Friday night at CRS was the New Faces show. It is the show where some of the hottest new acts in country can show off their talents to the radio personnel in hopes that their music will be on the air regularly. After a very nice dinner, the show kicked off at 8:00 with a very strange video from 903 Music starring Darryl Worley. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously and was all about his hair. While everyone was still laughing, Charlie Monk took the stage to get the audience warmed up even further. Monk is one of the legends of radio and had recently received the President's Award. He started off the evening with Industry Related one liners delivered Toast style. There were equal amounts of groans and laughter as he warmed up the crowd.
Each of the performing artists had a little video as sort of a self introduction. It was a really neat idea and interesting to see the different roads they took. The first act was Eric Church and his video was themed as a mind haze. It was definitely interesting and different, and as the last part of it faded out, the curtains opened and there he was onstage ready to go. His performance was basically a medley that ran through samples of most of his music. Trent Tomlinson rocked the house with his bad boy image backed by incredible country vocals. Texas artist Jack Ingram was next with his more laid back style and strong vocals. Miranda Lambert lent a female flair to the evening, but she held her own with no problem. She's definitely developing a reputation as a little wild onstage as well. Rodney Atkins and his solid traditional style of country closed down the showcase.
In between sets, Kix Brooks was on hand to keep everyone entertained. It took maybe 15 minutes between each act, so he did something a little different between each act. The first set change he talked about the countdown that he started up and hosts, the American Country Countdown. He was discussing how he now has to divvy up the PR a little when talking with the radio station. Is he wearing the Brooks & Dunn hat or the ACC hat? For the second break, Kix played straight man to the comedy stylings of legend Bill Davis (?) who I thought was hilarious. Then he was back out discussing practical jokes on the road and how Brad Paisley may have met his match in that department. But don't get him wrong, he isn't saying it was his idea to store some fish in a couple of different spots in Brad's boat as it traveled in a hot truck cross country. And for the final set change, Brooks took out his guitar and sang a very moving version of "Red Dirt Road."
The talent onstage tonight may have been 'new faces' in Nashville, but every single one of them has been performing for years. For most, it's been a very long 'overnight' success story. I look forward to hearing more from each and every one of them in the years to come.
Song List
- I Know Where I Come From - Eric Church
- Medley: Ophelia/I Saw the Light/Sunday Morning Coming Down/Sinners Like Me/Guys Like Me/Waving That Flag (?)/Night Moves/I Thank God (?) - Eric Church
- Blue Collar Redneck - Trent Tomlinson
- She Just Might Have Her Radio On - Trent Tomlinson
- Drunker Than Me - Trent Tomlinson
- One Wing in the Fire - Trent Tomlinson
- Hey Batter, Batter - Trent Tomlinson
- Love You - Jack Ingram
- Measure of a Man - Jack Ingram
- Lips of an Angel - Jack Ingram
- Wherever You Are - Jack Ingram
- Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Miranda Lambert
- Brand New Strings - Miranda Lambert
- Famous in a Small Town - Miranda Lambert
- Kerosene - Miranda Lambert
- These Are My People - Rodney Atkins
- Watching You - Rodney Atkins
- If You're Going Through Hell - Rodney Atkins
