I knew the name Lyle Lovett, of course I did. If you are a country fan and haven’t heard his name then you have been living under a rock. That being said, I admittedly wasn’t too familiar with his music and yes, shame on me. But is that not the beauty of a festival? Not just discovering new artists but going to see legends to who you may never have known you were going to love?

There is something magical in seeing a live show where you can sit down, nod your head, tap your feet and just totally take it all in. This is what happened to me during the entire set of Lyle Lovett’s. It made me realize just how good music can be, just how enjoyable and how you don’t even have to know it well to absorb it all. Funnily enough, at the end of the set the lady next to me said “I worried you didn’t enjoy that“.  “Quite the opposite” I replied,” I was completely lost in it and forgot there were other people here”.

After a long and busy weekend, this is just what I needed. A chilled out, authentic show with some of the best musicans out there. There is something to be said about the older, more traditional artists: they are the cool cats who began it all and their music is timeless. Lyle made it look easy – his wit, charm and confidence was inspiring and the mix of genres ranging from Country to Blues to Jazz to Gospel and more kept me interested. If you love music the way I do, this would have blown you away.

Sometimes at C2C the traditional artist has struggled to gain the love from the fans, especially in the higher slot which is over an hour but only two have truly “Wowed” me and that was Marty Stuart and now Lyle Lovett. In fact, so much so that the time passed pretty quickly, much like it did with Stapleton.

One stand out song for me was Twelfth of June, firstly because I was born Eleventh June so it caught my attention right away but also because it was such a beautiful track. The words really intrigued me  and I found myself looking it up straight after his set. However, I couldn’t find anything on it but would love to know more about it. Maybe one day I can ask him hey?

The band, who I have since come to learn are called His Large Band were phenomenal and Francine Reed who he sang with was absolutely sensational – what a soulful Joyful voice. The pair really worked well together not just vocally but personality wise too and I loved their vocal energy and professionalism. These people know how it’s done. Having seen James Taylor last year for the first time, I felt the same perfection as I did with his set.

I still came out not knowing the name of all the songs apart from Twelth of June but you can bet that I am going to find the set list and go and find all those songs and more. When I got back to the hotel my husband asked “Who was the best of the night?” And I hadn’t even thought about it at this point and without hesitation said “Oh Lyle Lovett” and then went “Wow, well now I guess I didn’t know just how much he impressed me”. 

Thanks Lyle! Glad I got to tell you that this morning.