CAYLEE HAMMACK

WITH SPECIAL GUEST CATIE OFFERMAN

Thursday May 25, 2023

27 Live @ The Westin’s L27 Rooftop Lounge in Nashville, TN

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis

Illuminated by the surrounding glow of the buildings measuring the skyline of downtown Nashville, the hustle and bustle of downtown still feels like it’s a million miles away from the vantage point high atop the 27^th floor of The Westin Hotel’s L27 Rooftop Lounge.

Draped in class and high-end swankiness, the lounge transforms itself again this summer into the hotspot place to be every month as they welcome some of the strongest emerging talent of the country music scene as part of their 27Live! music series.

In what carries the feel of a somewhat private show, even though it’s not and all are certainly welcome, the locally flavored crowd mingles with one another, sipping on adult beverages and sampling some of the best food in Nashville as they add a flare of buzz with quiet whispers of how cool it is that the stage hovers over the water of the infinity pool as its atmosphere is magnified with blue lights shining a glow up from underneath it.

Last season’s stellar lineup included performances from Alana Springsteen, Drew Green, Kylie Morgan, Lily Rose, Grace Leer, and more!

However, not to be outdone by that incredible lineup, the 2023 season kicked off with a power pack of two of the most talked about female artists on the country music scene right now! Caylee Hammack and Catie Offerman.

Emceed by the always graceful Taryn Papa, her distinct flavor as host instantly had you feeling the anticipation rise as she excitedly read through the accolades of each artist while providing an extra special touch when she invited us into a snapshot of their personal connections with one another.

Precisely using her thirty-minute set to allow the naturally built softness in the tonality of her voice to fit the perfect overview of who she is as a songwriter, vocalist, and artist, Catie Offerman fully introduced herself through several highlights that continually captured the crowd.

Through the catch along, feel good vibe of “’Til I See You Again,” she pulled back to last year with the song that really set everything in motion as she placed her voice into the heart of the melody while the smooth sounds of dobro radiated around the dual acoustic output, adding a clear touch of classic kissed edge to her modern flared aura.

After talking about her home state of Texas, she then delighted the crowd with a tip of her cowboy hat to King George through an incredible take on “You Look So Good In Love,” fluidly pushing it into her heart tugging original “Don’t Do It In Texas,” keeping the Lone Star state at the forefront with an attractive western cowboy feel that encompassed the slow waltz of the rhythm.

While most of her set stayed in the softer paced range to spotlight her strong singer songwriter vibe, songs such as “Get A Dog” immediately had the crowd swaying in perfect timing with its carefree melody alongside memorable sass as Catie pumped through the you’re not worth it, kiss-off lyric.

“I signed my record deal back in 2020, and I thought, man, it’s all happening!” she excitedly said. “But what I didn’t know would also be happening was this thing called COVID. And so, I spent those couple years writing songs and putting together a record. This next one is my first single at country radio,” she told as she stunned the crowd with the amazingly crafted heartbreaker, “I Just Killed A Man.”

With an encouraging nod to all the drifters and dreamers, Offerman closed with the up-tempo “Happyland Trailer Park,” completing the overall picture of who she is through all five of her song releases thus far, leaving a lasting impression on the crowd that upheld her tag as one to watch as she pulled them in song by song to earn a tremendous ovation as the final notes were played.

With a red Solo cup in hand and a “how ya doin’” greeting to the crowd, Caylee Hammack wrapped the natural grit of her voice into the insatiably catchy “Redhead,” taking us back to her 2020 album If It Wasn’t For You as she bopped across the front of the stage, punching out the lyrics while shimmying her hips through the chorus with an anthemic fist pump as the crowd responded by mimicking her moves as they bounced along.

Staying on that album, “Just Friends” saw her initially move into softer territory as the vibration in her voice carried the emotional waver of the song’s beginning, before she’d ignite the F-U spunk of the up-tempo, alternative rock kissed groove, pounding into the fire of the lyrics before utilizing a Fisher-Price keyboard to add a unique, memorable lick to the song that somehow perfectly fit.

