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| Chris Janson, Cadillac Three, Craig Campbell |
93.7 K-Country Radio Station is known for their acoustic
concerts, their tickets sell out in minutes, and this concert was no
different. As show time came closer, the
crowd’s excitement began to
build, and by 7 pm every seat was filled with country music fans wanting to
hear some awesome country tunes.
K-Country’s
DJs, Mr. Bob and Kathy were first to come out on stage to get things started,
thanking everyone for attending the show.
Lewis Stokes and Boss Jim continued building the excitement, Boss Jim again
thanking the audience and sponsors for supporting their amazing concerts,
especially their acoustic sessions. The artists at Monday night’s
concert were playing for free with all of the proceeds from the event going to
local charities- another reason why these performances are so special.
Craig Campbell started the night off with “Outta of my
Head” and you know it is going to be a great concert when all of the
artists are tapping their feet along to the beat of the music.
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| Craig Campbell |
Next up was The Cadillac Three and lead singer, Jaren Johnston, started off stating
how the band loves Florida, due in large part to their good friend, Jake Owen being
a Florida native and them
having written a song for the country beach boy. After talking to the crowd
about their love of the sunshine state and Jake, it only seemed fitting for
them to start their portion of the first round with Owen’s hit song, “Days of Gold”.
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| Jaren Johnston of Cadillac Three |
Next was Chris Janson’s turn- and he started with “Back in My Drinking Days” and
oh what a fun song it was! The crowd erupted in applause after hearing the
playful tune.
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| Chris Janson |
Not only was the crowd having a ball, the artists were having fun
too! You could tell they were more than just a group of performers on stage,
they were all friends, telling jokes and paying compliments to each other after
each song sung. At one point, Campbell
went looking for something to drink and found a bottle of wine in the
refrigerator that was on the stage for an upcoming show. It was a funny moment that everyone laughed
and carried on about. Janson expressed his appreciation for all of the artists,
especially The Cadillac Three, explaining the group were some of the first
people he met when he first arrived in Nashville.
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| Chris Janson laughing at the guys. |
William Michael Morgan
first started his set off talking to the crowd, telling the audience that he
recently recorded a new song that he was excited sing for them. Morgan’s voice was perfection while singing his new tune “Cheating
Cologne”.
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| William Michael Morgan |
Midway through the show, Campbell encouraged the audience to sing along to the songs and
enjoy the show. “White Lighting” was
The Cadillac Three’s song for
round two, a soulful song written about Johnston’s wife. After they finished singing, Janson said the song reminded
him of his wife and explained how he met his “hot” wife 9 years ago.
When he married her, his life changed for the better, stating he does not like
the word “step children” so says he gained “bonus children” when
he married her. He continued the tribute
to his wife by performing “When I’m Holding Her”. The audience showed their appreciation by
clapping before the song had even ended-what an honor for an artist. Janson did
an amazing job with the song, giving everyone chills by the time it finished
and after the song was over, Johnston said Janson’s performance gave him
goosebumps. It was the best performance of the night- Just amazing!
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| Jaren Johnston of Cadillac Three |
The evening continued with Morgan singing “Beer Drinkers, “I Met A Girl” (co-written
by Sam Hunt), and his cover of Keith Whitley’s “Miami, My Amy”. The Cadillac Three rounded their performance
off singing “Raise Them Up”
which they wrote for Keith Urban, “Running Red Lights” and “The
South”. Campbell finished
up his portion of the event with his song “Fish” and a recently recorded
song “Outskirts of Heaven”. Campbell stated he felt “Outskirts of Heaven”
is going to be a hit and was inspired by his childhood memories. Janson wrapped up singing his #1 hit song
that he wrote with LoCash (performed by Tim McGraw), “Truck Yeah” and ending the
night with crowd favorite and the song that changed everything for him, “Buy
Me A Boat”.
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William Michael Morgan
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| Chris Janson and Cadillac Three enjoying the jokes |
The show contained 5 rounds and a mini song off of Hank
Williams Jr Songs with Janson winning by singing a mini-revision of “Country
State of Mind.” Janson then told the
audience he was honored to have to 2 news songs on Hank Williams Jr’s upcoming CD and was featured on
the project.
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| Craig Campbell |
You could tell the artists had a fun and memorable night,
stripped down on a set that was just about the songwriting and the
audience. The show allowed the fans to
hear some amazing country music, just good old country tunes without all of the
bells and whistles that are in some of the big venue shows. Hearing an artist sing a song with nothing
but their guitar is a moment that can’t be compared to any other, it displays
the real and raw talent that is present in country music today. Hearing the
stories behind the songs is what country music is all about and Monday night’s artists showed us why people
love the genre. To hear the music from the Nashville songwriters of current and
future hits was a unique opportunity and priceless memory. K-country radio station did an awesome job
putting the event together, they made their semi-annual concert something to
look forward to and the 24th annual show was one of the best
one!
Denise Ellis
Sweetwater Photography
Review credit: Samantha Dawn Mutschler and Denise Ellis
