LIVE REVIEW: COUNTRY CALLING 2026 - REN JACKSON - DIVE BAR STAGE, IVORY PABLO - CAFFE NERO STAGE, HANNAH TRIM - VIP STAGE
By any standards Country Calling 2026 was unique, the sheer quantity of top talent assembled in one location across three days was unrivalled. The most heartwarming aspect was the number of acts making their UK or Festival debuts, and that audiences for every stage, even the Little Wrangler stage were packed for whichever act was on. You would need to be able to break the laws of physics to have seen everyone, and we highly recommend digging into any of the names of any of the performers who played across the weekend where you’ll find a rich catalogue of excellent material.
To give an idea of the quandary facing a humble reviewer, here is just the opening hour of Day 1. To start, it would be over to the Dive Bar Stage for Ren Jackson, a Kent based performer, who would be accompanied on guitar by her producer Erim Ahmet. In a dress with a bandana tied around it, her brown boots and black hat, Ren was given the job of opening the Dive Bar stage.
A mixture of covers and originals, Ren would ease us in gently with an opening cover of Lainey Wilson's "Wild Flowers & Wild Horses". It would commence with Erim, creating the atmosphere with his Mexican guitar style intro, before Ren would immediately launch into the big extended notes.
Ren would hold the microphone in one hand while the other clasped a tambourine, which later would get bashed against her thigh with some gusto at the half way point, as the song sped up. It would also mark the arrival of a definite stomp, which all added to the overall performance.
It was always going to be Ren's own material that was going to interest us more, and 2024's "Red Flag" was next. Ren would tell us that this has been rerecorded for a new version to come out soon. For this song there would be no tambourine which left Ren free to be exceptionally expressive with her free hand. Even from this stripped back version, you could tell that Ren had visions of a bigger more cohesive sound than had been captured on her earlier attempt at the song.
"I should've known he'd let me down
I should've known he'd be playing around
But most of all I kick myself
I knew the truth, right from the start"
Next would come last years single "Rodeo", which would see Ren fire out the lyrics at pace at times. It was sung with such a definite passion and conviction, that it was only afterwards we wondered what the chorus of
"We go round like a rodeo"
actually meant.
It did end on the dramatic line that
"We can't do this anymore"
The lyric minutiae would be a worry for another day because with Mystic Meg style, powers of prediction, Ren decided to get in early and provide the first of many versions of "Choosin' Texas" that we would hear across the festival.
Ren pleaded for "Ella fella's to join in" and certainly the gent next to us got the message and was wholeheartedly singing along.
Ren would at times effect a little shimmy in a version that would prove to be one of the most stripped back and effective covers of the song across the weekend.
There would be more audience participation for Ren's final song "Wanted Man", if anything this was louder than the previous more well known song as the Dive bar boomed out "tears in his eyes" to Ren's pronouncement that
"He is history, history tonight"
Erim provided a suitably brooding guitar for the first half of the song, before the pace was suddenly upped. The audience participation worked a treat and things would gradually slow towards the end, with Ren's final shimmer on the tambourine bringing her short set to a close however announcing that Country Calling 2026 was well and truly open.
From the Dive Bar, it was off to Caffe Nero, for some time with Ivory Pablo & Friends. The stage was set under cover, although tables and chairs extended out well beyond the covered perimeter. On a day that was blisteringly hot, this stage was one of the few places on site where a slight breeze was blowing through. It gave it something of an air of sophistication and one felt that the table deserved to be filled with a posh cocktail, or a Vesper Martini, shaken not stirred.
Adding to the overall ambience was Ivory Pablo ( Ettinger) on the keyboard, playing a soothing jazz inspired selection. We'd arrived too late to see what friends had appeared earlier, but this little oasis was a most welcome stop off. Pablo had a relaxed calming repertoire, just perfect for the early arrivals to the festival or on subsequent days, for those easing their way in to the morning after the night before! We only got to hear Pablo play for just over five minutes as he had reached the end of his set but could have easily sat there for hours.
It was then a race over to the VIP Stage to catch the remainder of Hannah Trim's set, Hannah was playing under the banner of "Country Rising - Emerging Women Showcase". This was our first sighting of Hannah and it surely won't be our last, and it showed Country Calling to have curated excellent acts on every stage at every time, safe to say that by the end of the set, as far as #TEAMw21 were concerned, Hannah Trim had most definitely emerged.
The VIP Stage was a wooden tipi structure and Hannah, in her white boots, jean shorts and hat, was already kicking up a storm as we arrived, to hear the closing moments of "See You Again"
Next up would be her third single "That Ain't Love", which seemed to be Hannah dispensing words of wisdom to another girl about realising her self worth, which is a big topic to take on so early in your career, yet one that Hannah handled with some aplomb.
Her next song was her first single, recorded in Nashville, with the confident asserting title of "Where I'm Meant To Be". The song however had more layers than just wanting to be in Nashville, this was part break up song and part rediscovering yourself and what you want to be, even on first listen it sounded well crafted and not the tentative steps you might expect from an artists first recorded song.
Even down to the lines
"Whiskey ain't heartbreak proof
You never loved me like I loved you"
Hannah would close her set, in true showbiz style leaving you wanting more. Closing with a song from one of her influences in Shania Twain's - "You're Still The One". Not necessarily the easiest song to play solo, though through careful phrasing, while gently tapping her left foot, Hannah produced a highly enjoyable version. In total it was only twelve minutes that we saw Hannah perform for, but that was enough to more than pique our interest and immediately want to see much more of her original material.
That was just the choices for the opening hour, as the days would progress, things would get progressively tougher when it came to selecting who to see and who, for this weekend at least would have to wait for another day.
