Show Reviews

 

MACKENZIE CARPENTER & FRIENDS

Ft. Mackenzie Carpenter, Micah Carpenter, Megan Moroney, & Ben Williams

Thursday January 12, 2023

@ The Listening Room in Nashville, TN

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis)

Nashville truly upholds its branded nickname of “Music City,” pumping live music out of any space that can host a stage, delivering the hits you know from production booth to your radio, and constantly welcoming relocating artists who arrive with a dream, a passion, and a guitar.

But underneath all those different moving parts, sits the unique lifeblood that pumps the heartbeat of Nashville…The songwriter!

Holed up in writing rooms creating what could be the next big hit and pouring out their hearts on stages across the city during countless songwriter rounds allows the vulnerable songwriter the opportunity to test their creations on a live audience and gage a real-time reaction from them.

One of the top echelons to play for a songwriter is located just a drop south of the flashing neon lights of Lower Broadway - The Listening Room!

With a policy that the venue strongly upholds that asks patrons to keep their table conversations to an absolute minimum out of respect for the artists, The Listening Room is a space where songwriters play to a receptive audience and have their songs truly be heard; some of the which are the hits that are already well-known, while others are brand-new and give the audience a glimpse into country music’s most current fabrication and a look at the future.

A sold out, 8:30PM writer’s round welcomed Valory Music Company recording artist Mackenzie Carpenter in her first ever hosting role at The Listening Room alongside a stellar lineup of her core group of songwriter friends (and sibling) Megan Moroney, Ben Williams, and Micah Carpenter – a foursome that we’d learn during the show referred to themselves as “Jimmy James” whenever they’d all co-write a song together, several of which would be performed throughout the night.

While The Listening Room naturally attracts a very attentive crowd who loves hearing songs in their rawest form, there was an extra noticeable excitement that bubbled a full hour before the show as the crowd packed into the front bar/lobby area of the venue, waiting for the doors to officially open. Everyone was all smiles and full of positive energy as they mingled and talked about their favorite songs that these 4 songwriters had written; An energy level that would transcend throughout the entire night, which the songwriter’s could clearly feel and would feed off as much as they did each other.

Clad in a Dale Earnhardt Jr. track jacket, Mackenzie Carpenter and her friends entered the stage to a massive applause as they took their seats on stage and tuned up their guitars.

“One thing that I love about this town, is that it’s built on songwriting,” shared Mackenzie as the crowd of industry reps, fellow songwriters, and music lovers aptly responded with a cheer. “You show up in a room and you write your heart out; sometimes with people you know and sometimes with a stranger. But with this group on stage here tonight, I never laugh as hard as I do when we’re in a room. And whenever we all write a song together, something you guys don’t know is that we collectively call ourselves Jimmy James and you are all part of the first ever Jimmy James performance tonight,” she said with a smile as they kicked things off with “Beer Hunting.”

The venue immediately radiated with rich harmony as the foursome blended their voices together to perfectly pace the ultra-catchy, summer vibed song, instantly getting the crowd moving as they bopped in rhythm with its irresistible groove while the four of them laughed through the tongue and cheek lyrics and transformed the venue into a writing room session that they invited the crowd to be part of with them.

In songwriter round fashion, this night featured 5 incredible rounds of music (and a few Jimmy James surprises along the way) that saw each of the writers feeding off one another as they shared laughs, the personal stories behind their songs, and humble praise for each of the talent on stage with them.

Ben Williams, a Major Bob published songwriter with recent success through co-writes on hits by Avery Anna and Megan Moroney (who sat to his right on stage), kicked off the night with “Mustang or Me,” a song that will appear on Moroney’s upcoming album that saw him placing his own heart-tugging vocals alongside the emotionally driven breakup lyric as he metaphorically inserted the audience in the car with him, taking us on the highway ride away from what was while pondering which would break down first, him or the Mustang?

“One of the recipes with the four of us when we’re writing songs, is to make you laugh,” stated Williams before doing just that with “Throw You Back,” a song coming out on Mackenzie’s upcoming album that wrapped a catchy rhythm around a “you don’t get it, so let me spell it out for you” lyric as Williams took us through a list of hilarious comparatives that earned rousing cheers from crowd when he sang lines such as, “if you were a truck I'd let you rust,” “if you were a rose I'd let you die,” and “if you were a fish I’d throw you back.”

After conversing with Megan that they were in fact about to enter the trauma zone during the third round, he then delivered his show stopping moment with “Should I Start Drinking,” a regret-filled, retrospective look back at a disagreement with his better half that escalated to the point of them potentially breaking up, where he’s then left wondering the next morning if he needs to start medicating the pain of what may come.

“This is another one those songs that I am so very thankful for,” gratefully shared Williams. “This song was the first time I heard one on radio that I wrote, it was my first Gold record, and it was the first time I really got to see a song that I was part of touch people’s lives,” he finished to great applause as he played Avery Anna’s smash hit “Narcissist,” before closing his part of the night with “Four Years of Her.”

