Tennessee Fields, previously Dixie Fields, is a boutique festival held near
Chelmsford in Essex, UK, just forty miles from Central London. It hit the festival scene in 2019 and, despite the cancellation of the second one in 2020 due to the pandemic, is fast becoming one of the UK’s must go to festivals.
The festival offers day tickets and weekend camping tickets, with a free American breakfast thrown in for both Saturday and Sunday morning campers, as well as entertainment both Friday night and Sunday morning.
The site was more than adequate, although a deluge of rain had made the ground a little soggy. No matter though, as the organisers had thought of this in advance and had tractors at the ready to tow campers into position.
Starting on Friday afternoon with live music in the big top, it runs through to the Sunday morning where there is a final live show, again in the big top, for campers only.
The real action happens on the Saturday, on both the main stage as well as in the big top for acoustic sets. The organiser had the campsite well laid out with enough space for festival goers to get comfortable and make that patch of field their own for the day. Covid Cowboys and Cowgirls also made themselves available for any questions relating to Covid safety and security and ensured all Covid measure were adhered to.
There were a host of stalls selling everything from jewellery to cowboy hats surrounding the outer edge of the site and not forgetting the varied food vendors where the audience kept themselves well fed. On the watering front, the bar in the big top had a one-way system making service both orderly and covid safe. There was a good variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages on sale, all of which were of a reasonable price.
When you purchased your first drink, the bar staff gave you a souvenir plastic pint cup with the festival’s logo printed on it, although the cup did say ‘Dixie Fields.’ This was because they had manufactured prior to the festival name change and with the organiser being very eco-conscious did not want to just throw them away. The cup was reusable all weekend and was something you could take home with you as a memento making the £2 charge a good deal.
The main stage action started on the Saturday however the line-up had changed slightly from the original billing due to covid restrictions.
The first to hit the stage was Gareth Nugent. It was my first-time seeing Gareth and I was by no means disappointed. He kicked things off with style and energy and you could see the audience getting into the festival mood straight away.
Clayton Smalley was set to be act number two, but due to covid restrictions he didn’t travel from the USA. Instead, Lucy Blu stepped up, who, as expected, delivered a set to be proud of. Singing both old and new tracks she had us all singing at the top of our lungs. The party was now in full swing.
Act three was Jake Morell. As one of the UKs leading male artists you would expect an impressive performance. Well, he lived up to his reputation giving it all he had. In a chat after his set, Jake said that getting back on stage in front of a crowd was amazing but being up on stage was demanding work when you haven’t done it for a while.
Next up was Morganway, who for me, were the stars of the whole festival. They came to the stage with presence and energy and had the crowd eating out of their hands. SJ’s vocals teamed with amazing fiddle work from Nicole gave the set a real country feel. There was brilliant guitar work from Kalum and Kieran, keys from Matt and the heartbeat of the band, Eddy on drums. Overall, they put on a great show that in my opinion and that of several other festival goers, was not matched by the other acts.
Jessica Lynn was next up to perform but due to a covid scare in her camp, she was unable to appear. It was such a shame as not only was Jessica a real win for the festival but also for the audience. She had travelled over to the UK and had been in quarantine ready and waiting. The organiser made the announcement at 8pm on Friday in the big top and you could tell the crowd were extremely disappointed.
Lucky for us, Jade Halliwell was at the festival performing in the Honkytonk Roadshow and gracefully stepped in. It may have been short notice for Jade but wow! she put on a show. I think just the fact that she stepped in so late gave the show more energy and whipped the crowd up more. Kezia Gill joined Jade for a couple of numbers, which was a great touch and added so much to the performance and atmosphere.
Essex County was act six. Not a band I really knew much about before the festival, but I really enjoyed their performance. They were a particular hit with the female festival goers, but I have to say, the vocals and stage presence made everyone watching feel part of the show and lucky to be there.
Act seven was the brilliant Kezia Gill. As you would expect from one of the UKs leading female acts, Kezia delivered in bucket loads. A solid performance with Kezia on vocals, guitar and keyboards. The set had it all; fast songs to get you dancing, slow songs so you could catch your breath and a host of songs you could sing along to.
Last but by no means least, were Ward Thomas. They became the headline act when Jackson Michaleson stepped down due to covid restrictions. We all know Ward Thomas; they have been on the country scene for many years now and are one of the UK top country acts. Despite coming in at the last-minute Ward Thomas’s performance was well balanced and a good finish to the musical extravaganza. Both Catherine and Lizzie gave it their all and you could see that the girls were really enjoying being on stage which was 100% infectious.
The only negative to the whole performance was as the crowd was singing along with the girls, at the top of their lungs, sadly several people started singing ‘It’s Coming Home’ due to England still being in the World Cup. The girls took this on the chin and to placate the audience, sang a short rendition, after which the interruptions from the crowd subsided.
On Sunday there was just one act for campers which was Louise Parker. Louise did a great acoustic set in the big top, which was a lovely finish to the weekend whilst eating the complimentary American breakfast.
Stage, lighting and overall production of the festival was spot on, and the organisers should be enormously proud of what they managed to pull off in challenging times.