“This is one of the newest ones that I’m putting out,” she excitedly told as she dripped into her raspy drawl on “Good Things,” lacing an addictively catchy melody through encouraging lyrics that spoke the positive into existence while placing emphasis on the simple things that mean the most.

“This next one is kind of one of the reasons why I got my record deal. My dad used to tell me that the most beautiful glass goes through fire, and so when you go through the fire, you’re getting ready for something,” she shared from a now perspective. “And then my house burned down. I couldn’t afford therapy and so I started writing songs,” she transparently told as she gratefully thanked the crowd for being there and listening to them before pouring pure emotion into “Forged In The Fire,” sliding her voice into its impressive range to strike the highest notes while then expertly hushing it back into a near whisper.

“We’ve played this next one so much that I thought we oughta take it off the setlist, but we kept it on there because if there ever was someone out there whole flunked the first time trying something, then this will hopefully tell them to keep on going and keep on trying,” encouragingly said Hammack as she weaved through an incredible moment of encouragement that happened between her and Gloria Gaynor before kicking into a Smoky Mountain kissed version of “I Will Survive,” which continued to see her driving through her ranges as the crowd bopped along while singing out the familiarity of the lyrics.

“I wrote this song with Pillbox Patti and Ashley McBryde,” Caylee introduced as she paused while the crowd noise in response reached a deafening level. “We knew we had something when we finished it and its now my current single at country radio,” she finished as she toasted the crowd and drove into “History of Repeating,” turning the otherwise rowdy atmosphere into a pure listening room as everyone quietly soaked in every word.

“Back when I was in fifth grade this man died and I cried so hard. I thought I was gonna marry Johnny Cash, and I’m still so sad that I didn’t,” Hammack said with a shrug as she leaned into an incredibly  souped-up version of “Folsom Prison Blues,” allowing the natural bluesy nature of the song to shine as the crowd clapped along and she hit spitfire fuel through her vocals while the guitar licks aptly satisfied the tradition of the songs original touch.

While the 60’s kissed groove of the psychedelic tilt on “All Or Nothing” reverberated the raspy feel of Hammack’s voice as she channeled a Janis Joplin influence, she honored the recently passed “Queen of Rock-n-Roll” Tina Turner with “Proud Mary,” softly building the rhythm while adding layers with each pass through to heighten the anticipation as she danced into the kicked up second half of the song, which instantly had the crowd swiveling their hips and clapping along as everyone lifted their voices together into the Nashville nighttime sky.  

“And now for two sad songs in a row,” Hammack said with a frowny pout.

After sharing of how she never thought Chris Stapleton would sing on this song with her, she encouragingly mused but “if you never ask the answer is always no,” before earning a huge ovation for “Small Town Hypocrite” which took us straight into her storyteller side while she skillfully used each octave embedded in her vocal know-how to hold the power of the lyric; something  she then continued to do on the incredible, “Coming Over Tonight.”

“This is another song that at some point, I have to take out the set, but damn if I don’t like it,” she said with a smile as the opening notes of Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” gripped the crowd as she not only added a female fire to the song, but unveiled another talent layer when she broke out the harmonica to lace the melody with its familiarity.

In what was a moment that had bubbling from the minute that she hit the stage and her walked her voice along the lines of East Tennessee’s most famous resident, “Jolene” had the whole crowd clapping, dancing, and singing along before she closed out with the song that broke her through at country radio, "Family Tree," giving the audience one last moment to shine as they sang along all the way to the final strum of the guitar to close an amazing opening night for the 27Live! summer music series.

FULL SET LIST

1) Redhead

2) Just Friends

3) Only Good Things

4) Forged In The Fire

5) I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor cover)

6) History of Repeating

7) Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash cover)

8) All Or Nothing

9) Proud Mary (Tina Turner cover)

10) Small Town Hypocrite

11) Coming Over Tonight

12) Mary Jane's Last Dance  (Tom Petty cover)

13) Jolene (Dolly Parton cover)

14) Family Tree

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