CASH CREEK CLUB – Live
Ft. Tim Rushlow, Ty Herndon, Drew Womack, Angela Oliver, RT Johnson, and more!
Wednesday November 3, 2021
@ The Nashville Palace in Nashville, TN
(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis)
Cash Creek, the band comprised of Kimo Forrest, Monty DeVita, and Jim Blaylock, returned to the stage at the legendary Nashville Palace for this month’s installment of their ever-growing Cash Creek Club Live! taping for the Nashville Country Television Network.
The Cash Creek Club Live! shows have continued to gain traction while building a very strong following by consistently fusing together a lineup of legendary country music acts with up and comers that uphold the values and traditions of the genre – this month’s installment of the show was no different.
In front of a packed house, the show was headlined by three amazing legends of the genre, Tim Rushlow (The Frontmen of Country/Little Texas), Ty Herndon, and Drew Womack (Sons of the Desert & Lonestar), and it also featured emerging talent RT Johnson, Carl Ray Hopper, The Rollers, Rusty VanSickle, and Angela Oliver.
As per the norm with these shows, Cash Creek not only dropped in a few of their own original songs throughout the night, but they also provided the backing music for each incredible act, who all subsequently used their sets to make this installment of the Cash Creek Club Live! a stellar show from the first note played to the last.
Jamey D, who emceed the night and also took a turn playing some of his own original tunes which included “Love Songs” and “New York Don’t Need You,” kept the audience engaged and enthusiastic for each performer who hit to the stage; whether it was Carl Ray Hopper who enticed the crowd with his latest single “I Made a Wish,” Husband and wife duo The Rollers playing one of Kimo Forrest’s favorites of theirs with “Broken Promises,” or Rusty Van Sickle reminiscing on “Back To Tennessee.”
CCB Records recording artist RT Johnson was met with a tremendous ovation from the crowd when he strolled onto the stage and pounded into his quick 3-song set with his latest charting single “Feel Good Again.” Staying on the up-tempo side, Johnson also played “Summertime Hangover” and “Whiskey Drank You Off My Mind,” both which kept me (and the crowd) tapping toes in rhythm with the neon Shiner sign that features a boot doing the same.
The eruption of the crowd as Johnson exited the stage is a true testament to an artist plugging away and winning fans over one show at a time while successfully establishing a grassroot fanbase. I rhetorically asked Johnson after the show, “Why do you always have to go an impress me with each set?” and I stand by that statement. This 3-song performance from one of Nashville’s most solid new talents was just enough to whet your whistle and leave you wanting more, thus making you yearn to head out to his next show.
FULL SET LIST (RT JOHNSON)
1) Feel Good Again
2) Summertime Hangover
3) Whiskey Drank You Off My Mind
Angela Oliver, the last of the emerging talents who took the stage, acted as direct support to the three headliners and delivered a performance that stopped you in your tracks and made you perk up and listen.
Balancing her tempo driven songs “Slow Down” and “Ghosts in This Town,” against the slower paced “You Saved Me” and the lyrical masterpiece “Just Another Song,” proved to be a perfect combination for Oliver as it allowed her to show off her 90’s kissed, modern-esque country sound while wrapping the crowd into the set on the back of her incredible vocal range and ultra-powerful voice.
FULL SET LIST (ANGELA OLIVER)
1) Slow Down
2) Just Another Song
3) You Saved Me
4) Ghosts in This Town
90’s country is often considered by many to be the genres strongest era, with the group category being an area of it that’s often highly praised. Amongst many others, groups such as Diamond Rio, Sawyer Brown, Restless Heart, Lonestar, and Sons of the Desert are usually brought up in any conversation.
So then what a cool opportunity that Cash Creek gave to the fans when they welcomed Drew Womack to the stage; the former lead singer of Sons of the Desert who is currently singing for Lonestar.
“Let’s go way back to the beginning to start this off tonight,” Womack stated. “This is the first Sons of the Desert song that we released to radio, and we were lucky enough to see it go into the Top 10,” he finished as he instantly put his incredible voice well on display with “Whatever Comes First.”
“This next song gave me my first number one as a songwriter, and it was also Kenny Chesney’s first number one song,” Womack said proudly as he captured the crowd and had them singing along with “She’s Got It All,” which Womack co-wrote with Craig Wiseman.
