NEWS: TALENTBANQ - COUNTRY CALLING CATCH-UP - RHIANNON PAIGE, NICOLE ALLAN, STELLA LAIN - THE GREEN NOTE - 18th NOVEMBER 2026
The strength of this years Country Calling Festival was undoubtedly the all round quality playing on every stage. Even the most skilled purveyor of UK Americana, would have done well to have seen all three of these acts across the weekend, so the good folks at TALENTBANQ, have only gone and put on a special evening capturing three fabulous artistes from the festival.
TALENTBANQ were busy running the highly successful and beautifully programmed Caffe Nero stage at Country Calling yet still found time to catch some of the other acts and naturally wanted to see more of what they had to offer.
The only artist we had previously seen live of the three was Rhiannon Paige. She had already wowed at C2C and was the only one of the three that we failed to see a full set from. The few minutes we did see though only reconfirmed what a talent she is, with the crowd going wild as she performed "Holding Out For A Hero". Since then she has released the storming single "Shout Out" which with any luck the Lionesses or a broadcaster will use to assist their coverage. Undoubtedly on the up escalator, this is an ideal chance to catch her while you can at a venue this intimate.
Nicole Allan is another phenomenon, who in monopoly terms should advance straight to go and pick up £200! Possessing a voice that seems to emerge from her tiny frame at an implausible volume, she only hit the #TEAMw21 radar in the run up to Country Calling. Her live show confirmed that she was not the result of studio wizardry and was so good that we caught her performing twice at CC2026- she is the real deal and we cannot wait to see her again.
If you were at Country Calling 2026, you may not have seen Stella Lain perform, but you definitely saw Stella Lain. Seemingly there from the gates opening on the Friday to them closing on the Sunday, Stella was easily identifiable as she spent the whole weekend, as she does every other day dressed head to toe in pink. Her recent single "All Dolled Up" was a classic little pop single, and initially we were a little sceptical if she could reproduce this sound without an additional guitarist or perish the thought a backing track.
How wrong we were to doubt her, she pitched up solo and wowed from beginning to end, the songs though stripped back, lost none of their intensity, if anything it gave you a chance to see how they were originally created. Another undoubted talent that we can't wait to hear more from.
Quite how the team at TALENTBANQ have managed to assemble such a thrilling bill is anyone's guess - this is undoubtedly a must see event with satisfaction all but guaranteed.
Tickets for the above show https://events.talentbanq.com/events/talentbanq/2433885
The early bird tickets for Country Calling 2027 are already sold out but sign up for information about the next release of tickets and get ready for the best festival of the summer!!
