Shooter and his band hit the mark

Wifey and I attended the Shooter Jennings concert last night at the Iron Horse Saloon in Sturgis. It was stellar.

I was a frequent listener of Shooter's Sirius/XM radio show, but kind of lost sight of him after I cancelled the service. Then I got back on the Shooter bandwagon when he appeared in an episode of The Punisher. His song "Fourth of July" even joined my lunchtime karaoke session, witnessed only by my dogs, and I heard no complaints from them.

The concert was impressive. Shooter's music repertoire is vast. It ranges from classic country ballards to outlaw country to rock. The segues were seamless. His banter with the audience was limited as he put all his effort into the keyboards and various guitars.

It's well known that Shooter doesn't like Nashville (much like his father, Waylon) and they apparently don't care for him either. That's unfortunate from the aspect of not having a more mainstream listenership, because he has more talent in his pinkie finger than all the bro-country Justin and Jasons put together. Shooter isn't riding his father's coattails. He's legit talent, great singer and outstanding musician.

I  always respect artists who can sing AND play an instrument besides the tambourine. I also can play an instrument and sing, but there's never been a big calling for singing tuba players. I prefer to think Nashville hates me too.

We started out the concert just above him on the rail of the second floor, but moved down to the mosh pit midway through. The highlight of the evening for me was when I belted out a duet with Shooter - killing "Fourth of July." I consider it a duet, because I was six feet away from him on the floor. He probably wasn't as enamored with his partner's talent as I was.

If you listen to just one shooter song make it that one. Here's a link, with a cameo from George Jones at the end.

Here are the lyrics so you can sing along:

Alone with the morning burning red
On the canvas in my head, painting a picture of you
And me driving across country, in a dusty old RV
Just the road and its majesty
And I'm looking at you with the world in the rear view
You were pretty as can be, sitting in the front seat
Looking at me, telling me you love me
And your happy to be with me on the 4th of July
We sang 'Stranglehold' to the stereo
Couldn't take no more of that rock 'n' roll
So we put on a little George Jones and just sang along
Those white lines get drawn into the sun
If you ain't got no one to keep you hanging on
And there you were like a queen in your nightgown
Riding shotgun from town to town
Staking a claim on the world we found
And I'm singing to you, you're singing to me
You were out of the blue to a boy like me
You were pretty as can be, sitting in the front seat
Looking at me, telling me you love me
And your happy to be with me on the 4th of July
We sang 'Stranglehold' to the stereo
Couldn't take no more of that rock 'n' roll
So we put on a little George Jones and just sang along, sang along
And I'm looking for you in the silence that we share
You were pretty as can be, sitting in the front seat
Looking at me, telling me you love me
And your happy to be with me on the 4th of July
We sang 'Stranglehold' to the stereo
Couldn't take no more of that rock 'n' roll
So we put on a little George Jones and just sang along, sang along