Shooter Jennings
I recently caught Shooter Jennings at the Venue Shrine in Tulsa on his Bound Ta Git Down tour, and I came away from it with a renewed sense of appreciation for Shooter and his music. For starters, I can always appreciate someone that doesn’t define or model themselves on the success of their parents. Shooter is refreshingly his own person, with his own unique sound and continues to put out records that his fans enjoy. Speaking of fans, the show at the Shrine was nearly sold out. Fans were packed into the venue for the two opening acts and as Shooter walked onto the darkened stage, people pushed forward for a closer view of Shooter and the band.
Shooter was backed by his usual cast of talented musicians and the only familiar face missing was that of bassist, Ted Russell Kamp who is taking a small hiatus to promote his own album. At this show, local Tulsa musician, Joey Trevino, took his place. As usual, Aubrey Richmond was on fiddle, John Schreffler Jr. on electric guitar and Jamie Douglass on drums.
Splitting time between the keyboard and one of several guitars, Shooter took the crowd on a journey through some of his extensive catalog. Shooter started out the set with “Bound Ta Git Down”, the rollicking, piano heavy track from his latest album, Shooter. The set included quite a few songs from the new album, including “D.R.U.N.K”, “Rhinestone Eyes”, “Living in a Minor Key” and “Denim and Diamonds”. With beers raised, the crowd happily sang along to many songs during the set, which included tracks from Shooter’s seven previous studio albums, such as “4th of July”, “Electric Rodeo” and “The Wolf”.
Shooter, the eighth studio album from Shooter Jennings, is a return to the more country vibe that we first saw in Shooter’s debut album, Put the “O” Back in Country. Although not a long album, with only nine tracks, it’s an album that will be sure to be put in regular rotation, whether you’re spinning it on vinyl or streaming it on Spotify. My personal favorite is “Rhinestone Eyes”, which is one of the slower songs on the album and with Aubrey Richmond singing backing vocals live, it’s truly an amazing addition to Shooter’s concert set. The album is full of rowdy songs that crowds love to sing along to like, “Bound Ta Git Down”, “Do You Love Texas” and “D.R.U.N.K” . “Denims and Diamonds” feels like an Eagles song mixed with vintage country vibes and I am obviously a fan of any song that can nail two different genres and make me want to dance at the same time.
Although Shooter and his fantastic band put on a hell of a show, it’s the little things that I enjoy so much about seeing him perform, whether that be his rhinestone encrusted, custom Shooter guitar strap or watching the pistol tattoo on his arm while he plays the keyboard. If you’re expecting an outlaw country clone of Waylon at a Shooter show, you’re going to be disappointed, but if you’re open to seeing a fantastic chameleon of a musician/songwriter and a group of equally talented artists play, then you better get yourself to a Shooter Jennings show ASAP.
