Buddy Jewell opened the Riverfront Stage shows for Saturday. The day started drizzly and continued raining the whole time I was there. Buddy's first song was "Help Pour Out The Rain (Lacey's Song)" which was perfect for the day. Next, he sang a track from his new album, Times Like These, called "I'd Run." Then, another one from the new album, which is one of my favorites, called "Me Lovin' You."
Buddy dedicated "If She Were Any Other Woman" to all the ladies in the audience. The next two songs were also from the new album. He sang "Ain't Doin' It Right," and "So Gone."
The final song of his set was dedicated to our men and women serving in the armed forces, either away or home. The song was "Sweet Southern Comfort."
Next up was Michelle Wright. She started her set with "Take It Like a Man." She said she has a new record coming out called "Ice." Then, she sang "Rock It," which I'm guessing is from the new album. She mentioned it was the first time she's done it on stage.
The next song is a song that means a lot to Michelle, and she said she was going to try to get through it without crying. It's called "Would You Love Me Anyway." It's a story about a woman that wants a child, but she's getting into her late 30's and hasn't been able to conceive yet. She worries that she let all the years go by doing selfish things instead of having children. Very sweet, and obviously it's one that Michelle lives.
Her final song was an upbeat tune called "Everything and More."
Moving back to the left stage we have The Grascals (minus Dolly Parton this time) who sing the song "Viva Las Vegas." They give the song a bluegrass feel. They performed their second single, "Me, John and Paul," which was a cool song. Being a bluegrass group, they really know their instruments, and so the next song was instrumental, featuring Jimmy Mattingly on fiddle.
Their final two songs were "Hard Times," and "Muddy River."
Jace Everett is another new artist, and he started out his set with "Little Less Lonely." From there he sang his single, which is just hitting radio, called "That's the Kind of Love I'm In." I really liked this one, and hope it does well for him.
Next came the sexy "I Wanna Do Bad Things With You." And his final song was "Gotta Have It."
The rain was still coming down, but I was determined to see Erika Jo, who came on next. Her self titled album hit stores last Tuesday, and she previewed songs from it, as well as a song she sang on the Nashville Star show.
She started with "Strong Tonight," which is a big hit in my opinion. Really catchy, and should do really well on country radio. She treated fans to a live version of "Black Velvet" which she sang on the show. Loved it. The third song was called "Go," and can be found on her album. She also has a great cover of the Jessi Colter song "I'm Not Lisa," which she performed. She closed out her show with her debut single, "I Break Things."
After Erika Jo left the stage, I headed back to my room for a while, and hoped it would stop raining for the Coliseum show that night.