There were a lot of great musicians on stage at Boots & Hearts over the weekend. But you would be hard pressed to find someone shredding and strutting and singing the way that Canada's own, Lindsay Ell did on the main stage!
Country music fans love to talk about how talented Keith Urban and Brad Paisley are with their guitars. It's a point of pride for the genre. Well, hear this: If you're going to talk about those two men because they sing and play guitar at a level above the norm, you need to add Lindsay Ell to your list.
And hear this too: Do not let us catch you saying that Lindsay Ell plays well for a girl. You listen to her play and and then you show some damn respect.
The Boots & Hearts crowd braved the hot Sunday sun to find Lindsay on the main stage, and they were rewarded. Because as amazing as her guitar skills are, she equals them with her songwriting and singing - and all of that makes for a really entertaining set, no matter what the weather conditions are!
With a selection of her own songs including, What Does You Good, All Alright, Trippin' On Love, Shut Me Up, and By The Way and covers like Landslide, Love Yourself, and a Bad Blood/ Thinking Out Loud/ Say What You Need To Say medley, Lindsay had the crowd singing and dancing and waving hands and grooving along.
One of our highlights came when Lindsay covered Chris Stapleton's Tennessee Whiskey with the help of the very talented Jessica Mitchell who we had talked to just a few minutes earlier.
Lindsay Ell has been killing it in Nashville for the last couple years, playing the Opry and touring with superstars, but we've seen her come home for the CCMA and CMAO Awards, and by her own admission, she loves the feeling of coming back across the border into Canada. And on this day, as she played and sang and worked the crowd, she wasn't the only one happy that she came north to us, even just for the day!