Caylee Hammack has a simple aim: to build a fanbase in each UK town so she can afford to come back. She’s been over here a week or two, having opened for Eric Church the night before MV saw him, and as soon as she steps on stage, she makes an impression.
She starts with “Wicked Game”—and what a voice! When it segues into one of her own songs, it’s clear that this is no fluke.
The next one is written with Steven Wilson Jr., and it’s got his class too. In fact, they all do, in honesty. A new track—not introduced by name, but possibly called “Breathe”—finds Hammack singing in a much higher register.
The “karaoke section” of her set includes a raw, emotionally charged version of “Jolene”, and any time Kylie is covered it’s going to score bonus points here. Her version of “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” does that admirably.
She switches to Bowie after that, finding a different side to “Space Oddity”, while “Running Up That Hill” suits her bewitching style perfectly.
By the time she closes her set with the deeply personal “Small Town Hypocrite”—which features Chris Stapleton on the recorded version—she’s achieved her aim. And if talent counts for anything, those small towns will soon be swapped for the bright lights.
“Running Down a Dream” plays before Scotty McCreery arrives tonight. Never mind running it down—he’s living his.
At 31, he’s a member of the Grand Ole Opry, a number one artist, and he’s sold this place out thousands of miles from home.
Indeed, by the time the rock ’n’ roll hoedown of “Can’t Pass the Bar” ends in a hail of screams, you can only conclude: a star is born.
He’s country in the grand tradition. “Little More Gone” belongs in the honky-tonks, and it’s noticeable that he’s less polished live than he is on record—which suits him.
Fifteen years on from “American Idol” (“I was just a 16-year-old boy who wanted to meet Jennifer Lopez”), he dedicates “It Matters to Her” to his wife (not Lopez…) while the ballad—and mega-hit—”Cab in a Solo” goes down a storm.
“And Countin’,” from last year’s album, is proper blue-collar stuff, but where he truly excels is on personal cuts like “Love Like This.”
There’s something inescapable about McCreery, though—and it’s this: that voice shouldn’t ever come out of that baby face. It’s a wonderful thing. Deep and rich, it elevates tracks like “Wagon Wheel” (covered by everyone, but most recently Darius Rucker—of whom, more later). And if “In Between” is almost perfect modern country, then it suits him perfectly.
There’s a pretty faithful cover of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” (a song so good it doesn’t need messing with), followed by “Bottle Rockets” (his new release with Hootie & The Blowfish), and “This Is It”—his wedding song—which revives the power ballad.
“Slow Dance” continues the “lovey-dovey mood,” as he puts it, and “You Time”—although the tempo is upped—carries the same vibe.
There’s nothing fake about McCreery. He’s both the real deal and he loves this music. As his medley of old-time country—featuring Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks, and more—proves.
In years to come, there’ll be medleys with songs like “Five More Minutes” in them. That’s how good McCreery is. Meanwhile, “Damn Strait” has a similarly timeless quality.
The hits are big and many for a man his age. “See You Tonight” was one of the first.
But—much like Charles Wesley Godwin the other week—there’s only one way the Carolina boy is ending this. And “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is a lot of fun.
It’s just that for Scotty McCreery, those highways are destined for who knows where? Bigger places than here, that’s for damn sure. There’s never been anything more certain—or obvious.
