Faster Horses Country Music and Camping Festival 2018: Revisited

Are you ready for Faster Horses Country Music & Camping 2019? To get you excited for July 19-20-21,2019 we have put together the highlights of the 2018 Festival in Brooklyn, Michigan along with announcing the 2019 headliners! Click on the image below and get all the news and updates of Faster Horses 2019!

 

Brooklyn, Michigan (July 20-22, 2018) When most people hear Faster Horses Festival they instantly think “Party Of The Summer.” Faster Horses has been a summer tradition for the last 6 years at Michigan International Speedway, in Brooklyn Michigan. There are 18 campgrounds to choose from, numerous activists on the venue site, food, beverage and of course the fantastic musical acts.

With two stages to choose from, there is an average of 11 acts a day. The “Next From Nashville” stage is lined up with new up and coming artists that Sirius XM radio call their Highway Finds. If you have ever been able to listen to Sirius XM radio you would know that this is from the channel called The Highway, which is current country songs. On The Highway channel they have a segment that will highlight up and coming artists to help them get out on the airwaves.  Throughout the weekend, radio personalities Storme Warren, MC, Al Skop and Buzz Brainard jump up on stage and help introduce the artists onto the stage.

Click here for 2019 Faster Horses Country Music & Camping press release:

The Main stage is where your popular artists will fill in the large lawn. As the first artists take the Main stage, you see a sea of humans with red, white, and blue clothing, cowboy boots, cowboy hats and billed hats. With excitement, cheers and hands in the air they have all come together to do one thing and that is to have a great time.

 

Day 1

Jameson Rodgers is the first to start off the festival on the “Next From Nashville” stage. He is a singer/songwriter from Mississippi. His deep gritty voice has you listening to every word. His latest single “Some girls” is the story of a breakup from a guys point of view.

The next to take the stage is Austin Burke. He started his musical career at the age of three when he sang the National Anthem for the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks. Austin has lived in Nashville for the past four years, where he waits tables, songs writes and saved money to record his debut single “Sleeping Around”. That single caught the attention of WME who signed him to their roster. His current single “Whole lot in Love” has had over 30 million streams.

The first lady to take the stage of the festival was Meghan Patrick.  She is a Canadian country singer with two EP’s, Grace And Grit and her newest one is Country Music Made Me Do It.  The current single off that EP has the same title “Country Music Made Me Do It”.

 

Our first Main stage artist is Jordan Davis who’s tall stature and full beard had the girls screaming in delight as he sand his current single “More than I know”. He continues to fire up the crowd with songs off of his debut album Home State.  He finishes out the set with “Take it from Me”, which is still climbing the charts and his first top five hit “Single you up”

 

Back on the Next From Nashville stage Dylan Schneider is doing what he does best, connecting with his fans. Dylan is a singer/songwriter who has released three EP’s in the last two years, with the latest being Spotlight on You.  As a writer he thinks about how a song sounds live and how his fans will relate to it.

One of only two lady artists performing on the Main Stage is none other then a really cutie RaeLynn.  She appears on stage sporting a pair of thigh high red boots as she sings “Wild Horse, the titled song off of her 2017 released album Wild Horse.  With her sweet charm she has the crowd dancing, singing and hands in the air.  Her set closes without with her current single “Queens Don’t”.

 

Due to some severe weather in the area, the festival officials choose to evacuate the festival area and send concert goers back to their campsites and vehicles until the area was clear of the weather threat.   After a near two hour delay, festival attendees were allowed back into the festival as the music continues into the evening.

Last artist of day one to take the Next From Nashville stage is the talented Jillian Jacqueline.  Jillian comes from a musical family. At age 9, she auditioned for a Broadway Christmas show with Kenny Rogers.  She toured with Kenny Rogers for two years and then joined her sisters to sing in a quartet. She left music for awhile to pursue her education. She then moved to Nashville to start her musical career again. Her current single “Reasons”, which is off of her EP Side A.

 

Midland takes the stage to cheering fans who are ready to party after the weather break. The guys asked the crowd “Did ya’ll enjoy your rain nap.” Last year the band played on the Next From Nashville stage, to performing on the Main stage this year. The three members of the group (Mark Wystrach, Cameron Duddy and Jesse Carson) entertain the crowd all over the stage, remarking “excuse us if we slip and fall on stage we are just drunk.” That makes a great lead into their hit song “Drinking Problem”. The groups current single is “Burnt Out”.

