We started off the final day of the festival right; with an incredible set from Kaitlin Butts. I enjoyed her last album back in June, but for some reason wasn’t expecting the sheer force of being blown off my feet quite this hard from her live show. She was phenomenal from the very moment she took to the stage. Her voice is amazing, hitting all kinds of powerful, amazing notes, and the rest of her band were playing their asses off, and clearly having a good time too. And plus, she was genuinely likeable, getting more than a chuckle out of the crowd plenty. From ‘White River’ to ‘You Ain’t Gotta Die’ and ‘Roadrunner!’, the set was packed full of highlights, and even some slight technical difficulties couldn’t hold her back.

Pokey LaFarge legitimately blew my mind. I was certainly curious going into the set as I did enjoy what I had heard and seen so far, but wasn’t sure how it would translate live, especially to a British country crowd. Well, fuck me, VERY WELL is the answer! The moment he and his band walked on stage and opened on ‘So Long Chicago’, I was blown away by the polished sound and insane musicianship. Heck, the guitarist was somehow playing guitar AND a trumpet at the same time. Mind blown. And on top of it all, the crowd responded really well to them, too. The band got into it more as they were genuinely enjoying themselves because so were the crowd.

My only complaint was that they missed a couple of songs I’d have wanted them to play. But they were so incredible that we brought tickets to their tour in November on the way home in the car, so hopefully I finally get ‘Fuck me Up’ there. Honestly, band of the weekend. Their jamming between and during songs made me ashamed to call myself a musician, they’re so talented, and his stage presence is magnetic. Goddamn.

I managed to catch a couple of tracks from our friends First Time Flyers on the VIP stage on the way to interviews. We loved them last year, and even with it just being an acoustic set with the four of them, it honestly sounded even better this time around. The crowd being so enthusiastic also probably helped. As I said, I only caught a couple of songs, but damn, their harmonies are incredible as always. They’re on a UK tour in September, I’d highly recommend any readers go down and check them out!

Remember Monday were a very odd choice for the festival, in all honesty. They had much more of a pop feel to them, not really having much of a country vibe at all. And while their harmonies were insanely impressive, they did a lot of covers and talked a lot between songs. I caught about fifteen minutes of their set before having to leave, and I wasn’t the only one. They’re three amazingly talented women, but not really suited to the festival.

The National Parks, however, blew it out of the park. Again, much like Remember Monday, they aren’t exactly a country band. However, they put on one hell of a show, and the indie-folk style did fit in rather well with the vibe. It was a chilled out set list full of plenty of bangers. It honestly wasn’t too dissimilar to Wyatt the day before in terms of feel, just more indie than country! They were great fun, and a band I’d gladly see again.

Drew Holocomb brought his Neighbours with him and put on a fantastic show in front of a far too small crowd. He had some stiff competition, for sure, but still more than held his own, getting a big crowd by the end! And he even brought out The National Parks for their collab song, ‘Dance with Everybody’, which was a definite highlight! As was their hit ‘Find Your People’ because… well.. of course it was, the place went nuts for it! Drew is so effortlessly charismatic and entertaining, and his band are amazing too. Yet another fantastic set!

We headed over to the packed out Interstate after that to catch the last few songs from Dasha, mainly to see what all the fuss was about. We could barely even get into the tent, it was that busy! Honestly, while I still don’t really get it, she at least sounds better these days than she has previously, and she seemed to put on a good show. I know a lot of people enjoyed her set, so clearly she is doing something right!

Next up was the incredible Randall King on the main stage. He was one of the acts I was most excited for going into the weekend, and he delivered in a massive way! He’s the very definition of country these days, being a suave, old-school cowboy type but still having a slight modern edge to his sound; very much neo-traditional. And of course, we got a setlist packed full of hit after hit. I feel like this was what a lot of people came to see when it came to the festival, and he certainly didn’t disappoint! I feel like a broken record saying this, but he was another serious highlight of the weekend. If you ever get the chance to see him take it, you won’t be disappointed!

Flatland Cavelry bridged the gap between Randall and the headliner in perfect style. Another chilled out entry to the festival, the Americana band brought so much fun and a surprising amount of energy to their set. The band had an amazing stage presence, and has the crowd in the palm of their hands throughout. And Cleto even brought out his wife, the wonderful Kaitlin Butts, for their emotional hit, ‘A Life Where We Work Out’. The pair work just as well together live as they do on track and damn, it was awesome! They’re not fully my sort of thing, but I had a whale of time watching them and would gladly see them again!

We then finally reached the Sunday night headliner, Russel Dickerson. Surprisingly about the only bro-country on this year’s lineup, he made the most of it, playing a pop-country heavy set, and doing so brilliantly. Swaggering through a set packed full of hits new and older like only he can, it certainly was an RD party at Stanford Hall. Even if he’s not particularly your brand of radio-country, he puts on the sort of performance that would win just about everyone around, and seemed like a genuinely nice person appreciative to be playing the festival, too. It was a big show that felt like a fitting end to cap off the main festival!

The after party to close things off that night was the amazing Brooke Eden. Honestly, it was a fitting end to the festival too; chilled out and fun and entertaining all in equal measure. Brooke is a fantastic performer, funny and with an incredible voice, and her small band did a great job backing her up.

And there we have it, folks, another incredible edition of The Long Road festival! I cannot recommend the entire event enough, from the bands to the events going on around it to the true passion the organisers have for the style and feel of country and Americana, it is truly something not to be missed for any fans of the genres. It’s become an annual event for us and one of the highlights of the year, so it’s very much a case of… until next year!