Luke Combs, Eric Church Concert for Carolina: 8 Best Moments

There’s a reason Strings is taking the country by storm and playing sold-out venues everywhere. His acoustic music is predominantly bluegrass, but also incorporates elements of rock, jam and metal. His guitar playing, as well as the musicianship of his bandmates, is clean and tight, but never sacrifices emotion for precision. After the release of his new album in October, road prayerto be the first in advertising billboardIt has topped the album sales charts since 2002. A tribute to the character Doc Watson. It was an exhilarating performance that wowed the audience and undoubtedly brought new fans to the strings.

Church is known for his cover songs, but it’s been years since he composed a wide-ranging medley that impacted him as he did at the end of his moving, stripped-down 85-minute solo. In the middle of his autobiography, “Mistress of Music,” he threw himself into a medley of 10 songs influenced by his childhood: Ronnie Milsap’s “Smoky Mountain Rain”; “Walking Against the Wind” by Bob Seger; “Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding; “Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Def Leppard; “My Girl” by The Temptations (which he noted was his father’s most Favorite Song); “This Blows Me Up” by Van Morrison; “The Good ‘Ol Boys Theme” by Waylon Jennings; “Neon” by Brooks & Dunn Moon”; Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” (which received the warmest response); and Billy Joel’s “Piano Man.” It’s adorable in scenes full of emotion.

Both Church and Coombs were adamant that James Taylor, one of North Carolina’s most beloved artists, had to attend the concert. The troubadour’s work is timeless, with carefully crafted songs conveyed by his warm, soothing vocals that are still as powerful now as when they were released 50 years ago and feel tailor-made for the cause (every pun intended) slang), especially the supportive optimism of “Fire & Rain,” “You’ve Got a Friend” and, of course, North Carolina’s unofficial anthem, “Carolina in My Mind.” He may not live in North Carolina anymore, but Taylor still feels like the beating heart of the state every time he opens his mouth to sing.

It all speaks to the respect the cause and their fellow artists have for Combs and Church that several stars appear in what are essentially glorified guest appearances, traveling long distances to contribute a few songs. Sheryl Crow joined Church for a rendition of her 2001 hit with Kid Rock, “Picture” (Church admitted he’d never sung the song before) before singing bouncy versions of “If It Makes You Happy” and “Every Day is A Winding” road. ” Then Keith Urban helped the cause on his birthday, singing “Blue Ain’t Your Color” and “Wasted Time” (which included a wicked break in which he used his guitar and microphone as drums) , and then Church joined his band for their 2013 collaboration, “Raise ‘Em Up.” Urban’s wife Nicole Kidman took the stage to wish him a happy birthday. Likewise, Combs brought out Bailey Zimmerman, who performed his breakthrough hit “Rock and a Hard Place,” and the Avett Brothers, who canceled Performed on stage to participate in charity events. In addition, Rice, Parmalee and McCreery each performed two songs between headlining acts. It made the show colorful and moving, while also creating a sense of “we’re all in this together” that night.

Most people are proud of their hometowns (hopefully), but the Tar Heels are especially proud, whether it’s the natural beauty from the Outer Banks to the Smokey Mountains, the strength of the college sports teams and, of course, the barbecue . One of the highlights of the evening was that each artist from North Carolina performed a song they had written expressing their love for their (and mine) hometown. Church and Parmalee both performed their namesake song “Carolina,” Rice sang “Carolina Can,” Taylor performed “Carolina in My Mind,” and McCreery’s “Carolina to Me” featured the memorable line “Everything that’s Heaven to You Are Carolina to Me At the end of the show, Combs and Church performed Church’s version of “Carolina,” which featured Rice, Parmalee, McCreery, and the Avett Brothers. and Zimmerman, among other remaining artists, also joined the show.

Even though she’s not in the building, Dolly Parton still manages to sprinkle her angel dust. After Church’s show, co-hosts Caleb Pressley and Marty Smith announced that Parton had pledged to pass the $100 million Bezos Courage and Grant that Jeff Bezos will award her in 2022. Prize for Civility, donating $1 million to “my neighbors in North Carolina” to be distributed as she sees fit. This is on top of the $1 million she donated to relief efforts three weeks ago. Patton wasn’t there, but another legend was. When Randy Travis appeared on stage, accompanied by his wife, Mary, the stadium erupted in thunderous applause. He suffered a stroke in 2013 that left him largely unable to speak, so she gave a moving speech about his path from his hometown of Marshville, North Carolina, to Nashville, but that North Carolina was always home.

Nothing captured the spirit of the night better than Combs’ mention of Wesko, a little-known singer-songwriter from North Carolina whom Combs discovered on TikTok ‘s song “Helene” as he heard snippets of the song’s soundtrack showing off one after another the devastation and despair of war. Combs cedes the stage (and his guitar) to Wesco to perform a powerful song that starkly describes the disaster with lines like: “I saw a A mother stands on top of her house, holding a baby in her arms, floating down/I watch my brother hanging on a branch, like Peter on the cross, with the will to live/The smell of death is there Wandering on the mountainside, with nothing left but the tears I left / We will sit here and wait for the Lord to come, until we run out of water, sure to see Him, this is cruel on a night that otherwise feels good. And the necessary moment of truth.

His co-organizer Church played a stripped-down solo set filled with hits and covers, while Combs delivered a full-on show that included a full band and extremely high-octane playing. Combs, the two-time CMA Entertainer of the Year, kept pumping out hits, thrilling the crowd with tunes like the sexy, pulsing “The Kind of Love We Make,” the upbeat “Loving on You,” the bite-sized “Beer Never Broke” and more Incessantly. tornado. His and Church’s hour-plus episodes complement each other perfectly. Church performed their No. 1 song of 2020 “Does to Me” live for the first time with Combs (the two were originally scheduled to perform at the 2020 CMA Awards, but that didn’t happen due to the coronavirus pandemic), with the pair’s faces covered Smiles broke out as they played together and realized they had had a wonderful evening filled with great music and goodwill, pure joy.