CMT Blog: Archive

On the heels of releasing a brand new album last week called Tennessee Pusher, Old Crow Medicine Show are giving their fans a double feature, performing last night and tonight (Oct. 10) at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. For their first engagement, Old Crow Medicine Show played a few catchy old favorites of mine, like "I Hear Them All," and included several new songs, like "Alabama High-Test" and "Tennessee Pusher." Is it the dark context that the fans love so much? Their fans may not realize there are tons of bands out there making old-time bluesy music that have yet to see the Ryman stage. What is it about Old Crow that singles them out among other acoustic counterparts? Just a thought I've always wondered as a longtime fan.

At one point, they brought out Cowboy Jack Clement, a "rock 'n' roll superstar," as singer-fiddler Ketch Secor referred to him. (Clement was the staff engineer at Sun Records before becoming a well-known engineer, songwriter and producer in Nashville, and he remains one of the industry's liveliest characters.) He performed "Let's All Help the Cowboys Sing the Blues," once recorded by Waylon Jennings, and "Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog," made famous by Johnny Cash's landmark At Folsom Prison album.

Last night's show started with an energetic old-time string band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, from North Carolina. Their show consisted of taking old-time tunes and casting a modern spin on them. "Cornbread and Butter Beans" was a crowd favorite, as was the band's interpretation of the R&B hit by Blu Cantrell, "Hit 'Em Up Style," complete with fiddle and banjo. I also thoroughly enjoyed the kazoo played like a trumpet in one of their songs. I can't recall a finer kazoo player. The Carolina Chocolate Drops worked the crowd and earned a standing ovation, which was unarguably well-deserved.