Summer
Nights in the Country
Hopetoun
House, Nr Edinburgh
26
August 2000
Country
music has rarely enjoyed such a regal setting outdoors in the British
Isles
as the one hosted at what the promoters hailed as Scotland’s finest
stately
home (Hopetoun House), set in 100 acres of green rolling parkland.
…on
my own estimate I would guess by the time Steve Earle was punishing the
Celtic air 4,000 hardy souls might’ve been mingling around the grounds.
But
first we had the youthful-looking Kevin Montgomery and his band
Pettibone
(without Doug Pettibone who was out on the road with Tracy Chapman, we
had Idle Jets' guitarist, Pat Buchanan) – featuring The Mavericks’ Paul
Deakin and Robert Reynolds. And didn’t they let their class
show. Montgomery winning over the fans as the sun tried to
make a belated appearance – he not only had a classy set of guys
supporting
him and his songs, but former band member Jeff Finlin adding guitar
and singing a song of his own. A John Prine/Guy Clark-type
affair titled “Sunday’s Forgivin’”.
Montgomery
pulling songs from his new album, “Another Long Story” (Road Trip
Records)
prompted many to ask the question – why has he taken so long to make it
to Scotland?
Extract
from article by Maurice Hope
Country
Music Roundup
October
2000
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