February 26 th was a special night in London ON with a couple of big anniversaries in the Country music landscape for the city and the region. The first big anniversary was the celebration of Cowboys Ranch, marking 10 years as a country music club.
For those who have grown up in the London area, or went to school there, you have likely been to Cowboys at least once in the past 10 years. The other big anniversary was for our friends over at Country 104. They have been on the air, playing the best country music, for two years. Team these two up and you're guaranteed one heck of a party.
Once you walked up the red carpet into Cowboys, you were greeted with tasty snacks and the full VIP treatment. The night kicked off with a VIP, invite only, party where a couple hundred lucky listeners and guests got an intimate acoustic show with one of Canadas hottest country duo's, Autumn Hill. This dynamic duo is tearing up the country music scene here in Canada, recently being nominated for, "break through group of the year", at the upcoming Juno awards and I'm willing to lay money on a CCM nod for their latest album, "Anchor".
The set showcased their amazing talent as it was a stripped down acoustic set which included all the hits. Some that stuck out to me were, "Blame", "Anything at All", and of course their latest hit, "Mix Tape". In a preshow interview, I caught Mike and Tareya on Country 104 with Weaver, talking about how, "Mix Tape", was actually written for Keith Urban and Sheryl Crow. Judging by the reaction of the crowd when they played, "Mix Tape", I think many are happy it made it to their library of hits. They even threw in a great cover of Bon Jovi's, "Living on a Prayer", which had the crowd singing right along.
After a solid 45 minute set it was time to turn the party up another gear and open the doors to the public who were anxious to get in and start the weekend in style with Country 104 Freedom Fridays.
If you didn't get a chance to catch this show, Autumn Hill is on the bill at a few festivals this summer including Rock the Park / Gone Country in downtown London ON. Make sure you tune into Country 104 to catch Sound Check Entertainment's own Corey Kelly when he chats with morning show host, Dunner, about the latest scoop on all things country music related every couple of weeks.
Bill Woodcock / @BillWoodcock
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