A later start for the third and final day of Country On the Coast, and a few changes in the set up with the merchandise table moving slightly to make way for the Sunday carvery, trying to review with a Sunday joint wafting in your direction is very difficult so the easiest decision of the day was to succumb early to a rather fine and generous luncheon.
Fully refreshed it was back to the music for the first act of the day Jenny June, another of the local based artists that have made this festival so interesting and who impressed us with our pre festival research. On the clips we could find, she was mainly singing to a backing track, so it was great to see that today she would be playing with a guitarist and bass player. A diminutive figure, even in heels, dressed in a black Jack Daniels T shirt and pair of leather shorts, she was certainly going to make an impression.
Starting with a Dixie Chicks cover of “Travelling Soldier”, Jenny showed great empathy as she sang into her sparkling cordless mic, delivering just the required amount of pathos as required at exactly the right moments. Breaking out the shakers her next song a cover of Dolly Parton’s “Coat Of Many Colours” which was a refreshing change to hear. From shakers to tambourine the next song a Band Perry cover in “Better Dig Two"” a darker more offbeat cover that she again took in her stride.
Not all covers though “Don't Leave So Soon” her debut single, is a little piece of classic country, with the lines “How can I get you to stay, get you looking my way?” in the chorus showing her wide vocal range and the ability to hit the big notes when required, it did make you want to hear more of her original material.
Back to covers with a version of Little Big Towns “Girl Crush” that was well received by the assembled throng. Her next single due soon was the excellent “Take My Hand", a gentle ballad, again showing Jenny to have the ability to really sell a song, and with a number of big notes to hit, this was a bold choice, performed faultlessly. Showing another side, "That Ain't Me" was a real uptempo rocker that was delivered with some style that ended with a cheeky sideways glance or two. Finishing on a Miranda Lambert cover of “Gunpowder and Lead”, once again holding her tambourine and performed with some attitude. Sunday was officially up and running.