For musicians from all over the world, playing in New York City is one of those moments that you want to have a big check mark next to on your “bucket list” and Craig Campbell did just that on Wednesday, June 27 at Opry City Stage. The “See You Try” singer, along with guitarist Jason Miller (one-third of the Campbell Toes band), played an intimate set that covered new and old songs from his own catalog as well as some well-known covers.
Don’t mistake the lack of his signature cowboy hat these days as a shift away from being country; Campbell is still as country as they come. Family and faith are two important values in his life and take center-stage in many of his songs. Campbell told the story that the moment he found out he was going to be a father was his inspiration for “My Little Cowboy” and how the impact of the added responsibility of another human being resulted in his 2010 hit “Family Man.” Campbell also paid tribute to some of the icons that made him fall in love with country music with a medley of Shenandoah’s “Two Dozen Roses,” Clint Black’s “Killing Time,” Brooks & Dunn’s “Brand New Man” and Travis Tritt’s “Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares).”
Every so often a musician comes across a song that is so true to his or herself, it’s like they practically wrote it themselves. “Kids in the South,” written by Chase McGill and Ben Hayslip, was one of those songs for Campbell. Featured on his new EP See You Try, he pointed out how the lyrics paint a picture of exactly what it was like growing up in south Georgia in the Campbell’s house before playing the funky, uptempo song.
Campbell explained that when he moved to Nashville, he promoted himself as a piano player because everyone came to Nashville to sing and play guitar (the strategy worked as he played the ivories for pre-record deal Luke Bryan and Tracy Byrd). Making his way on stage from his acoustic to the keys, Campbell toyed with selections from Garth Brooks’ “The Dance,” to John Legend’s “All of Me,” and “Let It Go.” Yes, Campbell learned the now iconic Disney tune as his daughters, like pretty much everyone else in the world, were obsessed with FROZEN.
Switching back to his own material, Campbell performed an unrecorded song “It’s About Time” that, let’s just say, requires a little fanning to help with the flushed color in one’s face (Don’t believe it? Check out these lyrics: “It’s about damn time / It’s been too long / Baby come on let me turn you on / Aint’ got to worry about nothing I got this / Girl you never seen the stars from a truck bed hanging over your head / Just before sunrise…” ). Campbell then declared that it can’t be a country show without a little Merle Haggard as the duo performed a killer version of “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink.”
Soon after releasing “Keep Them Kisses Comin'” in 2013, Campbell’s label Big Picture Music Group folded, resulting in a lot of grassroots promotion to get the song on the radio and staying there (which worked as it became at Top 10 hit). Campbell knows what it means to have people support you, both fans as well as those in the industry, and he is a grateful soul; throughout the evening he thanked the members of his current label Red Bow Records as well as his publicists at Sweet Talk and others who were in attendance for their dedication to him and his work.
Campbell also performed singles “Outta My Head,” the beautiful “Outskirts of Heaven” and the based on a true story “Fish” as well as a few from his new EP including “Me Missing You,” the fun drinking song “Mas Tequila,” and his current single “See You Try.”
For more information on Craig Campbell, visit his website at: www.craigcampbell.tv
For more information on Opry City Stage, including upcoming events, please visit their website: www.oprycitystage.com