The Long Road

The Long Road is the country, folk and rock weekend at Stanford Hall, in Lutterworth. David Jarman walked it from 23 to 25 August 2024, with about seventy bands and four stages: Interstate, Buddy's, Front Porch and Rhinestone. He came back from 27 to 30 August 2026, with Nick Barber and Craig Fee. Rain stopped the festival for more than an hour on Friday, and on Saturday the Buddy's tent was shut for some hours. Sunday stayed dry and they put straw on the mud. The official page was already on the row and it is kept. The 2024 photos are by Nick Barber and Chloe Hashemi. In 2026 Jarman signs some too.

The opening night of 2024, on the Interstate, was Campbell/Jensen: Ashley Campbell on banjo, daughter of Glen Campbell, and Thor Jensen on guitar. They opened with Everything is Fine, recorded in early 2023 in a cottage in Ireland about two hundred and fifty years old, from the record Turtle Cottage. Then the instrumental Edge of the World, drawn from Leon Redbone, Gentle on My Mind, Crying Time and An Empty Bottle, a Broken Heart and You're Still on My Mind. They closed with With You. At Buddy's, Kassi Valazza opened with Room in the City. Watching Planes Go By stayed on a long instrumental, and Rapture came from a friend who used to start fires as a child. Colby Caillat told the story of Bubbly: a musician left her guitar in open D and the sunny tone came from that. From Along the Way she let out Worth It and closed with Cecilia, by Simon and Garfunkel, the crowd inside it.

Meg McRee opened with Is It Just Me and went on to Red Yellow Indigo. On Gone As It Gets the group went to rock. Tried and True she wrote with Lainey Wilson. On Usually You she asked people to imagine a stretch of the California shore. She closed with Mary Jane and Chardonnay. Kaitlin Butts, from Tulsa, said it was better to put the anger into a song. The refrain of a piece about an ex repeated that you do not have to die to be dead to her. Other Girls she gave to the bad girls, with fiddle. Pokey LaFarge let out Run Run Run, and the crowd ran on the spot. For a Night brought trumpet, and Goodbye Barcelona moved in three-four. The Deep Blue, four women, one from England, one from Scotland, one from Ireland and one from Wales, let out Orange is the Only Colour, about a missing girl, and How About It?, about walking alone at night. It rained and they still got a warm reception. Brown Horse, from Norwich, swapped instruments as they went. The sound stayed poor. The recent record is called Reservoir.

On the Rhinestone, Morganway were on the big stage for the first time. Hurricane and Feels Like Letting Go, which that week had been on Bob Harris's show. Drew Holcomb and the Neighbours opened with Family. Tennessee and Dragons, this one for his grandfather. Holcomb had thought the story made up, that the Queen gave his grandfather a lift in her Land Rover at Sandringham, until, after the grandfather died, a letter from her arrived. Fly and Find Your People, and the close Dance With Everybody, with the people from National Parks who had just left the Interstate. On Saturday, Don McLean played about ninety minutes. Botanical Gardens, Thunderstorm Girl, Little Sister, by Elvis Presley, and And I Love Her So. He said that one had been played at Megan and Harry's wedding, the crowd booed, and he played it anyway. Not Fade Away, Cryin', Midnight Special, Folsom Prison Blues and Vincent. He closed with American Pie, everybody singing. On Sunday, at Buddy's, Jake Vaadeland and the Sturgeon River Boys, from Saskatchewan. Red suit, hair slicked, about twenty songs and an encore in an hour. He jumped onto the double bass. Jaxon Lalonde fretted the strings of Vaadeland's banjo. (Ain't Going Back To) Nashville, Retro Man, and a joke piece for Diet Pepsi.

In 2026, Steve Earle on the Rhinestone let out Guitar Town, The Devil's Right Hand and My Old Friend The Blues. On mandolin, Copperhead Road: he said his exes love that song. (Can't Remember If We Said) Goodbye, and Zandi Holup came up to sing I'm Not Missing Anything But You, which they wrote together. He closed with Galway Girl and said that in Ireland they hate him for that piece. Muireann Bradley, from Donegal, closed the Front Porch: Candy Man, Diddy Wa Diddy, Ain't No Tellin', by Mississippi John Hurt, Jolene, Frankie and Johnny, The Levee Is Gonna Break and Dancing On My Grave. Ronnie Wood closed in the rain. He opened with It's Only Rock 'n' Roll. Chain of Fools, Falling, Your Cheatin' Heart. Imelda May sang Remember (Walking In The Sand). Wee Wee Hours and Dead Flowers. Ooh La La. Chanel Haynes let out I Will Always Love You, and the crowd sang it for Dolly Parton, who had died shortly before. Stay With Me and 9 to 5 closed. On Sunday, Emmylou Harris let out Red Dirt Girl, the same Goodbye and When We're Gone, Long Gone, recorded with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt. On the Interstate, the Felice Brothers let out Life in the Dark and Jazz on the Autobahn. Halfway through, people left for Emmylou. Those who stayed turned the volume up.