“This first song I’m gonna play is one that we all wrote together,” told Megan Moroney as the other three shared in unison with a laugh, “So it’s a Jimmy James!”  

She chuckled as she continued, “it was released as the first single off my EP back in July, and y’all…when I go back home to Georgia, I have a hairdresser named Bernadette who I go to and get all the small-town gossip from,” she explained as she played “Hair Salon,” hushing her voice into the soft pace as she took us through the list of drama being shared about everyone else, before it ultimately ended up wrecking her when she heard about her first love placing a ring on the hand of his now perfect match.

“We’re really doing all the funny songs tonight,” Moroney laughed. “I’ve been in the studio and recorded this one…and you see what had happened was, my ex’s new girlfriend liked one of my photos from 2016!” she explained as the crowd gasped. “I know, right? I thought if she’s that deep into me, then she’s looking for something on me,” she told with a sly grin as she played “I’m Not Pretty,” calling her out with a bless your heart, southern sweetness while hilariously shrugging her shoulders as she landed on sassy hook, “whatever works…keep on telling yourself I'm not pretty.”

With “Why Johnny?” Moroney then delivered her showstopping moment of the night, as she tackled how the iconic love story of Johnny and June was not always roses. Adding a raspier tone to her voice, Megan pulled us through a dream-like, heartfelt conversation with June as she asked her question after question about how she stuck it out with Johnny, why she stayed through all the down moments, and ultimately, cried on her shoulder while asking if she could help her deal with a Johnny of her own.

“I went to UGA…GO DAWGS!” exclaimed Moroney to a smattering of applause from the decisively Georgia crowd. “And when I put on a Tennessee shirt for the first time, I was absolutely disgusted with myself. But then I thought if I felt so strong about a shirt…” she told as she humbly thanked everyone for streaming and listening to “Tennessee Orange,” as the crowd then mouthed the words along with Megan’s current smash single and roared with an ovation as its final notes were played.

“To overshare…” Megan said with a sarcastic tone in her voice. “...I was talking with this guy about a year and a half ago, and after about three months his ex-girlfriend DM’s me to tell me that she’s been sleeping with him for the last six, so I blocked him and never talked to him again. But I knew writing this song would hurt him more than anything, so…” she smiled as she closed her part of the night with “Sleep On My Side,” earning belly laughs from the crowd when she took her kill shot in the hook, “I sleep on my side and you sleep with everyone.”

Micah Carpenter, an accomplished songwriter and Mackenzie’s brother, added the down-home, country boy flavor to the night as he opened with “If It Ain’t Country,” an ultra-catchy toe-tapper that checked off all the country boxes by mentioning Conway Twitty, deer stands, cold beer, biscuits, fishing, and Friday night football as he defined what being country is to him. As the final notes of the song played, Megan hilariously referred to Micah’s mullet as being, “the most country thing in the room.”

Inspired by their good friend and fellow songwriter/artist Dylan Marlow saying that a title like “4x4 Ever” would make a great country boy love song, Carpenter then took us through the flirtatious tune on the back of truck references galore that leaned against comparatives to amplify the promises he’s making to the girl he’s swooning over as to how long he is going to love her.

Holding tightly to the catchier side of his arsenal, “Cigarettes and Roses” took us through a very well-crafted story song about a guy trying to save the relationship that was on its last legs by buying her roses, only to instead need the smokes that he also bought when his efforts fell flat and she walked out on him, breaking it all off.

“Me and Kenzie had incredible grandparents growing up,” Micah shared as he opened up their family photo album with his show stopping song “Good as Gospel,” a touching tribute to all the different life lessons that he learned from the generations before him that are still carried within him today, which he cleverly wrote in such a relatable way that everyone in the crowd relived their own personal memories as they listened.

Returning to the country boy tilt that dominated most of his set, Micah then closed out his part of the night with the gritty “Good Ole Boys,” revving up the blue-collar types with the Friday night, PBR swirled anthem.

“The four of us write a lot together because we have so much in common,” Mackenzie Carpenter said as she smiled and looked down the line at the three sitting next to her on stage. “It’s kind of like Megan said earlier, I get to hear all these stories when I go home! But in my hometown, hunting season is the time of year when the girls get everything they want and have the house all to themselves,” she told as she immediately had the crowd in the palm of her hand as they all - even the wait staff - began grooving along with the uber-catchy single, “Huntin’ Season.”

As the song continuously built into the chorus, Carpenter elevated her distinctively southern soul kissed, country dripping vocal feeding off the energy of the crowd as she punched into the second verse and bridge of the song while bouncing along with the rhythm in her seat, resulting in a deafening ovation as the final notes were played.

“It’s so cool to be able to play a show with songs that are released!” Mackenzie enthusiastically said. “This song was written for anyone that’s in a phase of life who thinks they should be further ahead than they are. I believe that it’s okay to feel sorry for yourself, but you also need to know that it’s gonna all work out,” she encouraged as she provided her show stopping moment with the incredible, “Jesus, I’m Jealous.”

