MICK GREEN tells you about

BRIT SUMMER FESTIVALS

ONE of the things that us BOFs (Boring Old F****) talk about a lot at festivals is how is used to be “better in the old days”. I am sure that a lot of this is because most things seemed better when we were YOUNGER but lately there seems to be more than pinch of truth in that statement.

I say that because we simply no longer have the number of full bands that we used to have and how many that remain will be able to continue if petrol prices keep going up? All the acts mentioned in this article probably took bookings when diesel was 95p a litre or less, now it’s topping £1.30 and when you get only about 12 miles to the gallon that makes a tremendous difference.

This means that in future either festival admission fees will have to go up or we’ll get events that feature only local acts,

This month on our cover we feature Henry Smith and that is because he and his band, Henry Smith’s Country Dreams, are clearly the most in demand act at major festivals all around Britain. The band are usually a five-piece which is an endangered species lately but they can also go out as a six-piece if the promoter is prepared to pay more. Personally I hope they are and that fans are prepared to dig a little deeper to support our proper acts. Sadly in the current economic climate that might be asking a lot.

Currently if you look at our List Of Festivals which we publish each month you will see that the number of events is still quite healthy but nowhere near as big as a few years ago. Perhaps this is not a bad thing because I’d rather see less events with better acts, attended by more people than lots of little festivals—although the smaller tailor-made events certainly have a place and a following.

As you read through this article you will probably be surprised to see quite a few Americans appearing and that’s a good thing but the name you’ll see mentioned the most is Henry Smith—his and acts of similar ilk are the backbone of our scene.

The month opens with Calne’s 19th CM Festival at Chippenham from the 4-6th and West Virginia and Swing Commanders are amongst those due to appear. There is a special event for line dancers put on at Woolecombe Bay by Stagecoach Promotions which runs one day longer. Viking have a One-Day Charity Festival at Selsey with lots of Brit acts—all profits go to the Compassion Project.

The following weekend sees four events from 10-13th the Debenham Festival will be taking place in Norfolk and from 11-13th there are three events. Americana International is the biggest of these and they have major American acts along with top Brit artists. Friday has Gail Davis and Rosie Flores from the States; Saturday’s headliners are Asleep At The Wheel from Texas and we have an old photograph on them at top of the article; and Wayne Hancock is on Sunday. Americana is probably the biggest event that country fans will go to this year but it is not just about country music many other genres at presented and it really is a celebration of the American lifestyle with lots of American cars, Harleys and RVs. The main stages are in the open air. Also n the same weekend the 6th Festival at Ross-on-Wye and TBL has weekend at the Norbreck Hotel in Blackpool and the big star to appear here is Raymond Froggatt.

There are another three events the following weekend. The Norfolk CM Festival takes place at Norwich (see this month’s KL review) from 17-20th and Henry Smith’s Country Dreams appear on the Sunday. 17-21st sees the Cloud 9 “Red Hat” CM Fest at Wimborne and Henry Smith appears on the Friday and there are several other Brit full bands like organisers West Virginia, John McCane & Last Of The Breed, Diesel Cowboys, and Nashville Sounds. The final one this weekend is a One-dayer Irish & Country Festival at Peterborough.

From the 22-27th the Great North C&W Fest takes place at Barnard Castle. This is the 18th time the festival has been on and they advertise that no act using backing tracks or drum machines will be appearing. They have plenty of acts including Cross Country, John McCane & Last Of The Breed, plus Kenny Johnson will appear with a band. Over 24-27th Lindasville Ultimate CM Festival takes place at Exeter and Henry Smith’s guys are there plus the Kalibre Big Band.

For those of you who are finding life financially tough at the moment there is FREE festival at Wolverhampton when Wolvestock 14 takes place on 26-27th. Plenty for line dancers and lots of acts for country fans including Henry Smith’s CD, Swing Commanders, Diesel Cowboys (above), Turner West Band and John McCane & LOB. There are three stages, bars and food and you just pay for parking.

Starting the last day of the month is the Cambridge Folk Festival and this goes on until August 3rd. As the name implies this is not aimed at country fans but
k. d. lang, Judy Collins and for the ‘grassers Tim O’Brien are appearing.

Let’s hope the sun is shining as in the logo above because the biggest pure country event of the year in Great Britain is taking place in Northern Ireland over 2-3rd. It is called the UTV Country Music Festival and takes place at Dungannon. Already it has had a tremendous response and there are no hotel vacancies for miles but they are running shuttle buses from Belfast.

It’s not surprising because just the American line-up reads: George Jones (above), Risky Skaggs, Nanci Griffiths, Gene Watson, Clinton Gregory, Stonewall Jackson, Billy Joe Shaver, Vernon Oxford plus there are most of Ireland’s top acts appearing on one of the four stages. The three main stages are in the open air and you have to take your own seats but you have two chances should it rain because all the Americans will appear both days, so if it rains on the Saturday you have another chance on the Sunday. This is one event Henry is not appearing at. I guess they reckoned that with all the Americans and Irish stars they could somehow manage without him!

The same weekend from 1-3rd the Cotswold CM Festival takes place at Broadway, Worcestershire with Diesel Cowboys headlining.

Over the 7-10th the 10th Annual Blue Rodeo takes place at Stratford-upon-Avon plus there is another bargain when the FREE Country In The Park takes place at Harlow on Sunday 10th from 11.30 am. Gary Perkins & The Breeze, Nashville Sounds and John McCane & LOB are amongst those appearing. Again you need to take a seat and you can bring a picnic—all it costs is a £2 parking fee.

The Higham Festival in Norfolk takes place 15-17th with Nashville Sounds and Diesel Cowboys amongst those scheduled to appear. On 16th there is Val’s One-day BBG event at Gt. Oakley, Essex.

The following weekend is August Bank Holiday and the events we have been old about are: Yorkshire Dales CM Festival from 21-25th; there are two Americans in the line-up: John Permenter and Boomer McLennan plus Raymond Froggatt and Henry Smith’s CD. Strumpshaw CM Festival 22-25th sees Henry Smith appearing yet again along with Raymond Froggatt and many more. The same weekend Best Of Friends w’end takes place at Watlington, Oxon. A C&W Festival is also on at Peterborough 23-24th. In addition for you lovers of a freebie there is another at Bristol when the 16th Country Music Trade Fair takes place 23-25th—Yorkie, Dave Sheriff and Kalibre are amongst those scheduled to appear. Not only is the event free so is the car parking—it takes place at Cadburys, Keynsham, Bristol.

With the weather now a bigger risk factor most of the events move indoors and September opens with a Country Seasons CM Fest at Budleigh Salterton from 4-8th and line dancers might be interested in the Double H W’end at Blackpool from 5-7th. Over the same period Runcorn Holme CM Festival takes place at Kings Lynn. From 12-15th VWP have a Tribute To The Legends W’end at Hemsby and the same area sees a line dance special by West ‘n’ Dance from 19-22nd. A bit further south over the same days and Potters have a Country & Irish W’end at Hopton-on-Sea and it’s back to the line dancers again when the Plain Loco LD W’end takes place at Weymouth.

We are sure there are plenty of events we have not been told about and we know October and November look particularly busy but more about that in a future edition.

Having read this it’s just a case of “you pay your money and you make your choice”. Enjoy yourselves.