We spoke to Roger from ACMGS - Association de Country Music Genève Suisse, a nonprofit organization founded in 1990 following the first Grand-Saconnex Country Music Festival. Its goal is to promote country music in our region. Roger explained two upcoming country concerts and we learned that he has been organizing these for decades! He answered a few questions and is offering an unbeatable price for dinner and concert.
Why did you start? What has been the inspiration?
When I was young, I loved listening to good ol' rock'n'roll, rockabilly and country music. I often went to the Swiss German part of the country to attend country music festivals. In addition to the concerts, I also observed how these concerts were being organized, and took the opportunity to make some contacts.
We also made some trips to the US in the ’80s and ‘90s to attend concerts and to make some contacts there... we even met Crystal Gayle and her husband three or four times... and Kenny Rodgers, just to name a few.
Due to lack of concerts around Geneva, in the late 80’, I thought I should start organizing one. Thus the first country music festival took place in 1990 in Grand-Saconnex, organized with a neighbor who also enjoyed my idea.
The first edition was quite a success and the second one, in 1992, was, as well. So for the third year, we decided to move to the festival to Palexpo to be better prepared for bad weather conditions and also in case of an electricity shortage at the tent location.
Right after the first festival, in September 1990, we decided to create the ACMGS (Association de Country Music Grand-Saconnex, now Association de Country Music Genève Suisse to keep the same acronym).
In 1992 after moving the festival to Palexpo, we decided to call the event the (Geneva) Country Jamboree and we ran it until 1996. Due to a lack of sponsorship, we had to give up the organization of that bigger event, despite it attracting up to 1500+ people per day to the concerts.
From 1994 (until 2002), we started organizing a smaller event, inspired by the Bluebird Café in Nashville, that we called Nashville Unplugged. It took place at different locations, first at the Salle Comunale of Grand-Saconnex, then the Forum in Meyrin and finally the Salle Centrale de la Madeleine.
Then we slowed down and took a longer break in between concerts, until I started organizing small concerts on my own at a vineyard’s barn between 2017 and 2019 and again (after COVID) in 2023 and 2025.
Have you been working on this idea forever, or was it something that came to you recently?
Last year, Billy Montana, a singer-songwriter from Nashville and a friend (as he played in several concerts for us), wrote me an email to inform that he was planning a Rhône cruise in October, starting in Lyon... and that he would love to come visit us in Geneva. I told him, ‘Yes, come visit us and we'll spend some time together, and wouldn’t you like to play a concert for us?’ Happily, he agreed!
So I started searching for a place to have this singer-songwriter type of concert and found the restaurant Le Vieux Grenadier, which has a very nice concert hall, exactly the right size for such intimate concerts… That’s how it started at this new venue, for us.
What is the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?
It’s a lot of work for one person.
What are your plans for the future?
If there is no big obstacle and the two upcoming concerts are successful, I mean, if the audience, the restaurant manager and the artists are happy with our events, then we can probably have some more of such concerts... we'll see.
Billy Montana (Vieux-Genadiers) 04.10.2025
What is your favorite product you offer and why?
Three course dinner and concert for CHF 58.- (currently). How delightful it is to share a convivial dinner with friends, followed by an intimate concert.
Price for dinner/concert
The meal alone is charged CHF 38.- by the restaurant and the price for the concert alone is also CHF 38.- (making it a total of CHF 76.- for both), we already offer a discounted rate of CHF 58.- for both together, which is a saving of CHF 18!
Birdtalker concert:
Reservations are required by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. before 13 September 2026
Don't miss the chance to see Birdtalker live during their exclusive concert in Geneva, Switzerland; the band has amassed nearly 384 million total streams on Spotify, with around 260,000 monthly listeners.
Friday, 18 September 2026
Restaurant Le Vieux Grenadier
Rue de Carouge 92
1205 Genève
Dinner (from 6:30 PM) + concert (at 8:30 PM)
Ranking of most-streamed tracks
• "Heavy": 99.9 million streams (Their biggest viral hit, from their debut EP).
• "My Lover": 30.7 million streams.
• "Graveclothes": 22.2 million streams.
• "Better Days": 13.4 million streams.
• "One": 11.1 million streams.
• "Blue Healer": 10.5 million streams.
• "Just This": 9.6 million streams.
• "Better in the Morning": 9.5 million streams.
Kevin Welch concert:
Reservations are required by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. before 20 September 2026.
Kevin Welch is a country and Americana singer-songwriter. Renowned for the quality of his songwriting and performances, his songs have been recorded by major country figures such as Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks, and Trisha Yearwood—and more recently by Chris Stapleton (with the track “Millionaire.")
He has released eight solo albums and several collaborative projects since the 1990s (initially with Warner-Reprise, and later on the Dead Reckoning label, which he co-founded with several other artists in 1995).
He is a wonderful artist to discover for those unfamiliar with his work, or to revisit for those who saw him perform in Meyrin in 1999—or even back in 1991 at Le Grand-Saconnex.
Saturday, 26 September 2026
Restaurant Le Vieux Grenadier
Rue de Carouge 92
1205 Genève
Dinner (from 6:30 PM) + concert (at 8:30 PM)
Roger introducing Tony Lewis Corsier, 28 May 2025
The following artists performed at the Country Jamboree in the past:
Katy Moffatt (90), Clay Blaker (90), JG Duke (90), Suzy Bogguss (91), Kevin Welch (91), Karen Staley (91), Mark O'Connor (92), The McCarters (92/93), Jim Lauderdale (92), Little Texas (92), JJ White (92), Three Wheel Drive (with Billy Montana 93), Paulette Carlson (93), Pam Perry (93), Sandy Ramos (93), Shawn Camp (94), Deborah Allen (94), Great Plains (94), Dude Mowrey (95), Lisa Stewart (95/96), Rob Crosby (95), Wild Rose (95), Wild Honey (96), Molly & the Heymakers (96), Boy Howdy (96) and more...
The following artists performed at Nashville Unplugged:
Michael Johnson (94), Gail Davies (94), Lionel Cartwright (94), Rob Crosby (94), Dan Seals (95), Joy Lynn White (95), Ricky Lynn Gregg (95), Billy Montana (96), Daron Norwood (96), Lacy J. Dalton (96), Mark Luna (97/1), Victoria Shaw (97/1), Jon Randall (97/1), Sylvia Hutton (97/2), Marcus Hummon (97/2), John Bunzow (97/2), Tecia McKenna (98), Crosby, Steele & Herndon (98), Melodie Crittenden (98)
Kim Richey (99), Kevin Welch (99), Auldridge, Bennett & Gaudreau (99), Holly Dunn (02), David Lee Murphy (02), Papys-Lover (02), Danny Santos (05), Do Paladini (05).
Other concerts with:
Doyle Dykes (2007) at Salle Centrale
Tommy Emmanuel (2007 / 2008) at Salle Centrale
ACMGS Association de Country Music Genève Suisse
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