Recap & photos: Minnesota Country Club Festival makes a scorching first impression
by Joel Swenson
July 13, 2026
There’s something a little audacious about throwing a country festival in a state better known for its lakes than its longhorns. But over two sweltering days at Harriet Island in St. Paul, the inaugural Minnesota Country Club made a convincing case for itself. It was the debut weekend for the twang-tinged sibling of the Minnesota Yacht Club Festival, which arrives for the third time July 17 to 19. The Eagle and the Albatross stages ran with the same well-oiled precision that have made its older sibling a summer staple. Sets were handed off with only seconds of dead air, bar and food lines stayed short, and there were even a few shady spots to duck the punishing 90-degree (32°C) heat.
Day One: Friday, July 10
The unenviable task of opening the whole festival fell to Sons of Habit, who came out swinging with their 2024 single “Sober.” The Kentucky group’s folksy, roots rock hides some seriously impressive guitar work, including multiple tapping solos you’re more likely to hear from a metal band than one opening a country festival. The sparse but devoted early crowd happily sang along to Sons of Habit’s cover of the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris.”
Austin’s Next of Kin lured everyone over to the Albatross stage with three-part harmonies so tight, it was hard to believe Country Club was their first time playing outside Austin. Their cleverly written songs with lived-in lyrics and in-sync voices draw an easy line to another perfectly harmonized Texas trio: If you’ve ever wondered what the Chicks’ career might’ve looked like had they not been unfairly shunned by the industry, keep a close eye on Next of Kin.
From there, the afternoon became a clinic in shredding. Minneapolis bluegrass vets the Last Revel turned fiddler Vinnie Donatelle loose for his searing solos. Seattle’s Richy Mitch and the Coal Miners chased “sonic wanderlust” into several psych and shoegaze detours before landing their TikTok sleeper hit “Evergreen.” Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country delivered the day’s most danceable hour, cramming in more riffs and jam sessions than seemed physically possible (one of which took a hard left into Jerry Reed’s “East Bound and Down”).
Then came the weekend’s lone real dud, courtesy of its biggest name. Mike Love’s touring version of the Beach Boys sounded competent enough, but with Love as the sole remaining original member, it played like a very expensive Beach Boys cover band more than the real thing. As one of the premier vocal groups of their time, the Beach Boys racked up more hits than just about any of their contemporaries. Unfortunately, Love’s inability to sing like he used to and his aggressive legal action against his former bandmates have significantly tarnished that legacy. If you have the chance to see this iteration of the Beach Boys in 2026 or beyond, do yourself a favor and just throw on Pet Sounds instead. Or just sing a Beach Boys song at karaoke. I guarantee you’ll sound better.
Charles Wesley Godwin got things back on track, bookending an energetic set with John Denver’s “Country Roads,” opening with a recording of the original and closing with his own cover of the song. Godwin’s set included several new songs from his upcoming album Christian Name, due out July 24. Among them was “Better That Way,” a song featuring Luke Combs.
Over on the Albatross stage, Charley Crockett swept in dressed head to toe in white and sounded razor-tight from the first notes of his set opener “Crazy Woman Ridge” to the final note of “Lonesome Drifter.” Crockett spent the run-up to his set locked in online drama over booting Satanic doo-wop duo Twin Temple from his upcoming tour over their Satanic beliefs and imagery. A fiery post arrived on his Instagram a mere 20 minutes before his set time. Crockett then put on a great show and even briefly addressed the drama onstage. “I’ve been catching a lot of hell in this music business, but I guess they're finding out who I am," was all he had to say before playing solo versions of “Honest Fight” and “Santa Fe Ring,” two very lyrically pointed songs he plays pretty sparingly.
Stephen Wilson Jr. closed out the Eagle stage on day one surrounded by a small forest of large red and white paper roses. The former microbiologist and Golden Gloves boxer coaxed a shockingly heavy sound out of nothing but bass, drums, pedal steel, and his own distorted acoustic guitar. It’s hard to believe this is Wilson’s third career, as he’s a natural performer and seems like he was born to be on the stage. He tore around every square inch of it and even took a brief detour into the crowd before leaving everyone with his personal thesis: “I do believe that live music will save the world, so thank you all for being here and doing your part.”
Friday night belonged to Treaty Oak Revival. Judging by the sea of their merch all day, the quintet from Odessa, Texas, were the band most folks came to see. The fully independent, self-released rockers rewarded them with the biggest crowd response of the weekend. Treaty Oak Revival’s DIY ethos and chaotic live shows have rightfully earned them punk-rock comparisons, and after seeing them Friday night, I can see why. Their set made me feel like I was at a New Found Glory show rather than a country music festival. If the stage setup had allowed it, there surely would’ve been some stage dives, and the rambunctious crowd would’ve happily blown past the 10:30 curfew were they able.
