49 Winchester has a rowdy fanbase across the pond, and the band’s frontman thinks they have the internet to thank.
Isaac Gibson of 49 Winchester stopped by the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast to talk to us about why the band doesn’t do pre-show rituals, the story of how Luke Combs bought a t-shirt from their website, the inaugural 49 Winchester show being the first time anyone ever heard him sing live, how many years it took for 49 Winchester to go “full time,” how their band name came to be, hunting trips that he’s gotten to go on because of his music career and much more.
Much of the conversation revolved around their fans, and particularly the 49-heads (or 49-ers) over in Europe and the UK. 49 Winchester just wrapped up their second headline tour across the pond, and they very much enjoy sharing their music with country fans over there.
In addition to their headline tours, they’ve been over to Europe and the UK in support of Luke Combs and for the growing C2C: Country to Country festival. Gibson says that they love playing for the Europeans, and that they’ve really grown in popularity halfway around the world.
Why? Well besides playing a multitude of shows over there, Gibson thinks the internet and subsequent ease of access to any type of music you could think of has really benefited them when it comes to connecting with fans outside of America:
“We’re pretty well versed in the Europe side of things. We’ve really grown a lot over there. Actually, our biggest headline show ever was our last London show at the Roundhouse. So it’s cool to see the fanbase growing halfway across the world, in a place that’s only really newly exposed to country music.
They’ve always kind of known about Garth Brooks or somebody like that that’s just a massive mega star. I think the internet kind of changed all that when people could get away from what was being spoon-fed to them and dig into their own little vein of country music or country rock stuff. It’s cool to see that blossoming over there and at the front end of the charge through Europe and the UK.”
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Translation: European country fans are digging into music with their own utensils.
Gibson and 49 Winchester love it, and they love the energy that fans over there bring to the show. The country singer says that he was always told that Europe crowds were a bit mundane, but that’s not how Isaac sees it from his point of view:
“People are always like, ‘(The Europe crowds) are very reserved.’ I don’t know if they are reserved necessarily. They’re very attentive during songs, and then thunderous applause between songs. They are just great fans, you know what I mean? There’s not a lot of chatter. There’s not a lot of rowdy fist fights or anything like the crowd we sometimes see in the United States. It’s just a little bit different, but it’s a great quality of fan.”
The 49 Winchester frontman thinks that part of that “reserved quality” comes from fans appreciating the music in the moment, since they don’t get to see their favorite American artists every day. European fans tend to lean a little more rock and roll as well, which is why band like Whiskey Myers, Kip Moore, Sturgill Simpson and of course, 49 Winchester, do so well across the pond.
All in all, 49 Winchester is growing in every market, and especially so in Europe and the UK, as Gibson admitted that their biggest ever show was actually a recent concert in London, England. He and the band are grateful that fans over there stopped being spoon-fed country music and started exploring the genre themselves… thus discovering the greatness that is 49 Winchester.
To hear more from Isaac Gibson, you can download the podcast on Apple Podcasts by searching “Whiskey Riff Raff” or click here.
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Cheers, y’all.
