Show Reviews

 

KINSEY ROSE

Saturday September 25, 2021

@ Music City Bar & Grill in Nashville, TN

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis)

www.kinseyrose.com  

It’s ironic that when you look to the left of the stage (from the audience) the words “THE VOICE” are spelled out in big, bold letters on top the wall. This was also not something that was missed by country singer Kinsey Rose, who took a photo under that very sign earlier this month when she made the official announcement to all her fans on social media that she had auditioned for the hit NBC show The Voice.

As many now know, just 5 days prior to hitting the stage at the Music City Bar & Grill, Kinsey Rose was selected by Kelly Clarkson to be on her team this season. 

Rose has pounded the pavement of Nashville for 12 years now; arriving in Music City with a guitar case full of dreams and her dog Max by her side, and quickly making a strong name for herself on stages at Rippy’s and Legends Corner underneath the neon lights of Broadway.

She’s come so far since those earliest of days, but as she showed on this Saturday afternoon, she still holds strong to her down-home personality, a love for traditional country music, and an uncanny ability to mix and mingle with anyone in the crowd and make them the star of her show – talking with them about anything from visiting the vineyards in Napa, to swapping stories about which boot brand feels the most comfortable.

Leaning on her normal warm-up song to make sure her levels were right and that her guitar was in tune, Rose began her set with a cover of the Don Williams classic “Lord I Hope This Day Is Good,” which she herself released as a single in 2020 and included on her latest album Honky Tonk Treasures – a collection of covers of some of her personal favorite classic country songs.

She balanced her Saturday afternoon set between playing the cover songs that she cut her teeth on, satisfying several requests from the audience, and offering a healthy array of her original work.

By request she played Miranda Lambert’s “The House That Built Me,” Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine,” and “Forever and Ever Amen” and “Three Wooden Crosses” from Randy Travis, the latter which she told:

“Randy Travis’ old bandmates play right over there across the parking lot,” Rose said pointing towards Scoreboard Bar & Grill. “They are in a band called Organic Country. I was over there a few years ago and they brought me up on stage and Randy happened to be there that night and I sung that song in front of him. He cried and hugged me afterwards and said thank you. Such a sweet man!”

Rose also gave the crowd several different looks at who she is and where she comes from as an artist/songwriter by digging into her Honky Tonk Treasures album to pull out Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight,” Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery,” and Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” which she laughed about as she explained:

“Back when I played with my band down on Broadway, during that song they’d all do their thing and entertain the crowd and I’d go around with the tip jar and get all the money. That was my money-making song!”

Other covers in her set included George Jones’ “Choices,” Keith Whitley’s “When You Say Nothing at All,” and Dolly Parton’s “Coat of Many Colors.”

However, as with any performance around Music City, an artist/songwriter is truly defined by their original music; And Rose offered plenty of her incredible originals as well. 

She engaged the crowd with her magnetic personality and expertly pulled them into her music, whether it was with a more traditional bent song such as “You Can’t Remember,” her most current single “When Trucks Fly,” or a nostalgic walk down memory lane with “Pennies on a Railroad Track” - a song that she said is near and dear to her heart and which she played early in the set, and then again to close out the performance for the new folks who arrived midway through.

She spoke very highly of her longtime friend and co-writer Rick Tiger, who sadly passed away this year, before playing the incredible “Take My Picture Down,” which the two wrote together for her 2015 Fair Weather Love album.

She even dipped way back to her earliest days by playing, “Get Yer Redneck On,” which she mentioned had been cut in Ireland and went number one for a day or two.

Fielding several random questions about her appearance on The Voice from those in the crowd, you can imagine the applause that erupted when she played “Cowboy Take Me Away,” the song that she performed on Monday night that landed her on Team Kelly. 

The truth about it for any artist or individual who is working in the music business in Nashville, is that it’s hardly ever an overnight sensation, but rather a 10-year type of town.

Kinsey Rose and I both arrived in town at pretty much the same time, and I can remember many nights sitting at Rippy’s back then when she’d be playing. Seeing her playing again now (some 12 years later) instantly transported me back in time and reminded me that even as we grow, change, and become better at our craft, we can always go back to those wide-eyed, dream filled days where anything was possible and remind ourselves why we started this music journey!

Tune in and catch Kinsey Rose on NBC’s The Voice this fall!

FULL SET LIST

1) Lord I Hope This Day Is Good (Don Williams cover)

2) Pennies on a Railroad Track

3) Take My Picture Down

4) Angel From Montgomery (John Prince cover)

5) The House That Built Me (Miranda Lambert cover)

6) Any Man of Mine (Shania Twain cover)

7) Cowboy Take Me Away (The Chicks cover)

8) Somebody’s Prayin’

9) Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash cover)

10) Three Wooden Crosses (Randy Travis cover)

11) Walkin’ After Midnight (Patsy Cline cover)

12) Travelin’ Soldier (The Chicks cover)

13) Get Yer Redneck On

14) Forever and Ever Amen (Randy Travis cover)

15) Jolene (Dolly Parton cover)

16) You Can’t Remember

17) When Trucks Fly

18) When You Say Nothing at All (Keith Whitley cover)

19) Choices (George Jones cover)

20) I Love This Bar (Toby Keith cover – snippet only)

21) Coat of Many Colors (Dolly Parton cover)

22) Pennies on a Railroad Track

 

 

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