NASHVILLE'S MOST WANTED

Ft. Dillon Carmichael, Cody Purvis, & RT Johnson

Tuesday October 12, 2021

@ Scoreboard Bar & Grill in Nashville, TN

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis)

Cody Purvis continues to make all the right moves to keep earning his weekly live show, Nashville’s Most Wanted, a status as one of the hottest gigs in Music City.

The stage that he offers provides a perfect balance by bringing in some of the best national acts once a month, while using each of the other Tuesday nights to highlight some of Nashville’s best emerging talent and place the spotlight on them.

This plan just simply works. The national acts will naturally always draw new people in, but it’s the atmosphere and high quality of what Purvis puts together that grabs their attention, and ultimately, keeps the newcomers coming back week after week until they become regulars, effectively growing his audience, and widening the reach of Nashville’s Most Wanted.

Purvis welcomed Riser House recording artist Dillon Carmichael as the headliner this week, but not before buzzed about artist RT Johnson, and the host himself, Cody Purvis, each took the stage to warm up the enthusiastic crowd.

With his current single “Feel Good Again” climbing to the #57 position on the MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart this week, CCB Nashville recording artist RT Johnson took the stage and showed the crowd why there is so much buzz surrounding him right now.

He quickly won over the crowd by balancing his set between a healthy offering of originals, while fusing in some additional covers that perfectly accented his personality and honored his influences.

Songs such as Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” and  Waylon Jennings “Waymore’s Blues,” which Johnson stated to be one of his favorite Waylon songs, helped hold the crowd in the palm of his hand, as he then won them over by sliding in original songs such as “Feel Good Again” and the Dillon Carmichael penned “Thirsty Weather,” which had the crowd clapping along with it as they tapped their toes to the catchy melody.

Clad in a Sammy Kershaw t-shirt made perfect sense as Cody Purvis, the host of Nashville’s Most Wanted, opened his set with a cover of “Queen of My Double Wide Trailer.”

Although half of his 50-minute set included cover selections – such as Chris Cagle’s “Thank God She Left the Whiskey,” Randy Houser’s “Like A Cowboy, and 90’s country gems “That Ain’t My Truck” and “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” - Purvis also skillfully used his timeslot to showcase several tunes from his original catalog.

He tapped into his 2019 Boots on the Ground EP to take us on a journey through his “College Years,” honor the military with the title track “Boots on the Ground,” and to close his set with the highest charting song of his career thus far, “Drinkin’ Terms.”

But he also gave his fans (who were absolutely on hand as could be heard through the tremendous ovations he received from them) a glimpse of things to come when he played some of his newest material including what he described as his sexy song with “Overnight,” and also “Someday,” a song which he teased would be released in a couple weeks to streaming platforms.

I’ve been to a handful of Nashville’s Most Wanted shows, and this is only the second time that Purvis has played a set at one of them. There’s a humbleness about that, but as he proved with this particular set, underneath that humbleness sits an artist that knows exactly how to deliver all the proper punches while leaving you clamoring for more - expertly giving you a reason to come back the following week for the next Nashville’s Most Wanted.

FULL SET LIST (Cody Purvis)

1) Queen of My Double Wide Trailer (Sammy Kershaw cover)

2) College Years

3) Boots on the Ground

4) Airplane Mode

5) Overnight

6) Thank God She Left the Whiskey (Chris Cagle cover)

7) Like A Cowboy (Randy Houser cover)

8) Cowboys and Angels (Dustin Lynch cover)

9) That Ain’t My Truck (Rhett Akins cover)

10) Should’ve Been a Cowboy (Toby Keith cover)

11) Someday

12) I Wish Grandpa’s Never Died (Riley Green cover)

13) Drinkin’ Terms

There are some moments that will come along in life where you just know that you’ve been blessed to be a part of something very special. Being in the audience for Dillon Carmichael’s performance on this night is absolutely one of those moments for me.

Carmichael, widely recognized by country music fans for his song “Hot Beer,” took the stage just days before the release of his newest album Son of A… and delivered a healthy dose of memorable songs that all showcased his incredible voice and personality, but most importantly, hyped the forthcoming album release.

From the moment that he stepped on stage, Carmichael (and his band) pressed the proverbial peddle to floor and went full throttle through an hour and a half set that ignited the crowd, pulled them into every song, and left them on the edge of their seat with anticipation of what was coming next.

“This one’s for the ladies,” Carmichael said with his signature grin on his face as he launched into his set with “Country Women,” a cut from his 2018 Hell of An Angel EP which had the crowd clapping along while Carmichael was able to quickly show off his big, booming voice and introduce the crowd to his honky-tonk kissed country rock sound; a sound that continued to pour off the stage as they drove into “Paychecks and Longnecks” and “99 Problems (Fish Ain’t One).”

