After the downpours of Saturday, there was a bright sunshine and brisk breeze to start the day and to entice the early birds from their tents and camper vans. #TEAMw21's eye never sleeps and so at the ungodly hour of 10:15 we were checking out the credentials of Ollie Hawkins. He would intrigue us if only because we could find no trace of him pre festival - so on the off chance this was the next big thing we thought we'd schlep over and make sure.
It would be a mixture of covers and originals, the covers like Zach Bryans, "Going South" or Tyler Childers "Feathered Indians" were played with an exuberance but seemingly more as crowd pleasers rather than out of any great affinity with them. It was only on the third song "Franklin" that #TEAMw21 really perked our ears up and started to pay attention. From the brash guitar style of the covers, this was more intricate, delicate playing, Ollie's voice also was a bit more considered in its approach, slightly pained and worn from the weekend it was perfect for conveying the emotion of the song. with its feeling of regret.
"I think about all we could have been
If I'd stayed in Franklin"
The final chorus really saw Ollie up the tempo and volume.
More covers passed with Dylan Gossett's "Coal", Garth Brooks "The Dance" and Luke Combs "She Got The Best Of Me" but sandwiched in between was another original "Take The Money and Run". This came with a bizarre introductory story but was good uptempo fun and made you wonder why the ratio of covers to originals was not perhaps the other way round, with Ollie using this platform to more showcase his own writing rather than that of others.
As Ollie would say - it is the just start of his musical journey and at least #TEAMw21 can say "We were there!".
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