Curated and presented by the Country Music Association, ‘Introducing Nashville’ brings with it a rare, stripped-back show to fans. Designed in the same format as a traditional Nashville writers round, Nashville’s current rising artists take turns introducing their songs and sharing the stories behind the tracks, as well as their personal lives and careers. This year the C2C festival in London opened with Conner Smith, Karley Scott Collins and Lauren Watkins playing three of their songs in an intimate setting in a huge arena!
The elephant in the room for any artist appearing at the O2 Arena as part of the ‘Introducing Nashville’ ensemble is to somehow be able to make an aircraft hanger sized arena feel like a small listening room tucked away in a backstreet in Nashville somewhere. This year’s artists managed that well with a combination of songs, stories and charm. Lauren Watkins talked about the idea behind her song ‘Shirley Temple’ before playing that and Karley Scott Collins decoded the significance behind her gut-punch of a song, ‘Heavy Metal.’
There was a nice spread of sounds on the O2 stage for this opening segment and a subtle difference between all three artists on the bill. Conner Smith is a Smoky Mountains guitar man who channels a little Dierks Bentley, particularly on his rabble-rousing radio hit, ‘Creek Will Rise’, which was the song that closed down the set whilst Karley Scott Collins has a hint of Blues-grit in her voice and Lauren Watkins is all retro smooth with a side order of Kacey Musgraves. Each artist offered something different and yet there was a binding narrative to the performance as a whole. Watkins two week number one hit on the Highway radio station, ‘Anyone But You’ was enthusiastically received whilst Scott Collins’ ‘Marlboro Reds’ was dripping in gravel-throated passion and angst.
Conner Smith also treated the O2 arena to a singalong with him on ‘I Hate Alabama’, a song about love and football that was released before Megan Moroney managed to take that same concept to number one in the charts.
Whether you liked just one of the artists on the bill or all three, tonight’s ‘Introducing Nashville’ set did exactly what it said on the tin! It introduced three very talented artists all looking to mould, refine and expand their fan bases. Lauren Watkins came across as the slick, retro-sounding slightly dangerous girl next door. Karley Scott Collins was the Bluesy centre-point of the set and Conner Smith was the robust singer-songwriter who effortlessly switched between Bluegrass music and the slick, commercial product that is such a feature of the industry these days. Each had their moment to shine and each grabbed hold of that opportunity and held onto it. Expect to see each of the artists in this feature on the main stage of the O2 within the next 3 to 5 years.