With the crowd at a complete silence, Carpenter pushed her quivering vocal through the prayer like conversation she’s having with Jesus as she transparently airs her heart out to Him while watching two strangers being head over heels in love, lamenting that she’s lonely and wishes she had what they have. What makes this such a powerful song, and quite possibly one of the strongest releases of 2022, is that she isn’t asking Jesus for a fix, but is simply turning to Him for a comforting shoulder.

“Since everyone in this round went down the emo lane,” Carpenter said referring to the trauma songs played during round number three, “I’m gonna talk about murder and bring the mood up with death! Wink…Wink…don’t raise your hand, but if you ever wanted to kill your significant other…” she stated with a knowing nod toward the crowd as she punched into “Gone Fishing.”

The moody feel wrapped into the guitar tones throughout the song allowed Mackenzie to really capture the crazy that arrives when she catches her man cheating on her at the lake when he was supposed to be fishing. This set the story in motion and led to a frantic romp that saw her getting rid of him to the bottom of the lake before punching deeper into the overall plot where she slyly reveals that she wouldn’t be surprised if a blonde (who she caught him with) went missing next.

Inviting us into her backstory, Carpenter shared that she moved to Nashville, went to Belmont University, and was writing songs the whole time when “Can’t Nobody” went viral. This viral sensation would lead to SiriusXM’s The Highway picking up the song and placing it in front of Scott Borchetta (BMLG CEO) which resulted in her ultimately signing a record deal.

With a very heartfelt thank you to everyone at the label, the radio station, and the fans who listened to the song, she played her breakout hit, “Can’t Nobody,” pouring her addictive vocals into the song as the crowd mouthed the words with her as she namechecked Dolly, Jack Daniels, and Dale (Earnhardt).

With a surprise fifth round that the was bonused to the writers during the show, Carpenter delivered “Don’t Mess with Ex’s,” a song she said to be releasing next that played off the philosophy of “once you’ve been there, don’t go back,” which saw her slapping her vocals through the two-stepping, country groove.

Speaking of bonuses during the show… the audience was gifted with “Drunk on a Tractor” midway through, a Jimmy James song that saw Micah taking the leads as the crowd clapped along with the beat while we were driven through a breakup song that sees him looking for answers to a heartbreak. The song also saw Ben Williams drop into a quick, second verse r0ap, which he hilariously warned the crowd about before they played it.

As a grand finale, the entire night was capped off by another Jimmy James performance with “Nothin’ Crazy,” this time with Megan and Mackenzie taking over the leads, singing through a tongue and cheek lyric that saw them becoming completely obsessive after only one date with a fella…landing on shoulder shrug hook when they sarcastically told, “ya know…nothin’ crazy?”

Whenever you get a tight knit group of songwriters together, you get a camaraderie that is unlike anything you’ve ever witnessed. These four songwriters – Mackenzie Carpenter, Micah Carpenter, Megan Moroney, and Ben Williams – have shared their most vulnerable moments, their highs and lows, and their biggest success stories and their shoulders for each other when the sure things didn’t work out.

By being family (by blood and otherwise) it allowed all four individual personalities to uniquely shine, which skillfully pulled the entire audience into their inner circle as everyone became one big happy family through story and song over the 2-hour spotlight that shined brightly on each of these four incredible talents.

This bold showcase contained many special moments that caused an unexplainable feeling to creep up inside the hearts of the country music lovers in the crowd as they began to understand that the future of country music is in amazing hands with Mackenzie Carpenter and her friends leading the charge into its next chapter!


FULL SET LIST (IN ORDER PLAYED)

1) Beer Hunting (Jimmy James)

2) Mustang and Me (Ben Williams)

3) Hair Salon (Megan Moroney)

4) If It Ain’t Country (Micah Carpenter)

5) Huntin’ Season (Mackenzie Carpenter)

6) Throw You Back (Ben Williams)

7) I’m Not Pretty (Megan Moroney)

8) 4X4 Ever (Micah Carpenter)

9) Jesus, I’m Jealous (Mackenzie Carpenter)

10) Drunk on a Tractor (Jimmy James)

11) Should I Start Drinking (Ben Williams)

12) Why Johnny? (Megan Moroney)

13) Cigarettes and Roses (Micah Carpenter)

14) Gone Fishing (Mackenzie Carpenter)

15) Narcissist (Ben Williams)

16) Tennessee Orange (Megan Moroney)

17) Good As Gospel (Micah Carpenter)

18) Can’t Nobody (Mackenzie Carpenter)

19) Four Years of Her (Ben Williams)

20) Sleep On My Side (Megan Moroney)

21) Good Ole Boys (Micah Carpenter)

22) Don’t Mess with Exes (Mackenzie Carpenter)

23) Nothin’ Crazy (Jimmy James)

 

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