Festival In Focus: Truck #14 10 Picks from organiser Robin Bennett
By: Robin Bennett
A man who knows Truck Festival like no other, organiser Robin Bennett here presents for us his top ten artists to look at for at this most charming of English countryside rock and roll weekends. Warning – contains everything from the extremely credible to a Fleetwood Mac covers band.
ROBIN’S PERSONAL TREATS:
Caitlin Rose (pictured)
I'm really looking forward to the young chanteuse from Nashville's new generation. She sounds like the real deal, for fans of Emmylou Harris and Linda Rondstadt (like me).
I've always liked Hugo's band Jonquil, and with CV he simplifies things to just his voice, a keyboard and some beats, and it still works just as well if not better. You can ignore the genre definitions, it's just good music from a talented guy.
Playing in the Long Insider's Rockin' Cabaret on Saturday night, this will be a lot of rockabilly fun, get your quiffs greased. There may even be some burlesque dancing on the side to keep things lively, though the music is pretty lively too.
The No. 1 Ladies' Accordion Orchestra
What’s not to look forward to about this? It’s pretty much self-explanatory.
Here's hoping they play their cover of ‘Helpless’ for the first crowd singalong of the weekend, bringing the Woodstock magic straight over from Woodstock, where they live on some kind of log cabin. They also have many cracking tunes of their own, not least ‘If You Ever Get Famous’.
Pete is a great writer with a number of albums to his credit, all worth hearing, and he's even been to Memphis to record with the Jordannaires. Very well received on Bob Harris (OBE)'s stage a couple of year's back playing solo, he's back with the band on the main stage.
As the Saturday headliner, everybody already knows Gruff is playing, but worth mentioning him again anyway. His backing band are said to be fantastic, so I can't wait to see how he translates his songs live, and whether he wears that red motorbike suit and helmet...
Another headliner, and a great bunch receiving acclaim wherever they turn. I am looking forward to seeing them properly, as I always seem to miss most of their set. They seem to have electrified folk music, without needing amps to do it.
The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band
Favourites from Oxford but sounding more like they're from New Orleans, with one of the best brass sections around. They're so good we're borrowing them for the Dreaming Spires set on Sunday night too.
I must start to build anticipation for this- "rumours" are flying as to who will be joining this super-group to perform Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, surely one of the best albums ever and certainly one to finish off proceedings in a suitably exuberant style!
- Truck Festival #14 takes place from the 22nd ‘til the 24th of July at Hill Farm in Steventon. Tickets can be purchased here.
Artists in this article: Caitlin Rose, Chad Valley, The Severed Limb, The No. 1 Ladies' Accordion Orchestra, The Duke and the King , Pete Molinari , Gruff Rhys, Bellowhead, The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band, The Truck All-Stars