One of our pre festival tips Sophia Scott would take to the Barrelhouse Stage for quite possibly the coldest set of this years C2C Festival. With the temperature dipping severely as the afternoon drew on, Sophia arrived on stage wearing a thick coat and there was never any danger of it coming off!
Taking to the stage with an additional guitarist, she would kick off with "Boots Jeans Jesus", which would see her fire out the lyrics to the verses in a rapid style. Halfway through she would take the microphone out of it's stand and perform a little shimmy dance as she sang. The next she song "She Ain't Me" she attributed to "Kickstarting my career" and it clearly struck a chord with the UK listeners, as when the chorus mentioned the title it was greeted with huge cheers. It's a little different from other country songs in that it actually gives voice to her ex's criticisms of her before slapping him down.
"She ain't cynical she never fights or disagrees"
"But I know you and what you need
And she can't give you everything
Cause there's one thing she'll never be
She ain't me!"
In a nice touch of stage craft, the guitarist would fade on the last chorus for a few lines - letting Sophia vocals shine before both would ramp up for the remainder of the song.
The new single "You Problem" had more of a jazzy feel than the recorded version, giving it more of a summery Amy Winehouse feel, especially with the electric guitar.
A cover of Dan & Shay's "Tequila" seemed to bond the Barrelhouse Stage crowd as one, into a mass singalong. Sophia would walk the stage and hold out the microphone for the audience to fill in the gaps.
A new song "Acid In Aspen" at first just seemed to be a litany of drug references, but with us knowing Sophia to be a better writer than that and her introduction saying "It's not what you think it's about based on the title" - it is in fact about a different kind of drug - love! It manages to make tie together the drug related links to highlight love as being the most powerful of all.
"I'm getting calls from my Mama like "Are you on marijuana?
But I told them all not to worry,
It ain't the Acid In Aspen
Or the dope out in Denver
Ain't the codeine in Kansas
I'm on something better"
Coming out of an 8 year relationship proved to be the inspiration behind "Barstool Confessions", one of the things the seemed to affect Sofia most was all the time wasted which would prove to kernel that created "Lipstick On You"
"I hate that I wasted the best years of my life
My time and my patience, those bottles of wine
You took the laughs and the tears, love notes on the mirror
And my kisses too
God, I hate that I wasted all my lipstick on you"
This song really let Sofia run free with her vocals, powering them out with a passion, leaving the audience to enthusiastically finish the final chorus.
Sophia's final song was a new one "Wild Flowers" which came with its own unique introduction around baptisms and rebirthing. It was upbeat, mixing references to "Sowing seeds of love" and being barefoot with religious imagery to make one rootsy soul number that let Sophia really let rip with her vocals. In this stripped back version it's impossible to guess how it might eventually sound, however #TEAMw21 can already visualise a gospel choir giving this the required lift to become something truly special.