COUNTRY THUNDER MUSIC FESTIVAL @ Shadow Hill Ranch – Twin Lakes, WI

July 16, 2021

Review by Janelle Rominski
Photos by Janelle Rominski

Similar to day one, Country Thunder’s second day of the four day music festival was a blast beyond satisfaction. With overcast clouds and dry grounds, the weather was great, keeping onlookers cool and making for a comfortable and extremely enjoyable concert-going experience as those in attendance watched sizzling hot performances by the popular artists that took the stage on the festive Friday.

The festival’s lineup for day two changed a few short days prior to kick-off as a result of a cancellation by Tanya Tucker due to her fracturing her hip resulting in an emergency surgery. This led to the existing lineup, with the exception of headliner Eric Church, shifting their schedules slightly to accommodate the change and allowed co-hosts Williams & Ree’s to perform a set to start the day off on a high note. Thankfully, Tucker’s surgery went well as she shared on social media that it “just amazes me… the outpouring of love since my hip operation. Thank y’all so much for all the love, support and positive words of encouragement as I recover!!! Like I said before… a bad hip can’t keep me down!!! Can’t wait to see y’all real soon!”

Once Williams & Ree completed their set, Canadian cowgirl Meghan Patrick took to the stage and offered a gleaming and polished presence. Rockin’ her long blonde locks, torn up black jean shorts and a pair of fancy cowboy boots, Patrick made an initial great visual first impression, but the real treat started once she belted out the lyrics to the first song. Her vocals are powerful as hell and her show(wo)manship is amazing. Made for the stage, Meghan makes it her home and reels you into her performance from the second she steps on stage until the moment she waves goodbye. Touring in support of her “Heart Of My Glass” album which was just released weeks ago on June 25th, she is doing everything in her power to follow in the footsteps of influences like Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris and Aretha Franklin. Additionally, Patrick has been dating country musician Mitchell Tenpenny making for, yet another, cute country music couple.

Following Patrick came the country-pop duo Seaforth hailing from none other than Sydney, Australia suburb Seaforth. With songwriters, Tom Jordan and Mitch Thompson, leading the charge as friends of over 20 years and hired guns backing them up on bass guitar and drums, the two collaborators are proving to be Australia’s best-kept secret. Their single “Breakups” is so popular that it is played around the clock on SiriusXM’s The Highway and their songwriting and layered harmonies are a great reason to give them a listen and check them out on tour.

Next in the afternoon lineup was Parmalee, another band taking their name from the town they originate from being the itty bitty city of Parmele, North Carolina with a population of 278 based on the 2010 census. The band consists of brothers Matt Thomas and Scott Thomas, along with their cousin, Barry Knox, and friend Josh McSwain. Despite the challenges for the music industry in 2020, the year proved to be a good time for the band as they took number one in the US Country Airplay and Canada Country charts with their December 2019 single “Just The Way” featuring country-rapper Blanco Brown. Parmalee is as close to performance perfection as it gets as their concert was pure energy from the first minute to the last as vocalist, Matt Thomas, certainly got his steps in for the day parading up and down the catwalk on numerous occasions to shake fans’ hands, sign posters and simply say “hi” to those in attendance.

Although it was unfortunate that Parmalee had to finish their set just as the energy level peaked, it was time to party with HARDY. Born in Mississippi, HARDY exudes the ultimate fun-loving country music artist who goes all-in to living that country life. He’s written songs for Florida Georgia Line, Chris Lane, Blake Shelton and Thomas Rhett just to name a few. Wearing all black attire, with a Nuthin Fancy camouflage trucker hat and sunglasses, HARDY, sported a full red Solo cup and reeled in the the crowd for one sensational set. With nearly everyone on the festival grounds singing along to his tunes, HARDY capitalized on his hilariously redneck-themed songs and had a fun time doing it.

As the sun set and the moon lit up the night sky, it was time to go to “Church.” Closing out Country Thunder day two was the ever-so-epic singer, Eric Church. With house and stage lights set to dim, the crowd roared with immense power as he made his entrance as the quintessential country entertainer he is. He wore his signature sunglasses and tight jeans and started singing his latest single “Heart On Fire” followed by “Smoke a Little Smoke” from the comfort of center stage.

It wasn’t until the third song when he finally came out on the catwalk to chant “How ’bout You.” Backed by impeccable musicians and singers including backup singer, Joanna Cotten, whose incredibly soulful voice collaborates with Church’s vocals ceremoniously, Church was like the Energizer Bunny at Country Thunder. Performing 25 songs in just over two hours, Eric Church fans definitely got their money’s worth. The second day of Country Thunder was incredible. It’s hard to believe the festival is already halfway over, but as the saying goes, “time flies when you’re having fun” and day three promises more of the same.