and sound for her. Attacking the stage from the opening chords of ‘Hypocrite’, Springsteen prowled from side to side, working the crowd like a seasoned professional and wherever she got her band from for this UK part of her tour, she should hire them for good. This earthy, meatier sound bowled us over and kudos for the Taylor Swift cover too.
Megan Moroney: Rhinestone Stage, Sunday.
Possibly the most antiquated set of the whole festival lived up to its billing as Megan Moroney made her UK debut (a show in Manchester the night before, notwithstanding!) in fine style. There were plenty of orange Vols shirts and hats in the crowd and a smattering of Georgia Bulldogs tops too! There were also lots of girls in white and lots of children dressed up for the occasion too as Moroney brought her brand of ’emo cowgirl’ to the festival. Songs like ‘Lucky’, ‘Sleep on My Side’, ‘Traitor Joe’ and, of course, ‘Tennessee Orange’ were greeted with delight from a crowd itching to sing along with this rising star. We also loved the cover of Taylor Swift’s ‘Picture to Burn’, which you can watch below (as did the crowd, which you can hear singing along with her too!).
Jackson Dean: Rhinestone Stage, Saturday.
After a triumphant debut appearance at the Highways festival in London last May it’s great to see the UK catching on to what we’ve been shouting about now for a good 18 months. We first met Jackson at CMAFest in June 2022 but we had been fans of his ‘Greenbroke’ album for a while before that. His set of the Saturday was everything we’ve come to expect from this earthy, organic artist. Powerful, authentic and full of fire. We’re loving the cover of ’49 Tons’ too, which really feels like it was written just for him to perform. Can’t wait for album number 2.
‘The Round Up’ hosted by Two Ways Home: Sunday, Buddy’s Bar
What a terrific start to a Sunday this event was. Hosted by Two Ways Home and featuring some of the best talent the UK has to offer in Katy Hurt, Matt Hodges and Paris Adams, this songwriter round was one of our favourite highlights of the whole weekend. A mixture of songs, stories and stand-up banter, it was great to hear the different mix of styles all delivered with passion and precision: highlighting just what talent there is here in the UK amongst the Country music community.
Shane Smith and the Saints: Interstate Tent, Sunday.
Making their UK debut hot-foot from Austin, Texas, Shane Smith and the Saints brought their intense, passionate version of Texan Country/Rock/Folk to the Interstate tent to the delight of the waiting fans. Gaining recent notoriety after being featuring twice in the Yellowstone TV show, the band are really riding the crest of a wave right now. Songs like ‘Fire in the Ocean’, ‘All I See is You’ and ‘Hail Mary’ were delivered with the expected punch we were expecting, leaving frontman, Shane Smith, drenched in sweat by the end of the set. We hope that they come back for a full tour soon!
The War and Treaty: Interstate Tent, Sunday.
There’s nothing like being taken to church on a Sunday and that’s exactly what The War & Treaty did to a very appreciative crowd in the Interstate tent. Their superb mix of Blues/Gospel/Rock/Country went down an absolute storm and we can tell you that Michael and Tanya put in a massive stint in the media tent too, talking with humour and grace to as many outlets as they could. This is one special duo and you should take every opportunity you can to watch them play their uplifting, soulful and spiritual music whenever you can.
The Eli Young Band: Rhinestone Stage, Sunday
A show nearly 20 years in the making finally happened! Another UK debut, this time for the Eli Young Band, that went down a storm at the Long Road festival. Drawing a large crowd to the Rhinestone stage, the band even managed to bring out the sun on what had been a cloudy and cold day, so that their early evening set was drenched in golden hour sunshine: surely a blessing from the heavens themselves? Performing classics like ‘Dust’ and ‘Crazy Girl’, alongside more recent bangers like ‘Saltwater Gospel’ and ‘Love Ain’t’, the Eli Young Band showed all the class and experience befitting their status as beloved seasoned road warriors.
Chapel Hart: Front Porch, Saturday
Drawing one of the biggest crowds we’ve ever seen to the Front Porch on Saturday evening, Chapel Hart made their UK debut in fine style to a reception that surprised even the girls themselves. Playing a set of songs from ‘Glory Days’ to ‘You Can Have Him Jolene’ the trio were joined on every song by a sea of arms and a choir from the crowd. This level of enthusiasm carried over into their performance on the Rhinestone stage on Sunday as part of Rissi Palmer’s ‘Color Me Country All-Stars’ set too. If Chapel Hart don’t somehow work out how to come back to the UK for a full tour they would be losing some huge momentum as they really were the breakout stars of the Long Road festival 2023.
