Maddie & Tae Launch George Dickel Porch Sessions Series
A series of artists including country duo Maddie & Tae launched the new George Dickel Porch Sessions in Tullahoma, Tenn., on Saturday (May 13).
The new summer-long music series, about 90 minutes southeast of Nashville at the George Dickel Distillery grounds, gives fans the chance to catch up-and-coming country artists in an intimate backyard setting. Boasting a chill party vibe and bring-your-own-lawn-chair philosophy, hundreds gathered to watch Maddie & Tae on the humble main stage, as well as their openers, Travis Denning and Catie Offerman, who played on the porch of the George Dickel General Store. In all, the artists combined for approximately three hours of music.
The crowd grew throughout the night, hitting an obvious peak during Maddie & Tae's set. The two confidently eased through songs from their 2015 album Start Here, including their singles "Fly" and anti-bro radio hit, "Girl in a Country Song," which of course, they saved for last.
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Other highlights included an excellent cover of Brooks and Dunn's "Ain't Nothing 'Bout You," which Maddie Marlow prefaced with this tidbit: "These are our heroes, so we thought we'd share a little song that we loved singing growing up and now we get to sing in front of people for a living, which is pretty cool."
Marlow also told a short story about her little sister having her first real heartbreak, which inspired the duo to write their recent song, "Welcome to the Club," a tune about earning your stripes in the game of the love.
"This is just the first scar on your heart / I ain't gonna lie, this part's real hard / Trust me, girl, if you're gonna get where you're going / You've gotta get a little bit broken / It's weird and it's real and it sucks / Welcome to the club / Welcome to the club."
As the evening concluded, the dual outdoor bars serving Dickel cocktails closed down and the sun set over the beautiful Tennessee hillside that surrounds the distillery. The multiple food trucks took their final orders and fans folded their lawn chairs and headed home.
The Porch Sessions series is so fresh that both future dates and acts are still being finalized, but fans can find ongoing updates and purchase upcoming tickets via dickelporchsessions.com.