“Who here drank out of a garden hose when they was growing up?,” Carmichael asked. “This next song is for all y’all then,” he finished as he played “Hose Water,” the first slower paced song of the set, but one that also allowed Carmichael to really showcase his story telling as he pulled the crowd deep into the nostalgic vibe of the tune.

Carmichael then introduced his mom, Becky Montgomery, to the crowd when he called her up to the stage to sing backups on “Son of A…,” the title track of his forthcoming album, which he also announced as his next single released to country radio.

As we rolled through the first third of his set, Carmichael slipped into a groove and allowed his music to do a lot of his talking for him as he played “Since You’ve Been In It,” “Sawin’ Logs,” and “Somewhere She Ain’t,” before bringing his mom back up to the stage and talking a little bit about his family tree.

“You met my mom a little bit earlier,” Carmichael began. “She taught me how to sing, and she has two brothers that sing country music that you may have heard of; John Michael and Eddie Montgomery,” he paused as the crowd erupted in cheers at the mention of his uncle’s legendary names. 

“Montgomery Gentry has a song that’s always been really special to my heart,” Carmichael introduced as he encouraged the crowd to sing along with him as he played “Lucky Man,” one of the duo’s many #1 songs.

As the uber popular song’s final notes were played, Carmichael and his band jumped right back into their high-octane honky-tonk side with “Country Boy Lovin,” before delivering back-to-back love infused lyrical masterpieces “I Do For You” and “Dancing Away With My Heart,” the latter which drove couples to the dance floor as they held each other close and swayed along with the softer paced melody.

“Let’s give it up for this incredible band one more time,” Carmichael encouraged as his band exited the stage. “I’m gonna do a few songs acoustic and give these guys a break if that’s okay with you,” he finished as he proceeded with an amazing version of Keith Whitley’s “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” reached deep into his back catalog for “If I Wasn’t Your Man,” and satisfied a request for Garth Brooks’ “The Dance.”

Rejoined by his band now, Carmichael allowed the shredding guitars to shine in the spotlight on the boot-stomping “Pickin’ Up Girls,” and gave us another glimpse into his new album with “Red, White, Camo, and Blue.”

“I moved to Nashville a decade ago y’all, and I’ve got to do some pretty cool things in these last 10 years. I’ve got to go on tour and play music all over the world. I’ve to play on the Grand Ole Opry stage 17 times. I’m a lucky son of a... I’ll tell ya!” he stated to a loud, supportive ovation.

“How many 90’s country music fans do we have in the house tonight?” he asked as brought the crowd to their feet and cranked the entire party up a notch as he unloaded a medley of 90’s country hits that included Joe Diffie’s “Pickup Man,” Mark Chesnutt’s “It’s A Little Too Late,” and Travis Tritt’s “T-R-O-U-B-L-E.”

With the audience already revved up to 110%, Carmichael slapped it home when he hit the crowd with “Hot Beer” to close out his set.

“One more song! One more song!” the crowd chanted as the band continued noodling on their instruments. “One More! One More! One More!”

As the band played the opening notes of the ultra-danceable “Big Truck,” Carmichael bounced back onto the stage and exclaimed, “Oh! We ain’t done just yet!” as the crowd immediately jumped up and ran out to the dancefloor in front of the stage and swayed their hips along with the groove as the show came to a close.

To be completely transparent, I see a lot of artists play live and it’s rare that one can hold my undivided attention for the entire duration of their set. But Dillon Carmichael accomplished it! He left it all out on the stage and gave the crowd an incredible look at his pure, raw talent.

It’s crystal clear that Dillon Carmichael is on the cusp of blowing up – Big time! I’ve personally liked everything I’ve heard from him thus far, but this performance has made me a fan! Jump on the bandwagon now so you can say you were there when!

FULL SET LIST (Dillon Carmichael)

1) Country Woman

2) Paychecks and Longnecks

3) 99 Problems (Fish Ain’t One)

4) Hose Water

5) ???

6) Son of A…

7) Since You’ve Been In It

8) Sawin’ Logs

9) Somewhere She Ain’t

10) Lucky Man (Montgomery Gentry cover)

11) Country Boy Lovin’

12) I Do For You

13) Dancin’ Away With My Heart

14) Don’t Close Your Eyes (Keith Whitley cover)

15) If I Wasn’t Your Man

16) The Dance (Garth Brooks)

17) Pickin’ Up Girls

18) Red, White, Camo, and Blue

19) Pickup Man (Joe Diffie cover)

20) It’s A Little Too Late (Mark Chesnutt cover)

21) T-R-O-U-B-L-E (Travis Tritt cover)

22) Hot Beer

23) Big Truck

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