#verspectiv

[verspectiv]

Steve Wariner at The Franklin Theatre

Last week was a busy one, especially for my boyfriend. He was writing everyday sometimes twice a day. I was keeping myself busy; job searching, working on his artist pages, and trying to do a little writing myself. By the end of the week, Aaron had written several sure-to-be hits and landed another album-cut! As for me, I found a part-time job! 

Not too shabby.

When the weekend came, we decided to have a fun "us" weekend... & what better way to start it off with a little live music? Just so happens, we had tickets to see Steve Wariner at the Frankin Theatre Friday night. (I gave Aaron the tickets for his Birthday back in July.) 

Steve isn't really one of our all time favorites. I could think of a few others that would top the list, but I knew his show would be great and it would give us an excuse to go out to the Franklin Theatre. I mean, that place is just precious.

Am I right?

Anyway, music has always been our way of bonding.  Yeah, he's a songwriter and we met in Nashville, blah blah blah...but that's just the beginning.

The thing is, we both love country music more than the average country music fan.   We're what you call COUNTRY MUSIC NERDS.  Sometimes...we have full conversations in lyrics...I'm not kidding. It's bad.

One of my favorite memories from when we first started dating, was the night we took turns playing songs for each other. He played Alan Jackson, I played Clay Walker. He played Keith Whitley, I played Conway Twitty.  Song after song after song. You get the idea.

I really threw him for a loop when he found out I knew and listened to the likes of Lila McCann, Bryan White, Blackhawk, David Kersch, and Paul Brandt, and the list goes on. (It's ok if you don't know who I'm talking about, most people don't) Did I mention Ronnie Milsap? Don't even get us started on Ronnie.   

Oh yeah, back to Friday night...

We started at Buca Di Beppo in Cool Springs for a little pasta and salad, and then made our way over to Downtown Franklin for the show.

     We were by far the youngest people in the theatre...but we couldn't be more proud! It was a blast! & Let me just say, from the sound of the older ladies, screaming in the front rows...he's still got it.

Steve Wariner is a great songwriter, award-winning even.  Just listen to "Holes in The Floor of Heaven" or "Two Teardrops", but in my opinion he's more of a musical guy. 

I mean when he picks up the guitar, you stop and listen. But what do you expect when you had Chet Atkins as your mentor?? Yeah. So not surprisingly, the best parts of the show were musical as opposed to lyrical.

I'm sure he probably has some great stories from years of being on the road with Chet, but from his performance Friday night, I'm sorry to say, he's not the best story-teller.  The crowd still laughed, even when his punch lines fell flat, but it came as no surprise to me, that Chet used to tell him to stop telling jokes and play guitar.

(I forgot my good camera)

His tribute to his good friend Chet Atkins (who signed him to his first record deal) was by far the best of the night. It was just him, his fiddle player, and the Grammy award-winning song "6120".

I'm a little disappointed to say, I had never heard the song before, as instrumentals aren't usually my go-to. However, I couldn't be too upset, because listening to it through computer speakers for the first time would not do it justice. It was a beautiful intimate moment to say the least.

I listened to it later on Spotify and of course, it's still great, but mostly because I know how great it sounded live.

It's all about perspective and this is just mine. Give it a listen and see what you think. I could tell you about the rest of the weekend, but I can basically sum it up 4 words:  Sweatpants & previously-viewed movies.

[verspectiv]

Saturday Night BS (Blake Shelton)

Saturday night, I was fortunate enough to stumble into some free, box-seat Blake Shelton tickets at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. (Thank you, Shannon Beck :)

Overall the show was awesome! I love his attitude; He's true to himself, connects with his audience, and everyone else can "kiss his country ass."

Here's a few photos of my favorite BS moments.

Trace Adkins made a surprise visit to sing "Hillbilly Bone." Trace rocks!

Halfway through the show, Blake let the band take a break, grabbed his guitar, and played what he said was the two most important songs of his career.

This is always one of the best parts of the concert because it feels more intimate; Like you're catching one of your favorite artists at a small writer's round before they famous. Blake shared his story of co-writing the song "Over You" with Miranda for his brother, and then played his version. I think hearing a song played from the actual writer, (especially one with so much emotional attachment) is always better.  It's their experience and they add something that no one else can.

His other most important song was, his first #1, "Austin" The song is just as great now as it was back then, and it sounded incredible acoustic.  When you have a great song, you don't need a whole lot of extra stuff.

Finally, my favorite part of the show was when he played "Home"

It completely caught me off guard, because I don't consider it as one of Blake's songs...even though it was a radio hit for him. I don't care. It will always be Michael Bublé's.  

No seriously, when I first heard Blake's version of "Home," I was mad about it. I changed the radio when it came on. It's not that his version was bad it's just...Michael did it first. Why would you mess with that?! (I have a slight obsession with Michael Bublé.  His voice is velvet. That is all.)

But, Blake led into the song by saying that he always wanted to have one of those "Taylor Swift" concert moments where everyone gets out their cell phones or lighters and waves them in the air, swaying back and forth. He said, for one of those moments, you have to have one of those amazing concert songs...cue "Home"

Not gonna lie, I got a little lost in the moment.  When I would usually be singing along with every word, I just stopped and watched. It was just overwhelming to see so many people drawn into such a beautiful song.

So I have to say, even though I still think the song belongs to Michael, Blake did it Justice Saturday night. Michael or Blake? The song is incredible. Pick your favorite and take a moment to sit and listen. :)