 

The crowd is all hyped up for the next performer Brantley Gilbert. The lights go dark as there is intro music playing, cheers and up on the big screens are a 5 count depending to 1.  You hear the crowd yelling the numbers all the way down to lights and Brantley singing “My Kind of Party. He is an energetic entertainer as he’s all over the stage connecting with his fans.  His show closes with an instrumental intro to his hit “Kick in the Sticks”

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This artist was a great choice to close out the first leg of the Faster Horses Festival.  Blake Shelton is a household name from being a host on TV’s The Voice to having so many hits to choose from. He told the antidote about an officer backstage that told him “In Order for you to sing in Michigan you have to sing songs about drinking”, he then sang “Sangria”. He told the crowd that its hard to have a set list when so many of ya want to hear the old country hits. He sang 22 songs, for over 2 hours which reached into the early moments of the next day.

 

Day 2

Riley Green opens the second day of Faster Horses on the Next To Nashville stage. At a young age Riley found his appreciation for traditional country. His grandfather helped to teach him the spirit of songwriting and performing songs. Riley’s current single “Bury me in Dixie” has streamed over 1 million.

 

The group to take the stage next is made up of 6 members, which 3 are siblings, are known as Delta Rae. Delta Rae is a country rock style band with Fleetwood Mac influences. Their lastest single is “A Long and Happy Life”.

This next group is taking the airwaves by storm, The Wild Feathers. The group recently released their current album “Greetings from the Neon Frontier”. This album has a folky, easy rock sound that is heard in their debut single “Big Sky”.

Main stage is opened on day 2 by Walker Hayes. The crowd is loving every song that he sings. He tells how he came up with his single “Craig” and that the song is about a real life man he met at his sons baseball game. He sings his hit song “You Broke up with me” and then closes out with his tribute song to his favorite artist Kenny Chesney, “Shut Up Kenny”.

We find our attention back at the Next From Nashville stage with Cale Dodds. Cale is a country pop artist and songwriter. He wrote the song “Drunk Dial”, which was recorded by country music group A Thousand Horses and topped the Billboard charts at 23. He currently released a new single in March of 2018 “Take You Back”.

The Main stage comes alive as Locash appears. The crowd is cheering for they know that they going to have a great time with this singing duo, Preston Brust and Chris Lucus. They start off with singing their current single “Don’t Get Better Then That” which is the first to come from the not yet release new album “Brothers”. They noticed three guys who are decked out in red, white, blue and eagles on their clothes. Preston has security help get them on stage, he has them hold an American flag as they sing “The star Spangle Banner”. They close out the show with “I Love this Life” as the three fans dance and sing behind them on stage

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You will be very entertained by the next artist Chris Janson. He is very energetic, kicked up his legs, jumping, doing a hopping dance as he sings and plays a harmonica without sounding winded at all. Chris is a great crowd motivatior, he has them moving, following instructions and singing like the “Pied Piper”. He sings his crowd favorites like “Everybody”, “Fix a Drink” and his current single “Drunk Girl”.

Charlie Worsham will close out day two on the Next From Nashville stage. Charlie is a Warner Bros. Recording artist with his latest album Beginning Of Things, which was released in 2017.  His album contains 13 songs with “Get to you” being the current single out now.

2018 marks 15 years of hits from Billy Currington, who has been on a 16 stop tour across the US with support act Locash.  Billy is not known for his albums, he is known for the singles he puts out.  Even though he hasn’t won awards, he is still topping the air play charts and selling records.  His memorable single “Good Directions” is always a favorite. His current single “ Wake Me Up” has an acoustic sound that will have people wanting hear more.

Brooks & Dunn have not played together since 2015 in Las Vegas with Reba.  As a favor to Brian O’Connell, the founder of Faster Horses & CEO of Live Nation Country,  the famous duo (Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn) agreed to reunite to perform at this years Faster Horses festival. With so many hits that includes “Brand New Man,” “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” “Rock My World (Little Country Girl),” “My Maria” and “Only In America,”  it was not hard for the packed crowd to sing along to every song.  After performing at Faster Horses they will return to Las Vegas with Reba for another three month tour called “Reba, Brooks & Dunn: Together in Vegas”.

