Right now I can’t really take it all in , but I’m going to try to give you a flick around 72 hours or so of this last C2C weekend….
For starters I can’t quite get the image of Brad Paisley singing the first verse of ‘This Is Country Music‘ on an acoustic guitar before he up ended it, then signed it to Stuart (aged 11, above) on the front row telling him…’C2C 2027..starring Stuart.’ We were all in tears. Then there is Cam not even reaching the last bars of Burning House before the 3000 people gave a standing ovation or would you rather I told you about the moment of disbelief as Darius Rucker tore in-aboot Blackstreet’s No Diggety? Perhaps I’ll gloss over Zac Brown Band’s bizarre cover of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody‘ and concentrate instead on their fine version of Van’s Into The Mystic. Then there were the consistently good things like the set Maren Morris performed and of course the weekend’s stand out moment for me, as expected, an astonishing tour de force of country music…Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives. Yes, I did ask if I could introduce them onstage and yes, I was thrilled they said, ‘Yes,’ but equally I was floored by their beautiful rendition of Marty Robbins’ El Paso and Marty’s incredible solo mandolin version of Orange Blossom Special.
I’ve left so much out, but if you missed any of it you can catch up on the same performers from their London Shows as recorded on Radio2 Country. Equally if you want to hear a little bit of what they are all thinking about you might want to join us this Tuesday when we play out an amazing series of conversations. Down in BBC Scotland’s foyer on Friday and Saturday afternoons we welcomed some of the stars of C2C to join an audience of regular listeners for some country conversations. Darius Rucker explained his musical journey from 90s darlings Hootie and The Blowfish to becoming a No 1 Country Singer. Marty Stuart told us so many great stories about his love of the west, Folsom Prison and the late great Johnny Cash and finally breakout star Maren Morris revealed how she’d never really planned on being the singer of her own songs. If you want to find out more detail you’ll need to tune in.
Tune in too for some interesting backstage chat to Zac Brown Band, Brad Paisley, Cam and Chris Young. Particularly interesting is country superstar Brad’s own doubts and fears about his next album and how he was convinced to make some changes. Brad was joined on stage by one of Country’s finest voices, Chris Young and it was great to be backstage with Chris on the weekend his latest single (a duet with Vince Gill called, Sober Saturday Night) went to #1 on the Country Airplay Chart.
Over the course of this week’s show you will hear some great reflections on where country music is right now and get a chance to hear the music our guests are making. It’s 72 hours distilled in to 120 packed minutes. Join me from five past nine this Tuesday on BBC Radio Scotland FM.
