The Jack Wharff Band, The Kruse Brothers and the Year of New Acts: The Biggest Takeaways from C2C Festival 2026

March 18, 2026 5:56 pm GMT

As we trudge through the post-C2C Festival 2026 blues and come to terms with the prospect of somehow spending the weekend without a cowboy hat in sight, we're looking back at another stellar instalment of the beloved UK country extravaganza.

C2C has always done a top-tier job of scouting out up-and-comers and exciting new talent in the country sphere. While the headliners are inevitably the main event, a lot of the fun is found in stumbling across your next favourite artists on a day-time stage.

And this felt truer this year than ever before - so much so that we're championing C2C Festival 2026 as the Year of New Acts, with a plethora of prodigies catching our eye.

It helped, of course, that there were even more stages during the day for fans to witness live country music, with the addition of the fantastic new Yellowstone Yard. From this to The Dutton Ranch Stage to the ever-popular Big Entrance Stage to the BBC Radio 2 Indigo Stage to our personal favourite, The Saloon Hosted by Holler's Ross Jones (but hey, we're not biased), attendees were spoiled for choice.

There was an energy fizzling throughout the O2 Arena and surrounding area from early in the morning, with more attendees packing into each stage from the moment the curtain rose. The appetite to not only enjoy big-name artists on the main-stage, but to discover new prospects, was refreshingly apparent across all three days.

Another key takeaway was how, despite growing pressure to embrace genre-blurring and country-adjacent artists, C2C Festival 2026 doubled-down on its penchant for classic and traditional-leaning sounds. The decision to have Zach Top as the Friday night headliner epitomised this, as did Brooks & Dunn's electric finale on Sunday.

It highlights what we've always known - UK country fans are not casual listeners that simply know a few Morgan Wallen songs, they're hardcore, deep-diving aficionados.

And with that in mind, although there's a dizzying array to choose from, we've decided to spotlight a few of the artists that caught our eyes - and ears - at C2C Festival 2026:

The Jack Wharff Band

Everywhere we went, in both C2C Berlin and C2C Festival in London, when we asked who listeners were enjoying the most, The Jack Wharff Band were on everybody's lips.

Since Zach Bryan's explosion in popularity over the past five years or so, the country music landscape has become a little overcrowded by the alt-country, heart-on-my-sleeve, dude-with-a-guitar wave - which is what makes The Jack Wharff Band's bold new sound all the more thrilling. Combining unabashedly old-school and Appalachian-infused instrumentation with soaring, galvanising hooks, the Virginia four-piece are establishing themselves as the heir-apparent to 49 Winchester's throne.

As they showcased on the CMA Spotlight Stage, it doesn't matter if they've got a full band set-up or a more pared-down composition - the band's soulfulness and energy always radiates through. With bluegrass, Americana and at times folk textures seeping into each song, it's hard to pin down exactly where The Jack Wharff Band sit on today's ever-changing spectrum of mainstream and alt-country sonics.

Regardless of where they were playing throughout the weekend, one thing remained consistent - The Jack Wharff Band might be singing about heartache and homesickness, but underlying every battle-cry is a welcome dose of hope and positivity.

Maxim Mower

Kruse Brothers

If you wanted proof beyond Zach Top that neo-traditional country is in great health, look no further than The Kruse Brothers. Taking Holler’s Saloon Stage by storm on the Saturday lunchtime, it all kicked off with a wonderfully chaotic interview - during which Holler’s own Ross Jones serenaded everyone with a preview of ‘White on the Ground’, before Chandler Kruse surprised the crowd with an operatic segue.

We’ve always been suckers for a sleek, surging harmony, and The Kruse Brothers showcased their enchanting vocals across fan-favourites like ‘White on the Ground’, ‘Tulsa County Jail’ and ‘Honky Tonk Heaven’. Whether they’re lacing gravitas and drama into stories of Wild West adventures, or bringing levity and playfulness on dance-hall earworms, The Kruse Brothers have a level of versatility that few artists can emulate at this early stage in their careers. Watch this space.

Tyla Rodrigues

There’s a new neo-traditional star on the rise - and she’s not coming out of Nashville, Texas, or anywhere close.

Australia’s Tyla Rodrigues is part of that new wave of country artists pushing out of Oceania, and she’s been flying the flag hard across Europe and the UK on the C2C circuit. We clocked her early at Holler, hooked by her knack for tender, old-school storytelling and that tear-in-your-beer honky-tonk twang - and by the end of the weekend, we were all in.

She hit the Holler stage on Sunday afternoon to a packed-out, properly fired-up crowd and spent thirty minutes rolling through unreleased cuts and a couple of well-chosen covers like she’d been doing it for years.

‘By The Time It’s Over’ has that woozy, tipsy sweetness that gets a room swaying before it even realises it, and her take on ‘Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys’ lands with a real ache - her soft yodel giving it an extra, lonesome pull.

The wild thing? She’s sitting on a whole stash of songs we haven’t even heard yet. As she mentioned onstage, it’s all feeding into a full-length version of Hold On Tight.

Based on this set alone, it’s already shot straight onto our most-anticipated list for the year.

Ross Jones

Solon Holt

Here's a guy who's been touring and playing shows absolutely non-stop for the past month over here in the UK and Europe, and with each show, sounding richer and more refined than the one before.

A couple weeks before heading out with Jordan Davis and hitting C2C, Solon decided - casually - to pick up the piano. Not just to bring one along, but actually learn it. By the time we caught up with him at The Saloon, it already felt baked into his set. When I pointed it out, he shrugged it off: he just wants to chase that Billy Joel / Elton John lane. Can't fault the guy for that.

It’d be easy to get carried away here and start throwing around big, lofty comparisons. But honestly? If he keeps moving like this, they might not be that far off.