“Life is so strange sometimes,” Womack began. “Sons of the Desert signed our record deal about 3 years after Lonestar signed theirs, so I’ve known those guys for about 30 years. And as it worked out, they had an open position in their band and I was wanting to tour again, and now I have the incredible honor of singing this next song every night,” he humbly said as he performed the monster hit, “Amazed,” another song which showcased his tremendous vocal range, but also clearly showed why he was the perfect selection to replace Ritchie McDonald in the current Lonestar lineup.
“Sons of the Desert was so honored to be part of this song. We were on it with Lee Ann Womack, and it happened to go on to win song of the year at the CMA’s and ACM’s the year that it was released,” he gratefully said as he closed out his 4-song set with the amazing, “I Hope You Dance.”
FULL SET LIST (Drew Womack)
1) Whatever Comes First
2) She’s Got It All
3) Amazed
4) I Hope You Dance
Ty Herndon is an artist that needed absolutely no introduction on this night, although Jamey D did give him a great one none the less!
Met with a standing ovation from the crowd, and joined by Drew Womack on backing vocals, Herndon dove right into his set with “Living In A Moment,” the first of two number one’s that he would play.
“This next song spent three weeks in the #2 position thanks to Shania Twain. You know Shania kept a lot of us from reaching the #1 spot back then,” he playfully said with a smile and a chuckle as he had the crowd singing along with him while he performed “Loved Too Much.”
“I did a record before all this COVID stuff hit, and I just wanted to have some fun with it,” Herndon explained of his 2019 Got It Covered album. “I gave some of my old hits a new paint job, but I also wanted to sing some of my friends songs too – and so I did!” he finished as he then played “Walking in Memphis,” a song originally done by Marc Cohn that Lonestar popularized in the country genre, which masterfully allowed Herndon to dig into his soulful side and showcase his vocal range as he took us to the lower end of his register while also transferring to a higher range whenever the song called for it.
With a humbleness in his voice Herndon said, ““Thank y’all for being so great tonight and thank you for making this last song my first #1,” as he rounded out his set with “What Mattered Most” and exited the stage the same as he entered it – with a standing ovation from the crowd!
FULL SET LIST (Ty Herndon)
1) Living In A Moment
2) Loved Too Much
3) Walking in Memphis
4) What Mattered Most
As if the dual headliners of Drew Womack and Ty Herndon weren’t more than enough already, Tim Rushlow (The Frontmen of Country/Little Texas), who filled in for a sick Henry Paul of Blackhawk, then took the stage to close out a night of great voices, and he wasted no time pulling the crowd into his set as he opened with “Amy’s Back in Austin.”
“This song says, “my love” in it 37 million times and it still made it to the top of the charts,” began Rushlow. “And Even though I wasn’t the one who was singing on the original recording of it, people still ask me to sing this one all the time,” he finished as he played “My Love,” the popular Little Texas tune from their 2x platinum Big Time album, which he then quickly followed with “What Might Have Been”- another iconic tune from the Little Texas catalog that comes from the same album.
“Little Texas recorded this next one for a tribute album to The Eagles, and it’s a song that I’ve always loved singing,” Rushlow explained before showing his true appreciation for the legendary Glenn Frey as he dove into an incredible cover of “Peaceful Easy Feeling.”
“This next song starts with a kick, and it ends with a little,” Rushlow excitedly said as he and Cash Creek slid into the opening notes of “Kick A Little” and instantly had the crowd clapping and singing along, before driving right into “God Blessed Texas,” the signature Little Texas tune which Rushlow used to close out his set.
FULL SET LIST (Tim Rushlow)
1) Amy’s Back in Austin
2) My Love
3) What Might Have Been
4) Peaceful Easy Feeling
5) Kick A Little
6) God Blessed Texas
There are so many good reasons to come out to a Cash Creek Club Live! show. They are always fun, you can always count on great artists being part of the lineup, and you will discover some amazing new music as well. However, what I always love most about these shows is how much it mirrors the idea of the Grand Ole Opry in that the setlists are kept short which means each artist is going to put their best foot forward to deliver a strong set of music, while leaving you clamoring for more!