TIN PAN SOUTH 

Chris Young, Zach Kale, James McNair, & Emily Weisband

Thursday March 30, 2023 (9PM Show)

@ 3rd & Lindsley in Nashville, TN

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis)

“Everyone looks so good in here tonight,” exclaimed Zach Kale to an ovation from the sold-out crowd,  before showcasing his wit and personality. “Especially my wife! I drove here with her tonight, and I thought she looked hot in the car and think she’s still lookin’ hot right now,” he said with a smile as he immediately pulled in the crowd with Gabby Barrett’s “The Good Ones.”

He then continued to reveal layers of his fun loving personality, especially when he hit into, “I Hope,” lamenting that he really does think that after a breakup you can still wish the other person well even if you’re no longer part of their life, before telling with a shrug of his shoulders that “we really did try to write that song so hard…we tried!” as he sang the hook line, “and then I hope she cheats, like you did on me!”

But underneath that endearingly infectious fun side of who he is, also sits a very poignant, deeper side that encouragingly leans into his faith and what matters most.

“I had a #1 this week at Christian radio with an incredible artist named Micha Tyler, but I’m gonna play one that he also did that I think everyone needs to hear right now,” he told as the room silenced to a complete standstill during “People Like Us” while he struck hurting hearts with the bold reminder that no matter where we’re at on our path, even with all our dents, flaws, and fumbles, God still loves us!

However, his showstopping moment arrived with the last song he played, “If I Had One Day Left.”  With it already emphasized earlier in the night of how it’s so important for us to connect and heal together, the amazing song inspired by his wife asking him what he would do if he only had one day left tugged on heartstrings as he sang us through an open letter that told of how with his last day he would unselfishly make it be all about what she wants to.

In a different way then Kale, James McNair connected strongly with audience by bringing more of a party atmosphere to the room.

With a honky-tonk grit through the rough around the edges tilt of his voice, McNair instantly ignited the crowd with Luke Combs’ “Lovin’ On You,” and continued to do so with the rebel rousing “Tumbleweed,” and “Partying Degree,” the autobiographical anthem that took us everywhere to party with him during his college days (expect to class), landing at the ultra-memorable hook that elicited a loud cheer, “I never graduated but I got my partying degree.”

Without too much of an intro other than to say how it was written during a retreat together with Luke Combs and Ray Fulcher in Montana, McNair stamped his mark when he closed his part of the round with Combs’ most recent #1, “Going Going Gone.”

With “Getting in the Way,” Emily Weisband injected a softness into the tone of her voice, which then made it even more impressive when she hit the power of her range to strike the hook on the Keith Urban cut that was inspired by her parents.

“I posted my demo of this song on social media because I wanted attention,” Emily admittedly confessed. “I kind of made a joke that if someone wants to cut this song DM me. Well, Tenille Arts responded to it,” she finished as she quieted the noise of the crowd and pulled them into “Jealous of Myself,” not only the song that kicked of Arts’ next chapter late last year, but one that also just got recut to feature LeAnn Rimes dueting on the new version.

Like Kale did later in the night, “If I Die Before You” allowed Emily to sing a love letter to a better half, where she encouragingly told them to all the things they’ve always wanted to do if she should go before them; to essentially keep on living.

But her spotlight moment arrived with her last song of the night, “Thy Will Be Done.”

“I had a faith crisis after I did the one thing that I always said I’d never do, and it sent me into this tailspin. That’s the place I was at when I went to this writing session with Hillary Scott. She came in and shared with us that she recently had a miscarriage and didn’t understand,” Emily said through very heavy breathing, obviously choking up before turning her attention to the recent tragedy in Nashville.

“That’s probably something that we’re all feeling this week. This week just sucked! And I’ve been so sad,” Emily vented as her eyes swelled up with tears. Pausing to compose herself, she then talked of how the song would go on to win a Grammy Award, but more importantly, how it gave her that much needed, very powerful moment with God; The just Him and her moment where He reminded her that your faith is not about what you do, but only that I want you. And I still want you!

Country superstar Chris Young offered a great look at his entire career, from his early days until now, as he first opened with “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song),” immediately earning cheers from the crowd as everyone began to sing along and sway in time with the melody as they cuddled up closer to their better half.

After playing “All Dogs Go To Heaven,” Young then took us straight into the writing room to talk about that unexplainable feeling you get when you walk out a room after writing with a bunch of friends and know that you have something really cool, before lighting up the room with his current rising single “Looking For You.”

“So, I realized the other day when someone asked me to play this song that I didn’t even remember how to play it,” he said with a slightly embarrassed shrug. “My band usually plays when we’re out on the road…but I mean, I wrote it so I should be able to play it, right? I did what anyone would do, and I looked it up on Google! I looked up my own damn chords on the internet,” he shared as the crowd laughed along with him while he delivered “I’m Coming Over.”

“I really had no idea what this song was going to end up being because I wrote it with real people’s names in it, and I thought that no one’s gonna know what this is about but me. But y’all went and made it the most played song of the year,” he gratefully said as he closed the night with “Famous Friends,” giving the perfect exclamation point to a night of “famous friends” as the sold-out crowd was wrapped in  warm embrace as the songwriter’s transparency carried the feel like you were simply getting caught up with your longtime friends over the past two hours.

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