The obvious, maybe slightly lazy, reference point is early John Mayer - those fluid, blues-leaning guitar lines, the soft ache in his voice, the romantic, slightly wide-eyed songwriting. It’s all in there. But Solon’s real trump card is his voice: that rough-edged, soulful rasp that can quiet a room or cut clean through a full arena.

He’s another one building towards a debut record, and hearing these songs in their raw, still-forming state only makes it clearer. There’s something real here. And yeah, he’s got it.

Benny G

If you missed Benny G across the weekend in London and Berlin, you only have yourself to blame.

The guy was literally everywhere, if there was an opportunity to play - he took it, and did so with style.

You may already know Benny as one of the wonderfully talented musicians who is ripping up the rulebook on TikTok with his majestic covers of Chris Stapleton and Ella Langley harmonies alongside his buddies, Penelope Road.

Whenever we were wandering through the C2C grounds - usually in search of the comforting glow of the Starbucks sign for a much-needed coffee - and we heard Benny G’s evocative vocals reverberating out, we had one thought: what a voice.

When you first hear his rich, soulful delivery combining with the warm, easy strum of his acoustic guitar, you’d be forgiven for thinking that voice was emanating from a seasoned 80’s R&B crooner, with his gentle rasp and charisma lighting up stunning odes such as the sinuous and endlessly charming ‘An Hour or So’.

With a style that straddles the boundaries of R&B, soul and country, and that at times feels Stapleton-esque and at others comes off as more akin to Justin Timberlake, the possibilities are endless for Benny G. One thing to note, though, as he confirmed to Holler in C2C Berlin - the G does not, sadly, stand for Gangster.

Hannah McFarland

Hannah McFarland felt like the perfect way to open the weekend - and judging by the turnout at The Saloon Stage on Friday afternoon, we weren’t the only ones thinking it. It was one of the busiest sets of the whole weekend for Holler, and for good reason.

Honestly, we couldn’t quite believe our luck. Getting to host one of the sharpest new singer-songwriters in country right now? We’ll take that every time.

‘Missin’ Me,’ stripped of its glossy, synthy edges hits differently live - less shimmer, more sting. What’s left is this quietly commanding, heart-on-your-sleeve moment that feels like it could’ve easily found its way onto a Carly Pearce record in another life.

Then there’s ‘Hey Highway,’ which everyone seemed to be waiting for. It builds and builds before landing that gut-punch of a line - “I was doing fine until the chorus hit me.” You could’ve heard a pin drop. Except you couldn’t, because half the room was whisper-singing it back like they didn’t want to let it go just yet.

With a little time left to play with, Hannah slipped into a cover of Shania Twain’s ‘You’re Still The One’ - which made perfect sense. She’s cut from that same cloth: clear-eyed, straight-talking, and all about the story.

Rise of the UK: Katie Rigby, Jeorgia Rose, Chanel Yates & Maya Lane

As much as we love seeing the biggest names roll in from the US and Canada, there’s a different kind of thrill in watching the homegrown scene step up - and realising just how strong it’s getting here in the UK.

We’ve been banging the drum for Katie Rigby, Jeorgia Rose, Chanel Yates and Maya Lane for a while now, but seeing it click in real-time is something else. Four of the UK’s finest, pulling in crowds who came curious and left converted - new favourite artists found, just like that.

Chanel, especially, felt like a moment. She rolled into The Saloon Stage on Saturday afternoon with a full crew of “besties” in tow and a crowd that clearly already knew the deal. ‘Shotgun Seat,’ ‘Friend From Work,’ ‘Studio Apartment’ - one after another, big sing-along moments, no warm-up needed. For a lot of that audience, this wasn’t a discovery set - it was a victory lap. And she owned it, all sharp edges and signature sass.

Maya Lane, meanwhile showcased her ability to nimbly weave between traditional 70's country and contemporary folk with her packed-out set at The Dutton Ranch Stage. There's a captivatingly ethereal quality that shines most lustrously on the unreleased ‘Guys Like You’, which finds Lane calmly rebuking unwanted advances in a bar.

RJ & MM

Future of the Festival: Elizabeth Nichols & Emily Ann Roberts

Although not strictly “new” artists now, because they’re both already highly respected names in the country sphere, we couldn’t conclude our C2C Festival 2026 round-up without showing some love to Elizabeth Nichols and Emily Ann Roberts. With both appearing on this year's CMA Spotlight Stage, there’s no doubt in our minds that Nichols and Roberts are the future of the C2C Festival main-stage.

Nichols showcased her ability to fuse her hilarious - and just the right amount of outrageous - wit and humour with addictive, undulating melodies. From leading an arena-wide sing-along with her countrified take on Katy Perry’s ‘Hot N Cold’, to treating us to her viral earworm, ‘I Got a New One’, Nichols’ CMA Spotlight Stage set acted as a mission statement of what’s to come from the fast-emerging artist.

Similarly, although Roberts has been a mainstay on our playlists for a couple of years now, we’re glad to see the self-professed “Yeehaw Meemaw” building up a head of steam around her fantastic recent releases. “W-H-I-P-P-E-D” - a fond, tongue-in-cheek reflection on her marriage - was stuck in our heads all weekend long, while her Southern charm was on full display as she detailed the stories behind songs such as ‘Jack and Jill Daniels’ and her unreleased tribute to her father at the CMA Songwriters Series.

Crucially, like large portions of the 2026 roster, both Nichols and Roberts lean towards a classic country aesthetic, while still incorporating contemporary strands and phrasing. We’d be very surprised if Nichols and Roberts don’t both find themselves near the business-end of the C2C Festival main-stage line-up before too long.

For more on C2C Festival 2026, see below: