FESTIVAL PREVIEW / SINGLE REVIEW COUNTRY CALLING 2026: THUNDERSTORM ARTIS - LAST US FOREVER

Hopefully the only "Thunderstorm" heading for Country Calling 2026 will be the arrival of Thunderstorm Artis, Hawaiian born, Nashville resident, who is soon about to rock your world. His life and musical story are pretty much detailed in his current single "Last Us Forever", however his route to Country Calling began in a Songwriters Round in Nashville in 2023 with the whole #TEAMw21 looking on. If you've ever wondered why US artists are so taken with a listening crowd then that night would have been an example, with the artists battling for the attention of the bar patrons.

If things had gone to plan, our paths may not even have crossed, Thunderstorm was billed to have been on an earlier round, but as luck would have it, he played later and on Sunday August 16th, that chance meeting will result in his UK debut on the Country Calling Main Stage.

"Last Us Forever" starts with just Thunderstorm and his guitar, reflecting his musical state at the time during those late teenage years.

"I was sixteen, with big dreams, I wanted to do

Big things with six strings, praying God will let it be

I'm begging please, I know there's more than this"

There's little more than a quick shake of the tambourine separating the verses

"Eighteen, some things changed and I was

On my first plane a new place, I'm freezing cold and

I played for spare change, thinking maybe this is it"

The wide eyed confident optimism of the opening verse replaced by the first hints of realism and doubt starting to creep in.

The chorus bursts into life with little more than a drum beat, a few piano notes and Thunderstorm starting to stretch his vocals a little

"Singing these old songs, screaming my heart out

Shooting my hopes up, thinking about how one day there'll be

Bright lights and big stages, a new state with new faces

Same kid in different places

These are the moments that last us forever!"

The last words are repeated three times for emphasis, before the final line is repeated in totality.

It is fired out as a celebratory triumphant declaration and is the cue for the sound to really start to explode into life, additional backing vocals appear, and then things drop once more, as additional life story background is relayed.

"At twenty three, I'm flying free, I found myself

On tv screens and finally, I got down on one knee with a diamond ring

I was praying she'd say yes

"Singing these old songs, pouring my heart out

If this is my one shot, I give you all I got"

An electric guitar break is joined by pounding drums and a choir of voices for a real celebration.

For the final chorus the lyrics changes again, and Thunderstorm is joined by the lady who said "Yes", wife Faith and things come right up to date. The sound is once again humble, just voices and the guitar, the last line is the final few words of the song, with things ending suddenly as if we have hit present day.

"Bright lights and big stages, a new state with new faces

Same love in different places,

And now we've got two kids, and life changes

Five years and I say this,

That I've having memories worth saving

These are the moments that

Last us forever"

#TEAMw21 cannot wait to see this playing out from the main stage, and we have no doubt that Thunderstorm will be creating some more memories that will "Last Us Forever"