In Conversation With Colin: Scott Lewis

21 November 2024 140 73 5

Boots, Beats and Country Treats.

Hey y’all….The 3rd annual South Wales Country Music Festival organised by Scott Lewis and held at Newport’s Corn Exchange saw seven of the best country music artists performing in front of an enthusiastic crowd over the course of eight hours. With five stalls inside the venue and vendors of arts and crafts selected for their authentic country wares and relevance to the history of Nashville and the roots music of the region were selling country music related merchandise. An authentic Southern State styled barbeque food vendor was pitched in the foyer and a well-stocked bar with line dancing lessons on hand allowed everyone the opportunity to two-step their way into a little slice of Nashville right in the heart of Newport.

The country music genre is undergoing a vibrant renaissance. Since the back end of 2020, when Covid lockdown restrictions slackened, honky-tonk events have been popping up across the UK, attracting a mix of multigenerational music lovers decked out in prairie dresses, big brass belt buckles and ten-gallon hats, ready to hoot ‘n holler and scoot their boots.

Because of an uptake in gig opportunities and audiences’ desire for live country music (due in part to a global phenomenon spurred on by massive records like Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter, the most streamed album on Spotify in a single day), local and national singer-songwriters have found themselves thrust into a collaborative and supportive scene that they feel provides people the perfect antidote in a post-lockdown society: a world of campy outfits, communal dancing and an all-round grand-tootin’ time. Yeehaw indeed!

Country music fans were out in force right from the start in Newport, many dressed in their Stetson hats and cowboy boots as the dancers stomped and two-steppers twirled. It helps that the crowd commits to the event – looking or at least acting the part, earnestly trying to learn the right moves. Maybe they all needed to blow off steam from some lingering case of post-election crazies. Whether attendees came by their Western shirts (characterized by a stylized yoke on the front and on the back) honestly or if its cosplay cobbled together at the charity shop, the effort counts!

South Wales Country Music Festival is the brainchild of Scott Lewis and a few friends, the festival grew from a shared passion for the community atmosphere of old time Stateside small town festivals and acoustic jams.

Scott lives in Abergavenny and became a fan of country music after visiting America for the first time around 10 years ago. “It was all that was played on the car hire radio and it stuck with me” he told Newport City Radio after the show. “After that I attended many gigs and festivals in the UK and Europe.”

After visiting many concerts and always bumping into lots of fans from Wales, Scott and several others were all asking themselves the same question: why is there not enough country music artists touring Wales?

“So I decided to start contacting bands, artists and managers that I have come across over the years and told them about my plan to start a festival in south Wales.” Scott explains what makes Newport the perfect choice to host the event and his ambitions for the future, “Newport has a massive history of music from iconic venues such as the Newport Centre and TJ’s, and it’s where so many great acts performed, so we wanted to try and bring country music acts back to these shores and the Corn Exchange gives us that chance. So we hope to continue to grow, we already have people from all corners of the UK and further afield and maybe we can even run a show at the International Convention Centre in Newport one day.”

Kicking off this year’s honky-tonk hoedown was singer/songwriter Kier, performing a solo acoustic set, the 23-year-old singer-songwriter from South Yorkshire is making waves in the country/Americana genre with her debut album, Welcome to the Strange Life.

There followed an interlude of line dancing lessons and suddenly the dancefloor was full of eager participants all keen for an early hoedown showdown.

Lianne Kaye was next to take to the stage, a solo acoustic singer/songwriter hailing from Colchester, Essex, and performed a varied setlist, having played live sets at Summer In The City, Slam Dunk Festival and Camden Barfly. Lianne’s voice and live show was powerful and compelling.

A quick change-over and on bounded Gary Quinn and his band from Manchester, with a busy touring schedule (playing Amsterdam two days earlier and heading off to London’s Half Moon the day after Newport’s festival date), the eight time BCMA Awards winner showcased a

dynamic force on stage and injected a welcome boost to proceedings. His neo-traditional country sound has been welcomed as far-afield as the iconic Nashville venue Bluebird Cafe and The Stage on Broadway.

Up and coming British country music artist Mikala Fredriksson has been performing across the world for over 15 years, the Blackpool native is an accomplished artist and performer and added a unique perspective to the genre as she took to the stage in The Corn Exchange. Singing her single from last year Ends In Your Tears co-written with the aforementioned Gary Quinn, it brought a rockier side to proceedings as the song is based on the Beth Dutton era of ‘Yellowstone’.

Any place, it turns out, can be a honky-tonk if the music’s right and there’s a long cool beer in sight. It’s as simple as this: South Wales Country Music Fest was, once again, a bonanza of well-natured groups of family and friends dancing, laughing, snapping selfies and having a good ole’ time. Sure, it’s easy to discredit this brand of music as overtly vapid, but anything that brings upward of 200 people together to forget their problems (other than a hangover) for a few hours can’t be that bad