Review by Shawn Perry
Some call it country. Some call it rock and roll. Some call it country rock. Others call it southern rock. In the case of a package that checks all the boxes, you can call it the Southern Hospitality Tour. In one corner, there’s The Black Crowes, retro rock legends of nearly 40 years. In the other, Whiskey Myers, a newer amalgamation (well, 15 years and counting) from Texas that brings bite-sized chunks of rock and country to a guitar-heavy party. Altogether, with opener Southhall, you’re talking a long, sweaty night of music.
It may not be easy to connect the dots between The Black Crowes and Whisky Meyers when you consider each band and the music they make. However, they both pile on layers of guitar to a soundtrack that gives each of their respective charismatic front men ample slack and maneuverability. This resulted in a recent joint cover of The Rolling Stones “Star Star.” Tonight, they didn’t relive that particular moment, but there was a collective feeling in the room with regards to what all three bands on the bill had to offer.
First up was Southall, a six-man operation out of Oklahoma lead by singer Read Southall. They lifted off with a new song called “Burning Bridges” from their just-released album Kinfolk. It’s a strong and feisty opening number that turns on an arching chorus with a slight U2 flavor, which almost defies the band’s country roots. “Freight Train” was another hot new one alive with rumbling guitars and a heavy undercurrent. All in all, the five-song, 28-minute set resonated well with the still-incoming audience. Such is the curse of going on at 6:30.
It was still early (7:20 to be precise) when Whisky Myers hit the stage. The big band from Texas caught their big break when the hit TV show Yellowstone featured them and their music on a few episodes. “Stone,” which they were obliged to play tonight, was used over a pivotal scene in the Taylor Sheridan drama, becoming a massive hit in the aftermath. Tonight, however, it wasn’t really about hits. It was about how much shape-shifting a hard-working six-piece veteran band with two backup singers could conjure up in 75 minutes.
Much of what Whiskey Myers played came from their more recent albums, including their latest, 2025’s Whomp Whack Thunder, which they focused on early in the set. Rolling out with the unrequited rocker “Midnight Woman,” they worked in the countrified rauncher cowboy tale that is “John Wayne,” then swerved into the fast lane with “Time Bomb” and “Tailspin” from Whomp Whack Thunder.
It’s not as if Whiskey Myers has an identity crisis, because the southern alt country rock hybrid they cook up is all their own. Everyone on the floor was on their feet and singing the choruses during their entire set, so they have a following who “get it.” Singer and guitarist Cody Cannon seemed to steer the ship with his commanding, tightly drawled vocal, while guitarists John Jeffers and Cody Tate were blazing with chops galore.
Jeffers also confidently took the lead vocal on “Bitch” (with a title like that, the vocal demands attitude) and Tate continually switched over from guitar to mandolin to pedal steel without much fuss. You could say the same for keyboardist and percussionist Tony Kent. As for drummer Jeff Hogg — he steadfastly kept the whole train runnin’ nonstop.
They wavered from the sentiment of “Bury My Bones” from their 2019 self-produced, self-titled release to “Bar, Guitar, And A Honky Tonk Crowd” and “Broken Window Serenade,” older favorites from 2011’s Firewater. It really took the wallop of “Frogman” and “Gasoline” (followed by the aforementioned “Bitch” and “Stone”) to understand how gritty yet refined Whiskey Myers can get. Almost like a shot of whiskey itself. If ever there were a modern-day heir to Lynyrd Skynyrd in their prime, this band may well take the crown. By the time they ended the night with “The Wolf,” any and all skeptics were thoroughly sold.
Even with such strong showings from Southhall and Whiskey Myers, a certain restlessness settled in waiting 40 minutes for the main act — The Black Crowes — to make their entrance. Once they did, a little after nine, it was with “Jealous Again,” their first big hit from 1990. Long ago, the Crowes adopted the jam-band ethos that one setlist is never the same. That being said, staples like “Jealous Again,” “Hard To Handle,” and “Remedy” show up at different points in the show. Fortunately for the Nashville crowd, they followed with the equally infectious “Sting Me” from the band’s 1992 sophomore release, The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion, an album they would revisit throughout the night.
Since reuniting in 2020, Chris and Rich Robinson have rotated the lineup here and there, recording two magnificent studio albums in the process. While so many of their contemporaries put the newer stuff away and play only fan favorites, the Black Crowes casually mix old with new without alienating their audience, who truly want to hear it all. Tonight, they only pulled in “It’s Like That” from their latest A Pound Of Feathers and “Wanting And Waiting” from 2024’s Happiness Bastards. While this reviewer would have loved to heard another newer song like “Rats And Clowns” or “Cruel Streak,” it’s really the luck of the draw when it comes which night they’ll play that one song you want to hear.
Fans of 2008’s Warpaint were in for a treat with both “Movin’ On Down The Line,” bolstered by some exceptional slide guitar from Nico Bereciartua, and a cover of Rev. Charlie Jackson’s “God’s Got it” featured. In between, “Girl From A Pawnshop” from 1996’s Three Snakes And One Charm might have slipped by if Chris Robinson hadn’t sounded so damn good.
Hard to imagine a better song for Nashville than “Wiser Time,” a single from 1994’s Amorica with a soft hint of country and a cool breadth of soul. Afterwards, with the audience squarely at ease in the comfort zone, Chris Robinson, never one to mince words, announced: “Here’s the part of the show where all the lazy motherfuckers stand up.” And with that, the audience followed suit as “Hard To Handle” unraveled its spell over the floor and into the ether.
As a large black crow standing on a scrapheap loomed over the fictional junkyard that comprised the backdrop, Rich Robinson stepped up to the microphone and lead the band through an extended and very sweet take of the Velvet Underground’s “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’”. From there, the Robinsons, along with Bereciartua, keyboardist Erik Deutsch, drummer Cully Symington, and bassist Mark “Muddy” Dutton (the newest member, replacing longtime bassist Sven Pipien) regrouped and consolidated the songbook. They checked off their beloved “She Talks to Angels” before working in a couple more from The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion (“Thorn In My Pride” and “No Speak No Slave”). On that front, there was one more to come.
Chris Robison preened and pranced, his head held skyward as he delivered the lines to the obligatory “Twice As Hard.” Then he invited an old friend on stage. Guitarist Audley Freed, who was briefly with the band in the early 2000s, joined in to finish out the night with “Remedy.” Seems like he should have come out for “Soul Singing,” a song played earlier that he actually recorded with the band. Either way, it was good to see an alumnus welcomed so warmly. With little time to spare, they encored with “Space Captain,” a soulful hymn written by Matthew Moore that Joe Cocker performed on his 1970 Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour. It’s one of those songs that feels so right in the hands of a group like the Black Crowes. It certainly doesn’t get more rock and roll than that. 
