The 2023 Tall Pines Music & Arts Festival brought eighteen Canadian acts to one stage over the course of two days, and we were there to enjoy it. While it is impossible to cover every moment, our plan is to share a handful of short recaps highlighting some of the artists who entertained festival-goers over this weather-perfect weekend in Cottage Country.
With a mid-afternoon slot on Friday, Hamilton country-rockers The Redhill Valleys may have only had a 20-minute window (on paper) to share their music, but wow, did this band ever pack a ton of great music into the allotted time. Delivering six original tracks, Tim Allard (guitars/vocals), Chelsea McWilliams (bass/vocals), Danielle Beaudin (guitars/vocals) and Matt Soliveri (drums/vocals) offered up their explosive and compulsive brand of alt-country, leaving a rapidly growing crowd of fans hungry for much more in their wake.
Opening with “Lay Me Down,” this older tune from their 2016 self-titled debut album would be the first of a trio of picks from this era, adding the impressive “Burn It Down” and closing with one of their popular finale pieces, “Ragged and Run Down.” If there ever was a dominant ‘wow factor’ moment during this set, my choice (hands-down) would be the minimal pause following “Burn It Down,” with Matt’s drum taps leading seamlessly into the recognizable intro of their 2021 summer smash-hit, “Finish Line.”
Earlier this year, The Redhill Valleys signed a record deal with MDM Recordings, and were more than willing to share their first single release of the year, “Long Way Back,” on the festival stage. It was wonderful to observe Danielle not only switching out her usual acoustic guitar for the electric variety, but to step away momentarily from her rhythm guitar duties and take the lead guitar solo on this track. Tim is a solid lead guitarist, but encouraging Danielle to center-stage more often is definitely a great transition for this band, leaving us exciting as to what lies ahead.
Naturally, the band were happy to oblige and drop more hints, taking time to share a new and unreleased track, “Steady the Wheel.” Likely to be their next studio single, this track was not only a delight to hear for the first time, but served to demonstrate the maturity within their songwriting, and their growth and creativity as a band. “Thank you so much, Tall Pines,” Chelsea shared following the performance of this song. “That was a new song, and it was about driving up to beautiful places like this.”
Performing on a smaller stage later that day as part of a sponsored Cottage Comfort Series, the band shared a few more numbers for an intimate gathering, including their 2018 standalone single, “Take A Lot Of Pain,” and another return to their debut album for “Either Or.” Whether rocking the decibel meter to capacity on the main stage, or providing that ‘campfire singalong’ nature on the smaller stage, The Redhill Valleys delivered a flawless festival performance.
It has been a blast witnessing the emergence of this band from their blue-collar Hamilton roots into a bona fide Americana act poised to take the next major step and move on to much bigger and better things. For anybody not familiar with the band, I strongly suggest jumping on board now and ride this train with them. This train is going places … it’s going places, FAST.
Set List:
- Lay Me Down
- Steady The Wheel (unreleased)
- Long Way Back
- Burn It Down
- Finish Line
- Ragged And Run Down
The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.
