COUNTRY OUTDOORS LIVE!

Ft. Ashland Craft, Hannah Dasher, Ben Chapman, and Rye Davis

Wednesday April 12, 2023

@ The Nashville Palace in Nashville, TN

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis)

When you think of the definition of someone being “country,” you automatically think about hunting, fishing, and the outdoor branded lifestyle coming together with music that upholds those values within its attitude and carries small-town vibes throughout its melodies.

Country Outdoors has absolutely branded themselves as the perfect one-stop shop that encompasses all those “country” aspects during their incredibly popular live music series.

Emceed by Outdoor TV host Mary O’Neill Phillips, their live shows bring together some of today’s hottest rising stars with the songwriters who are making tremendous impact, all while enticing the crowd with mentions of their programming and stellar prize giveaways.

Past lineups have included Craig Campbell, Kasey Tyndall, Andrew Jannakos, Jordan Walker, Hayden Coffman, Carly Rogers, Allie Colleen, Meghan Patrick, and more.

This time around, the iconic Nashville Palace opened its legendary doors to host the show for the first time, and it added an extra vibey character to the already stacked lineup of Ashland Craft, Hannah Dasher, Ben Chapman, and Rye Davis.

In the heart of the Music Valley area of town, The Nashville Palace brightly stands out in the shadow of The Grand Ole Opry as a bucket list place you need to visit if you’re in town; if not because it’s where the legendary Randy Travis once worked as a line cook, then because of the top-notch live music that satisfies the itch of the traditionalists while inviting the modern era faithful to sit in for a spell.

Surrounded by the foundations of country music in the form of framed vinyl records and posters of shows past littering its walls, The Nashville Palace is a step back in time to the honky-tonk era when songs could be experienced live and in person within an intimate setting, whether it be through a completely silent crowd soaking up the lyrics as they sipped their favorite adult beverage, or through a rollicking rowdy atmosphere that saw the singer and patrons sharing a boot stomping moment together.

Set up like a traditional, unique to Nashville writers round in that each of the 4 songwriters sat together on stage and one by one played through 4 passes, Rye Davis opened the night with “Monsters,” enticing the crowd with his narration style, talk delivery through the verses, quieting the otherwise ruckus atmosphere as he pulled through the reminiscing innocence of the lyric to land at the punch of the chorus where he lifted his rugged vocal to fully encompass its impact.

“I feel like I’m a really simple gal,” told Ashland Craft with her insatiable Southern drawl. “I come from Piedmont, SC and grew up with not a lot, but always loved the simple things in life,” she shared as she softened the pace into “Good As It Gets,” allowing the natural rasp within her voice to sit alongside the melody before providing pure vocal power into the chorus to emphasize the poignant lyrics that challenged us to appreciate the down moments because they teach us how to embrace the good ones that matter most.

“I just put this song out,” excitedly said Hannah Dasher. “This is a sort of an anthem for women who’ve been done wrong,” she exclaimed as hoots and hollers from the crowd showered her as she injected the ultra-catchy melody of “Cryin’ All The Way To The Bank” with undeniable sass that carried the tone of the getting even lyric.

Dropping a grit into the Southern rock infused tweaks of his voice, Ben Chapman pulled the crowd into the waltz styled melody of “American’s Sweetheart,” gripping their attention with impeccable guitar picking and a style that truly encompasses the historic aura of the Nashville Palace.

“I wrote a song for my daughter,” Rye said as he took us deeper into his personal life, explaining how he got to thinking one day about what he wanted to teach her before he played “Sheep,” diving into the toe-tapping rhythm as he sung his way through the open letter to his daughter, radiating the crowd through an encouraging lyric that spoke directly to standing up for yourself and taking no crap from anyone. 

“I’ve been on the road a lot lately, and that doesn’t leave room for much writing these days,” Asland somberly said. “But there are just some days where you have to let it all out. My mama is a great lady who always prayed for me….and I gave her a lot to pray about!” Craft smiled as she dipped into the traditional branded rhythm of the brand-new song, “Mama Don’t Pray Like She Used To,” holding her incredibly heartfelt vocal in the pocket of the lyric that saw her singing of how her mama is proudly saying thank you for the answered prayers these days rather than asking for any help anymore as she’s proudly seeing the woman that her daughter has grown into today.

