I have been championing Twinnie’s music from the start. As soon as I saw her name on the song credits of The Shires song Black and White, I had to know more. It was then I discovered she had her own material and from then on I was pretty much hooked. Despite being a huge supporter, I hadn’t had the chance to see her live so when she said she was playing Cornbury I said to myself, ‘self, I don’t care who she clashes with, you are going to see her’. Because I hadn’t seen her live, I really didn’t know what to expect, I was prepared for her to be good but I also prepared myself for the fact she was still starting out and playing at a festival which potentially could be in front of people unfamiliar with her so she may be nervous or lacking a bit of confidence.

Now I see a lot of live music so it gets to a point at times when live shows get put to the back of my mind or some shows are just ‘OK’. As I said before, I was expecting her to be good but my goodness, I wasn’t expecting her to be THAT good. To say that I was blown away is an understatement. My friend and I were in awe. My friend, completely unfamiliar with Twinnie was amazed and I continued to be blown away as the songs went on.

Twinnie performed on the Saturday of Cornbury on the Cafe Nero stage. Set out like a coffee house but in a tent, well Marquee, my friend and I grabbed the front couch.

Frappe’s, soft couch, music, we wanted to stay there forever.

Twinnie came on to the stage rather casually and calmly wearing a fringed jacket, top and those jeans with many holes in that are popular these days that when you get to my age you make a silly joke like I did of “Ooh, maybe we should set up a ‘go fund me’ page to afford the rest of the jeans” apologies Twinnie. Hey, she looked amazing in them so it didn’t really matter.

Twinnie made the audience laugh before she even began. Twinnie is fairly tall so when the rather short show announcer took to the microphone to introduce her, she jokes “You want me to lower it?”.

She began her set with her single Home which was released last year. I should quickly mention that half her band were new I believe and had not had a chance to rehearse. You wouldn’t have known though. Home was spectacular live – the song is a great pop country track with easy to sing a long to lyrics which makes it really a joy live. Home has a slight folk edge to it too and was a wise choice to begin the set as it drew more people into the tent and made everyone already there stay. Everyone quickly realised going to see her was a great decision and for me in particular, it was worth missing Ward Thomas on the main stage for.

Twinnie continued to impress with new songs I had not heard before which were all really well written and melodic and I am hoping they will be released officially. Her performance oozed with confidence and she amused the crowd between songs with her wit, her infectious northern accent and overall charm. One of my favourite tracks of Twinnie’s is Looking Out For You which she wrote for her granddad. I love this song, it is by far one of her best and a track she should be very proud of. The lyrics are very warming and homely and it has a lovely crowd participating part in it. This song live did not disappoint and I was so happy that she played it.

The ‘WOW’ song for me though, the one where Twinnie really showcased her vocals and left everyone stunned was her cover of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing In The Dark. I honestly didn’t know she could sing like that. It was this particular moment that made me think, ‘Why is she not more known? How is she not one of the leading UK country artists? Why do so little in the country fan community know her name?’ Well THIS will undoubtedly change. Twinnie proved she has the ability to truly be a great success and I could not be more excited to watch her career grow.

Twinnie ended her set with her debut single Cool. When she finished her set the crowd were vocal about wanting her to continue so she treated us with her beautiful ballad Lie To Me which is vocally challenging and showed off Twinnie’s range.

Again, what a show, a truly superb performance which left the crowd mesmerised. Twinnie is a born performer and I honestly felt like it was a treat, I felt so lucky to have been there and in such an intimate setting too. Out of the entire weekend, Twinnie’s set was the one I went away remembering the most, the one that I can’t stop talking about.

Think I am biased? Not swayed yet? Well Bryan Adams himself was discreetly in the crowd and was so taken and so impressed that he invited her on stage to join him for a song as part of his Cornbury headling set that evening. Now to perform with the likes of Bryan Adams is the dream of many world stars let alone a new artist. When Bryan announced her, it was almost emotional, I felt very proud of her and she certainly caught the attention of a very large crowd. Twinnie is making her mark for sure and if she is good enough for Bryan, then she should certainly be good enough for a long, successful career. I can’t wait to be part of the journey as a fan and hope you join the journey too.

Set list
Home
Nearly never
Better when I’m drunk
Rewrite
Superhero 

Dancing In The Dark (Bruce Springsteen Cover)
Looking out for you
More
Cool
Lie to me 

Review and photos by Hannah Compton