MOLLY LOVETTE

Featured Artist of the Lucky Money Round

Saturday February 18, 2023

@ Thistle & Rye in Nashville, TN

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis)

Surrounded by breathtaking views of downtown Nashville’s vibrant West side, and shaded in a dimly lit, modern chic aura, Thistle & Rye on the third floor of the esteemed Conrad Nashville entices its visitors with high-end culinary options and a vast menu of drink selections that transport you around the world.

But within this slick atmosphere that’s chalk full of a blend of hotel guests, everyday patrons, and music aficionados, Lucky Money Entertainment provides musical accompaniment every Friday and Saturday night with their popular Lucky Money Round.

While Friday night welcomes a Nashville styled songwriter round that features anywhere from 6-9 acts, Saturday brings in only one performer as their featured artist for the three-hour duration.

This week’s featured artist was country music sweetheart Molly Lovette.

Flanked by Ben and Sam on upright bass and acoustic lead, Lovette ignited a vibe the moment that she slid into her set with a cover of Gretchen Wilson’s “Here For The Party,” aptly introducing the crowd to the power of her range as she dug into a deeper register to grab the proper amount of grit and edge while still providing moments of her signature, southern accented flare.

Molly personally selected songs from some of her strongest female, pop country influences throughout the night, playing Kelsea Ballerini’s “Hole In The Bottle” and “I Can’t Help Myself,” Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me,” and “Hate My Heart,” the latest smash from Carrie Underwood that she announced as being one her favorites from the superstars catalog.

But in many ways those modern era starlets were expected influences of the rising country sensation, so when she intriguingly lent her voice to songs that are only familiar through male country stars performances of them, she impressively injected a different fire and punch at their core.

Where Luke Combs’ “Beer Never Broke My Heart” showcased a confident sass, the slower pace that she wrapped around Cody Johnson’s “’Til You Can’t” embedded the natural honky-tonk flare with deeply seated emotions, while “Cover Me Up” and “Whiskey Glasses” saw her honoring the original spirit of the versions from Morgan Wallen.

But it wasn’t only country music that Molly Lovette displayed within her personal cover song selection.

She punched into her spitfire side on Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know,” stayed in the attitude of 90’s alternative rock with The Cranberries “Zombie,” hit the pop realm with Maroon 5’s “Sugar,” and tilted into a jazzy side with Corrine Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On,” a song which showed Lovette’s uncanny ability to perfectly read a room and bring the right vibe into it.

Things got real fun, and a whole lot of interesting, when requests started to pour in from the crowd and forced Molly to swing way outside of her normal comfort zone to tackle stellar versions of Prince’s “Purple Rain” and Ginuwine’s “Pony,” both which ignited the crowd and had them singing out the lyrics in harmony; something which would also happen during The Black Crowes “She Talks To Angels” and the very moment that the opening notes of “Sweet Home Alabama” rang out and she was met with hoots and hollers from the country loving southerner’s in the house.

But with any 3-hour set, you’ll really discover someone’s depth when they splice in their original material.

Molly Lovette offered a full sampling of who she is as an artist and songwriter, spanning her catalog with songs that originally released in 2020, and then bringing the crowd up to the here and now with her newest single, “Better Than You.”

“This is the very first song that I recorded here in Nashville,” the St. Louis native said as she slowed the pace with “Lovin’ You,” grabbing the crowd with the emotional tug she built into her voice as she laced it through lyrics that told of the tough lessons learned after falling for the wrong person.

In similar heart-tugging fashion, Lovette kept in the slower realm with “Break A Heart” and “Seasons,” the latter which saw her expertly placing her incredible vocals front and center through the falling out of love lyric which craftily compared his changing moods and behaviors to the four different seasons as she skillfully shifted from one to the next, painting perfect pictures along the way. 

But songs like the ultra-catchy “Hey Hey” allowed Molly to let loose a little more and give a feel-good summery strike to a sing along with the crowd, while the ultra-catchy set closer “Birthday Hangover” had the late goers celebrating a buzzed infused birthday toast as they bopped their heads in rhythm and clapped in perfect timing.

The true focal point of this particular night, though, arrived during the last third of Molly’s set when she played “Better Than You,” her brand-new single.

This stripped down, acoustic version of the song saw her inject a sly sassiness into her insatiable drawl as she enhanced each stark pronunciation of the kiss-off lyric, punching the fiery chorus with the final shot through the anathematic hook lines, “if you see me out with someone new, just know I'm doing a whole lot better than you!”

3-hour sets take an amazing amount of know-how and ability for any songwriter/artist.

They need to understand the room and take on requests to satisfy the revolving door of patrons, but then also work tirelessly to keep them completely invested in them and their music for longer than they even anticipated being there when they stopped in for an after-dinner drink.

Molly Lovette masterfully showed her seasoned smarts within the balance of her set, utilizing it in such ways that she pulled in the audience with what they already knew and loved, while also wrapping her warm personality and addictive vocal into perfectly timed originals that saw her fluidly showcasing every side of who she is; pulling every corner of the room away from their table conversations and shifting their focus toward her and her music.

FULL SET LIST

1) Here for the Party (Gretchen Wilson cover)

2) Beer Never Broke My Heart (Luke Combs cover)

3) Heads Carolina, Tails California (Jo Dee Messina cover)

4) ‘Til You Can’t (Cody Johnson cover)

5) Lovin’ You

6) Whiskey Glasses (Morgan Wallen)

7) Hole in the Bottle – Jolene mash-up (Kelsea Ballerini/Dolly Parton cover)

8) You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift cover)

9) Seasons

10) Hell on Heels (Pistol Annies cover)

11) Hey Hey

12) Purple Rain (Prince cover)

13) Pony (Ginuwine cover)

14) Before He Cheats - Dream On mash-up (Carrie Underwood/Aerosmith cover)

15) Sugar (Maroon 5 cover)

16) Gunpowder & Lead (Miranda Lambert cover)

17) Wilder Days (Morgan Wade cover)

18) Cover Me Up (Morgan Wallen/Jason Isbell cover)

19) Break A Heart

20) Sweet Home Alabama - All Summer Long mash-up (Lynyrd Skynyrd/Kid Rock cover)

21) You Oughta Know (Alanis Morissette cover)

22) Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin cover)

23) She Talks To Angels (Black Crowes cover)

24) Better Than You

25) Zombie (Cranberries)

26) Flower Girl

27) Put Your Records On (Corrine Bailey Rae cover)

28) I Can’t Help Myself (Kelsea Ballerini cover)

29) Hate My Heart (Carrie Underwood cover)

30) Little White Church (Little Big Town cover)

31) Birthday Hangover

• Prev
• Next