Wow. Last night was the Country for Kids Concert that QDR 94.7 sponsored to raise money for N.C. Children's Hospital. I just checked the website and between the NC Children's Promise fundraising telethon/radiothon and the concert they raised over a million dollars.
The concert was great! First of all it supported a very important organization in our community, but apart from that, it was just a very enjoyable concert. After going to so many huge concerts at Walnut Creek this summer with the heat, the crowds, and the drunks, it was pleasant to be in a smaller temperature controlled venue where the seats are comfortable and men wear their shirts. On top of that, every performance was outstanding.
Jason Michael Carroll, our local star who has been involved in this fundraising effort for a number of years, opened up with his incredible bass voice. He soon had everyone in tears with "Where I Come From" and "Alyssa Lies". It's a good thing that he didn't sing "Hurray Home" or they would have had to send in a crew to mop the floor before the next act. In addition to some tunes from his past albums, he played two new songs. One was Christmas on the Farm from his new Christmas CD. Cute. (I do wish someone would put out some good country Jewish Holiday songs. A pipe dream? Jaron? Ray?) The other was "Meet Me in the Barn", a single he's releasing sometime soon. It took me a few hours to put my finger on it, but I think it sounds a bit like Justin Moore's Backwoods. He also threw in enough farm cliches to get an eye roll from my friend. With that said, if QDR plays it I'm not going to change the channel. It's the kind of song that after you hear it once you can sing along. "Meet me in the barn, way out in the pasture, park by the tractor, turn off your headlights, sneak in the backway so we don't get caught. I'll be waitin the hayloft with a kiss on my lips..." It's catchy, rather sweet, and we enjoyed it.
I'm adding this in because I just saw a tweet and it reminded me. JMC talked about an organization called Brittany's Battle that raises money for lung cancer research and families in need who are dealing with lung cancer. I went to their website and learned quite a bit. I didn't know that for all the people it takes from us, lung cancer is the most underfunded cancer. I like that JMC is so involved in health related charities. We've got nothin' w/out our health.
James Otto was up next. He was charming. It's my second time seeing him in concert. The first was when he opened for Trace Atkins and Toby Keith last summer. He said something very funny about that (paraphrasing) "The only problem with being a guy who only has one hit song and opening for guys like that is that I'm a guy with only one hit song." I must say that he underestimates himself. When I saw him last summer, the group I was with thought he was much better than Trace Atkins. After that concert I downloaded a bunch of his music and have since purchased his album Shake What God Gave Ya. He has a Bluesy, R&B thing going on with the country. He doesn't dance around but he exudes a down to earth and friendly energy. There were 1800 people at DPAC last night but he turned it into an intimate performance. The aspect of Otto's performance that I enjoyed the most was how he integrated his banter with the music. He led in and out of his own songs with verses from Bob Marley and the Rolling Stones, getting some audience participation, and talked in between verses with the other musicians providing background. Perhaps he is a perfectionist, because it was so well rehearsed that it seemed effortless. I didn't know that he co-wrote Jamey Johnson's "In Color". He sang that (amazing) as well as Soldiers and Jesus, which is a beautiful and moving song (my own religious issues aside). "Shake what God Gave You" got much of the audience on their feet as did his hit "Just Got Started Lovin' You". I had the feeling that of the four artists he was the least familiar to the audience. Hopefully he gained some new fans. I thought he was great.
I'll continue the review of Clay Walker and Rodney Atkins in following posts.
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