This week brought two of Nashville’s popular rising stars Matt Stell & Elvie Shane to Manchester as part of Country Music Week, which is organised by Country To Country (C2C). The Deaf Institute in Manchester was one of the select venues across London, Manchester and Glasgow throughout the week.

In true Nashville singer-songwriter style, Matt & Elvie appeared on stage to take turns performing a stripped back set featuring an additional guitarist covering lead parts, and a cajon player for percussion.

I was already familiar with Matt Stell’s songs and lyrics, and this seemed apparent with the audience from the start. However, Elvie Shane became a pleasant surprise too. Both artists received great feedback from the audience in equal measures, and to say it was the first time I’d heard Elvie Shane - I was very impressed.

Their two hour set was a rollercoaster of emotion, humour and fun that would probably only work with country music. Their contrast in country styles worked really well for the fans, and the exchanges between the pair were comedy gold. Regular chants from the crowd encouraged both artists to “down” their drinks, resulting in plenty of alcohol being consumed - a staple in so many country music songs. Amazingly, this didn’t seem to affect their performance at all, with both putting on impressive, solid performances.

Mid show, much to the amusement of the crowd, Elvie Shane FaceTime called his dad who happened to be drinking at the time in the USA. The audience then egged his father on to “down” his beer - which he did. Elvie’s set came to an emotional peak when he performed his Platinum selling song ‘My Boy’, which showcases an amazing piece of songwriting about taking on, and adopting his partner's young boy. The feedback to the song was impressive, with the audience singing every word, and this seemed to really touch Elvie. With several whiskeys deep the mixture of emotions nearly got the better of him, and the reaction from the crowd nearly reduced him to tears, which he jokingly blamed on the drink.

Matt Stell’s signature voice sounded faultless throughout his set. He performed a succession of his popular fan favourites: Better Than That, Boyfriend Season, That Aint Me No More, Everywhere But On, and the double platinum selling Prayed For You. Stell also treated his fans to more recent releases including ‘Man Made’. True to country music tradition, he also shared some great stories about becoming a fan of soccer whilst visiting the UK, and being recognised by a member of staff of an All Saints clothing store in London while visiting in March for the C2C Festival. Coincidentally, he managed to run into the same staff member who happened to be working in the Manchester store branch this week. Once this was brought to his attention he offered the store worker free tickets for that night's Manchester gig, and he was present in the audience.

Matt & Elvie’s concert was a genuine, honest showcase of music and emotions from the heart. Although country music popularity is growing in the UK, it still remains a very niche market. To see these types of sold-out shows coming to cities like Manchester makes a refreshing change.

Matt Stell has just been announced as one of the main arena C2C Festival 2023 headliners. You can also check out our previous interview with him here.

Author: Andrew Braithwaite

Andrew is the founder and Managing Director of Music Talkers. He's also a keen music enthusiast and plays the guitar.