“That Thing You Like,” a riskier, sassy song which Dasher introduced as a “kind of response to “Cryin’ All The Way To The Bank,” leaned into a very memorable lyric that acted as a stern reminder to her ex’s new fling, boldly telling her to always remember that she was the one who taught him how to be in between the sheets before that new girl was even in the picture.

“I’m from a small town…LaFayette, Georgia,” said Chapman to a holler from the Georgia natives in the crowd. “There ain’t s**t to do there expect leave, and so I thought I’d write one for all the drifters who left just to come right back,” he told as he hit into the front porch style of “Georgia Dreamin,” keeping everyone’s toes tapping along in rhythm as he placed his vocals atop the feel good, bob your head groove.

Bringing a slow dance feel to the round, Rye Davis kicked off the third pass with “Real Woman,” a song he told was requested by his wife, who also happens to be a co-writer on the song.

Keeping in line with requests, Ashland Craft then delivered “Two Wildflowers and a Box of Wine” per request of Hannah Dasher, pulling us back to one of her earliest starting points with the punch of familiar that saw her pumping her voice through each line of the chorus, sliding in her gifted rasp as she drove into her higher, power register as Chapman picked guitar to add extra fuel while the crowd sang along.

Continuing to follow the request line trend, Dasher then pulled us back to an ultra-1970’s vibe with “Stoned Age,” singing us through the groove laden melody, namechecking Burt Reynolds, Janis, Zeppelin, and Bocephus to loud ovations as she refreshingly took us reminiscently back to the carefree, live and let live era.

Sliding a bluesy funk heavy groove into the round, Ben Chapman scratched his voice along the melody lines of “Night Train to Nashville,” instantly getting the crowd to sway along in perfect time with the rhythm as he continued to inject the feel-good vibe.

With “More,” Rye Davis quieted the crowd to an audible hush as he sung his way through a poignant, thought-provoking lyric about never allowing ourselves to be truly satisfied because we’re always wanting just a little bit more, even when we reach the intended goal.

“So, I’m a honky-tonk gal, and I love to write music that people will hopefully dance to,” told Craft as she embraced the soaked into the atmosphere of the Nashville Palace through the mud-stomping vibe of “Right Damn Now,” earning hollers at the namecheck mention of Joe Diffie, while perfectly placing her signature style into the head bobbing, honky-tonk groove.

Tapping one more time into her brash sassiness, the crowd clapped along while stomping their boot heels alongside Dasher as she closed her part of the night with a rowdy sing-along during “I’m Gonna Whoop Your Redneck Ass.”

With the final song of the night, Ben Chapman embraced the sinners with the beer raising anthem, “Hallelujah,” leaving a lasting impression on the crowd with one more turn at grit heavy, Southern rock infused blues guitar licks.

With an extreme amount of gratefulness from each songwriter shown to the crowd throughout the entire night, the Nashville Palace quickly turned into what felt mostly like a family reunion of people coming together and upholding the small-town idea of a stranger simply being someone you hadn’t met yet.

On stage, that same feeling was thread throughout the night in the pure camaraderie that saw each of the 4 songwriters playing off one another, harmonizing and adding guitar licks on songs together, and supportively being each other’s biggest cheerleaders as they showered praise and accolades after each song reached its final notes; a true visual representation as to what makes the music scene in Nashville so strong!

FULL SET LIST

1) Monsters (Rye Davis)

2) Good As It Gets (Ashland Craft)

3) Cryin All The Way To The Bank (Hannah Dasher)

4) America's Sweetheart (Ben Chapman)

5) Sheep (Rye Davis)

6) Mama Don’t Pray Like She Used To (Ashland Craft)

7) That Thing You Like (Hannah Dasher)

8) Georgia Dreamin’ (Ben Chapman)

9) Real Woman (Rye Davis)

10) Two Wildflowers and a Box of Wine (Ashland Craft)

11) Stoned Age (Hannah Dasher)

12) Night Train To Nashville (Ben Chapman)

13) More (Rye Davis)

14) Right Damn Now (Ashland Craft)

15) I’m Gonna Whoop Your Redneck Ass (Hannah Dasher)

16) Hallelujah (Ben Chapman)

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