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A Look At The First Sticks Country Music Festival
By Jolene Downs
The weekend days of April 17th and 18th dawned bright
and sunny in Auburn, Alabama. In the back of a huge field on a farm
called Parker Hill just outside of Auburn, tour busses lined up
behind a stage set up at the end of the field. Campers were parked
outside the fences and tents were pitched in open grassy areas. Cars
filed in the gates and parked in the fields as scores of people
climbed out and headed into the concert area for the First Annual
Sticks Country Festival. Lawn chairs and coolers were spread out
over the field as people settled in to enjoy the weekend of great
country music entertainment. For the hungry, there was everything
from BBQ to tacos to pizza available along with soda, bottled water
and beer to wash it all down with. Or, you were welcome to bring
your own food and beverages in with you. They had tents set up
selling a wide variety of merchandise. There was also a section for
the kids, and kids at heart, with a moonwalk and Euro Jump and rock
climbing.
Whiskey Falls |
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Mark Chesnutt |
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The weekend of shows kicked off Friday afternoon when
Whiskey Falls (above) took the stage at 4:30. They wowed the crowd
with a set of songs that showcased their incredible harmonies,
including their hit single "Last Train Running." It was easy to see
why they are one of the hottest up and coming bands on the Nashville
scene and I'm looking forward to seeing much more of them in the
future.
Mark Chesnutt hit the stage next with some great
honky tonk music. Chesnutt is a veteran performer and it was great
to hear classics like "Bubba Shot the Jukebox," "Too Cold at Home"
and "I Just Wanted You to Know." We also got to hear his latest
single, "She Never Got Me Over You."
As the sun started to set and the air started cooling
off, Craig Morgan hit the stage with one of the most energetic shows
of the weekend. We were treated to many of his hits, including
"Redneck Yacht Club," "International Harvester" and "That's What I
Love About Sunday." He played material from his latest album,
'That's Why,' including the latest single, "God Must Really Love
Me." If you haven't had a chance to see Morgan in concert, I highly
recommend it.
As more people continued to come in the gates after
their workday was through, Rodney Atkins hit the stage ready to
entertain the crowd. We heard "Going Through Hell," "Watching You,"
"Cleaning This Gun," "These Are My People" and many other great
songs. He also performed music from his new album, 'It's America,'
including the title single. He left the crowd revved up and waiting
for the headline act of the evening.
After a short break to reset the stage, Gretchen
Wilson was onstage and ready to bring down the house, or in this
case the field. Even though the temperatures had dropped drastically
from what they had been during the day, she had the crowd on their
feet and moving around with her music. Along with classic Wilson
hits like "Redneck Woman" and "I'm Just Here for the Party" she also
sang a few songs from an upcoming album. It will be great to have
new Gretchen Wilson music available. As she wound down her show the
people started heading to their campers, tents and cars to rest up
for another day of great food, great friends and great music. I have
to say that camping is the way to go for this event. With all the
alcohol flowing and thousands of people trying to fight their way
out of the venue and onto the roads it would have been so much
quicker and easier to head for the camper section and you could be
in bed before you made it to the front gates in a car.
Shenandoah |
Granger Smith |
Saturday was another beautiful day and perfect for
the event. The music started about noon on the side stage with
Shenandoah. They had local and regional acts providing entertainment
there throughout the day for people who were wandering around the
grounds. The main stage opened up at 1:30 with Texas artist Granger
Smith. While he may be a newcomer to the Nashville scene, he is a
crowd favorite and has been hitting the charts in Texas for awhile.
He has a great sound and fun stage presence and I expect to be
seeing more of him outside the Texas state lines.
Chuck Wicks |
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Julianne Hough |
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Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough are dance partners on
Dancing With the Stars as well as dating in real life. They also
both have promising careers in country music and were two of the
performers who entertained the crowd on Saturday. Wicks took the
stage at 2:15, telling the crowd that he and Hough were going to
have to practice their dance steps that night after the shows. He
sang a few covers as well as songs from his album, 'Starting Now.'
Julianne Hough has a great voice and she definitely
has stage presence. She showed off some of her dance moves as she
worked the stage during her show.
Ashton Shepherd is my 'Wow!' pick of the weekend. She
has an amazing voice and a delivery that will knock your socks off.
She is a true country girl from a small Alabama town and I hope to
see much more of her in the future.
Jason Michael Carroll hit the ground running with his
first single, "Alyssa Lies." He performed that song along with other
hits like "I Can Sleep When I'm Dead" and "Livin' Our Love Song." He
also performed several songs off his brand new album, 'Growing Up is
Getting Old.' JMC is an energetic performer with a country rock
sound and he had the audience revved and waiting for the next act to
take the stage.
The guys of Diamond Rio are a class act all the way.
Their songs are timeless and their harmonies are unbeatable. This
was one of my favorite acts of the weekend simply because just
listening to their music generated so many memories for me. Who can
forget songs like "Meet in the Middle," "Unbelievable," "Beautiful
Mess," "Norma Jean Riley" and the list goes on and on. They also did
some dueling instruments with banjo and guitar and a little
bluegrass segment, which I loved. It was just a great set all the
way around.
As the sun continued to set, Sara Evans took the
stage. She's always been one of my favorite female artists and I
settled in to enjoy her show. Her family travels with her, and
several of her siblings are a part of her band. Her two sisters sing
backup and they get together during the show for a short acoustic
set that shows off their harmonies. They sing a few songs, but my
two favorites are an old ballad, "In the Pines" and the Dolly Parton
song "Jolene." Evans also sang a couple of songs from her upcoming
album and of course old favorites like "Suds in the Bucket," "I
Could Not Ask for More," "As If" and "Born to Fly." As she left the
stage and preparations began for the final act of the weekend, the
excitement level of the crowd started building.
The main headliner of the evening was Trace Adkins.
They had some equipment issues that delayed his show for about 30
minutes, but when he hit the stage he didn't disappoint. Adkins may
be a man of few words, but the man can really sing. He ran through a
set of songs that had the crowd on their feet and moving. I'm not
sure it is possible to actually sit through a Trace Adkins concert;
your feet just want to get up and move. We heard everything from the
ballads like "You're Gonna Miss This," "Muddy Waters" and
"Arlington" to the driving beats of "Chrome," "Rough and Ready," "I
Got My Game On" and "Hot Mama."
It was a weekend that was jam packed with
entertainment sure to please everyone. Even though it was the First
Annual, the event was so well organized that it was hard to believe
they hadn't done it for years. The location was absolutely perfect
for the whole concept of outdoor shows with all the food and
necessities arranged in an easily accessible format. The section for
campers and tents was near enough that it wasn't an overly long hike
to get to the shows and the parking was very much easy in and easy
out. As far as festivals go, I'd highly recommend this one to anyone
who loves country music and time spent in the country. You won't be
disappointed.
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