In a Nutshell: Town Square Stage C2C 2020!
A Thousand Horses
Perhaps the biggest name on the pop up stages is A Thousand Horses. It’s not their first trip to C2C and they have returned since. Signed to Big Machine Label Group their southern rock style of Country is popular with the UK crowd. Their biggest hit came in 2015 when Smoke reached the top spot on the US Country airplay chart.
Recommended Song: Smoke
Alex Hall
Alex comes from Gainsborough in the state of Georgia, he doesn’t like to be compared to other artists as he has a unique blend of influences from Keith Urban to Bruce Springsteen. He’s signed to Monument Records and is currently in the studio working with one of the best writers and producers in the World, Shane McAnally.
Recommended song: Half Past You
Angie K
Angie is one of the CMA KixStart artist scholarship recipients. She averages around 10-15 gigs per month and her song Happily Ever After has surpassed 4 million streams and is the soundtrack for Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom night firework show. She is one of Rolling Stones artists to watch.
Recommended Song: Leave California
Caylee Hammack
Caylee Hammack was discovered by and encouraged to move to Nashville by Luke Bryan after several years of performing locally in her home state of Georgia. She got a job in one of the World’s most famous Honky Tonks’s Tootsie’s and is now signed to Capitol Nashville. Her first single charted on both the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts.
Recommended Song: Family Tree
Everrette
The duo is signed to Broken Bow Records and are a really talented couple of lads who play almost every instrument on their studio recordings as well as co-write the majority of their songs. They are another one of the CMA KixStart Scholarship artists, the next generation of big Country stars!
Recommended Song: Slow Roll
Filmore
There’s not a lot of info out there about Filmore but after seeing him live myself I can tell you that he’s a very exciting, upcoming artist in Country music. I guarantee he is someone who will be talked about for all the right reasons come the end of the festival and will be one of the highlights of the weekend for the majority!
Recommended Song: Love That About You
Haley and Michaels
Married couple Shannon Haley and Ryan Michaels hail from California. Their debut single Just Another Love Song was co-written by Richie McDonald of the band lonestar, it charted in the mid-fifties on the AirPlay chart. They have since signed to a new label and had their songs featured in films and by sports teams.
Recommended Song: Hail Mary
Holloway Road
An exciting, energetic duo from the U.K! Holloway Road have toured extensively here and played many festivals. They are a joy to watch with their upbeat music and full of life performances. They’ll have the spotlight stages rocking.
Recommended Song: My Love
Jackson Michelson
I had the great pleasure of seeing Jackson out in Nashville performing alongside Rodney Atkins. He’s a charmer, a crowd pleaser and someone who could go far in this genre. Right now he’s just really happy to be where he is. He’s learnt a lot from the big stars he’s toured with such as Blake Shelton, Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker to name a few.
Recommended Song: Stay Over
King Calaway
King Calaway is a six piece Country Pop band, they had chart success last year with their single World For Two. The band was pieced together by the industry in a way but they’re all talented vocalists and musicians. Four of them come from the US whilst Keyboard and guitar player Simon Dumas comes from Gibraltar and Jordan Harvey who plays guitar comes from Scotland!
Recommended Song: World For Two
Kylie Morgan
Kylie is another one of our CMA KixStart Scholarship artists, completing the set of three! Kylie is from Oklahoma and has been writing songs since she was 12 years old. She is now signed to EMI Records she is also signed to SMACKsongs publishing which is part owned by Shane McAnally so she has some of the best mentors around!
Recommended Song: Boys Girl
Laura Oakes
Laura is a talented U.K. artist, she’s got some great songs and a beautiful voice so it’s good to see her back on the C2C stages again this year. Like Holloway Road she has toured extensively here and played many festivals making her one of the favourites in the U.K. scene.
Recommended Song: Better in Blue Jeans
Lisa McHugh
Lisa is another homegrown talent. Born in Scotland to Irish parents, Lisa has had great success on the Irish Country scene and has taken her success to the US when she played the Grand Ole Opry back in 2012. You may also have seen Lisa on the TV as she had her own TV show called On the Road with Lisa.
Recommended Song: Watch Me
Niko Moon
We’ve already touched on Niko on some of our other articles about C2C but in short, he is an extremely talented singer-songwriter who’s most notable work is probably the songs released by the Zac Brown Band. As an artist himself he is on the cusp of releasing new music.
Recommended Song: Good Time
Robert Counts
Robert really intrigues me, he’s recently signed to Sony/ATV after winning a multi-day songwriting competition in his hometown of Franklin, TN. He’s a new comer but a very exciting one and I predict big things for this Country-rocker in the future.
Recommended Song: Someone in my Someday
Seaforth
Originating from Seaforth Australia, Tom Jordan and Mitch Thompson are now signed to Sony Nashville and have released one EP. They also featured on a guest single with Mitchell Tenpenny so don’t be surprised if they pop up in any of his sets - we have our fingers crossed!
Recommended Song: Talk to Me
Tebey
Tebey is an exciting multi-genre songwriter from Canada. He has had his songs recorded by pop artists such as One Direction and Cher. Perhaps most notably in Country he wrote Justin Moore’s number one hit Somebody Else Will. However he is an artist in his own right and has had chart success particularly in Canada.
Recommended Song: Denim on Denim
Temecula Road
Temecula Road are a trio originating from California. They were radio Disney’s Next Big Thing a couple of years ago and have since gone on to perform at the Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman Auditorium. Their harmonies are just beautiful!
Recommended Song: Maybe Not
Tenille Arts
It’s a good year for the Canadians with another on the line up, Tenille Arts! Tenille has been plugging away at the music industry since around 2009 when in high school she started posting cover versions of songs such as Taylor Swift’s 15 which caught the attention of talent managers in Nashville. It wasn’t until 2015 though that she really started to get her career off the ground. Now she has had chart success with a number of songs and has been recognised by the Canadian CMA.
Recommended Song: Somebody Like That
Tim Hicks
Tim Hicks is a Canadian Country singer, he’s recently toured with Dallas Smith, Chad Brownlee and Dierks Bentley. He’s also written with the boys from Florida Georgia Line and had success on the Canadian Hot 100 and Country charts.
Recommended Song: The Worst Kind ft Lindsay Ell
Una Healy
It’s not Una’s first rodeo or her first C2C, she is a seasoned pro on the U.K. scene. As a past member of the Saturdays Una has had lots of experience in the music industry but it is only in recent years that she has had chance to explore her real passion of Country music.
Recommended Song: Strangers