Day 3

To kick off the final leg of the Faster Horses festival, the James Barker Band takes to the Next From Nashville stage. The band is a four member band that are from Canada. Their EP Game On has had great success in Canada. On the Canadian charts the bands current single “Chills” has went to number 1.

The next artist to take the stage has his own style. Filmore who has decided to go with his last name, since there are already too many Tyler’s in the country music business.  He is an energetic performer with a country pop sound.  His current single “Slower” has had over 1 million copies streamed.

Brown & Gray is a duo comprised of two talented singer/songwriters Kaci Brown and Sam Gray.  “Top Down” is the single that starts off the duo pairing up together.  Sam Gray had wrote the song and wasn’t quite happy with it, he collaborated with Kaci Brown on the song to see what she thought.   Putting their talents together they released an album in 2018 called Salt in Coffee.

The first to start on the Main stage  is Ashley McBryde.  Ashley is your average women with a voice that many say is that of an angel.  She will tell you that she is not perfect, but her fans feel otherwise. Crowds love her funny stories and most of all the voice that will make you sway, dance and sing.  In the spring of 2018 she released her current album Girl Going Nowhere that include her current singles “A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega” and “American Scandal”.

Nikki Lane will bring her unique style and sound to the Next From Nashville stage.  Nikki Lane’s style is different from most of the artists playing this weekend. She spins out a sixties style of country with her own flare. You can enjoy her sound on the latest single “Highway Queen”.

We are back to the main stage where Parmalee takes the stage.  Parmalee is a four member band that is comprised of two brothers (Matt and Scott Thomas), a cousin (Barry Knox), and a life long friend (Josh McSwain).  This formula has created a great sound with a mix of energy that makes you want more. The band released a compilation of songs The Party Pack in April of 2018.  This EP is sure to get any party started, it has the current single “Hotdamlama” on it.

The Next From Nashville stage has one of the newest Sirius XM radios Highway finds Brandon Lay on it. A performance at an Open-Mic Night at A Cinder-Block Roadhouse in Tennessee started it all for Brandon. He would return every week to build a following as he learned how to enhanced his talent. He has such songs as “Speakers, Bleachers and Preachers” and his latest single “Yada Yada Yada”.

The Main stage was alive with fans as Tyler Farr came out singing is newest single “Love by the Moon”.  He kept the crowd hyped up singing hit after hit, there hands waving in the air and their voices singing loudly back.  Closing out his set with a favorite of all “ A Guy Walks into a Bar”.

Jon Langston closes out the Next From Nashville stage his deep robust voice.  Girls are mesmerized by his growl country sound while the guys give respect.  Definitely a great bluesy country sound in his latest single “When it Comes to Loving You”.

We are down to the last two acts of the festival on the Main Stage.  Dustin Lynch takes the stage singing “Hell of a Night”.  Dustin started playing guitar at age nine and at 16 he performed at the BlueBird Café,  which started his desire to perform and learn more techniques as a performer.  He has many hit singles off of his latest album Current Mood released in 2017.  His current single “Good Girl” is not out on an album, it was a song that just happened to come about one night writing with friends.

The crowd is body after body waiting for this next act that will rock their faces off. The lights go down and the cheers go off like rockets. Florida Georgia Line come out singing “Anything Goes” to hands in the air and screams of delight. About a ¼ of the way into the show, the guys have a special guest that they would like to invite onto the stage. It would be their friend Raelynn who takes the stage. Raelynn is featuring her single that just released this weekend “Tailgate”. After the small visit from her, they boys amp back up and the crowd roars back to life with every song. FGL has a new album coming out sometime in 2019, that has their newest single “Simple” on it. “Simple” is at #2 on the Billboard Charts.

As Faster Horses comes to a close, fans funnel out as a large Firework display is lighting up the sky. Fans have had one heck of a ride for the last 3 days filled with all kinds of fun. Hope to see everyone next year July 19, 20, 21 2019.

Photojournalist: John Reasoner