Sammy Kershaw Review

I have seen Sammy Kershaw in concert twice and enjoyed his music over the last twenty years. I saw him at an outdoor arena in 2007 and among other parts of his interaction with the crowd he let us know he would be running for governor of Louisianna in the next election.

The take on country musicians in general is that they are a crowd of beer and whiskey drinkin' hicks, who'll do just about any song to get up the charts. It is true that 90 percent of country music singers couldn't write a song if one slapped them in the face to wake them up from their last drunk. Mostly they depend on songwriters and begin to sound like 90 percent of what is on the charts. Sammy Kershaw spoke of the disappearance of the true stylist who is putting out a sound and an ideal of his or her own ie Johnny Cash, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, or Merle Haggard.

The last time I saw Sammy Kershaw, the opening band was Emerson Drive, who incidentally had a number one song on the charts that very week. They played their number one song and got some cheers but generally the crowd  was politely waiting for one of the last stylists in Country Music. Sammy Kershaw has seven children whom he spends much time with. He has family values and never sold out just to make it. It was so refreshing to see a true star talking to the crowd like he was everyone's next door neighbor and playing hard and long into the night. If you want to hear what country music really is, steer away from the dime a dozen bar bands playing rock and roll in a cowboy hat and check out Sammy Kershaw.