Day Two: Saturday, July 11
Saturday drew an even larger crowd than Friday, and it fell to Washington’s Nico Welsh to kick things off on the Eagle stage. The Berklee College of Music student made the most of it, blending the twang and intimate storytelling of classic country with the loose freedom of a jam band. Out promoting his debut EP, Lonesome Stranger, Welsh wore his influences plainly. You can hear a little Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, and Tom Petty in everything he does. He’s also generous with the spotlight: the piano player and bassist each took a turn on lead vocals during a great cover of the Allman Brothers Band’s “Come and Go Blues,” lending a nice variety to a short 30-minute set. Welsh may be a newcomer, but he’s got the chops to become a festival circuit staple.
Winnipeg’s Boy Golden and Bozeman duo Buffalo Traffic Jam kept things rolling, with the latter reworking the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun” so well that they made it entirely their own. Over on the Albatross stage, Elizabeth Nichols delivered one of the weekend’s most charming sets with her witty, tongue-in-cheek straightforward country landing somewhere between Dolly, Shania, and Prine. Nichols’ slim catalog didn’t stop her from putting on one heck of a show and she’ll be back on Oct. 6 at First Avenue on her first headlining tour.
Indie-folk songwriter Chance Peña, who first entered the spotlight as a teenager on season nine of The Voice, treated the sun-soaked crowd to a fantastic one-hour set. He opened with his slow-burning 2026 single ”The Voyageur” and immediately had the growing crowd hanging on every note. Peña is more of a songbuilder than a songwriter. His songs tend to start small and end huge, building towards an earth-moving crescendo that’s well worth the wait. He often plays solo, but the full band backing him on Saturday was tight enough to know exactly when to drop out and let Peña’s earthy, vibrato-soaked voice soar on its own. And soar it did. His vocal runs racked up some serious mileage, whether he was going toe-to-toe with the massive drum beat on “Sleep Deprivation” or slipping into a brief falsetto on “Tongue Tied.” Scrawled across his guitarist’s instrument was a not-so-subtle message of “F**k ICE’” a sentiment that the next act turned into a full-blown singalong.
As good as Peña’s set was, Saturday afternoon belonged to Jesse Welles, who flat-out stole the entire weekend. Armed at first with just an acoustic guitar, harmonica, and a message, the folk singer gave a masterclass in holding a festival crowd’s attention on his own before his four-piece band joined him for an electrified “Join ICE” that set off the chant from the audience. As something of a Trump-era Woody Guthrie, Welles ran through his now-ubiquitous protest songs (“The Poor,” “United Health,” “Domestic Error”) plus covers of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” that proved he can shred with the best of them. If anyone can unite this country against the rise of fascism, my money’s on Jesse Welles.
Outlaw crooner Paul Cauthen brought his cavernous baritone voice to the Eagle stage next. His voice was deep enough to feel in your chest on “Black on Black” and he pulled former bandmates Sevans Henderson (of Red Clay Strays) and Daniel Donato (of Cosmic Country) onstage for “Cocaine Country Dancing.” Much like Charley Crockett the day before, Cauthen spent his show day trading jabs online, except he was debating immigration policy with Margo Price. If Country Club taught us anything, it’s that male country singers probably shouldn’t have unsupervised access to their social media accounts on show day.
Minnesota’s own Trampled by Turtles strode out to a recording of “Bad Company” and immediately reminded everyone why they’ve thrived for over two decades. They debuted a new song called “Good Dogs” and handed bassist Tim Saxhaug the lead on a gutting cover of Warren Zevon’s “Keep Me in Your Heart.” As per usual, fiddler Ryan Young was playing on a level entirely his own.
Jessie Murph pulled a massive sing-along crowd, but a mid-set body painting bit with a pre-selected fan tipped so far into spectacle that it was time to grab another $20 Coors. While the gimmick clearly works for her right now, gimmicks rarely last. Except for Kiss.
The Red Clay Strays closed out the weekend in fine form, with frontman Brandon Coleman looking like he just two-stepped straight off the 1960s Grand Ole Opry stage as the band ran through their jukebox country-rock catalog.
With seamless set transitions, short lines, and a genuinely strong lineup, the Minnesota Country Club more than earned a return trip. But when it comes back next year (and it should), the promoters owe fans a more gender-balanced bill. We live in a golden age of ridiculously talented non-male country, folk, and Americana artists, which makes booking just three across a two-day, 20-artist lineup a real disappointment. Fix that, and the Minnesota Country Club has some serious staying power.
