It would be easy to classify Blackberry Smoke as throwbacks. A band that used to weep themselves to sleep every night about how they didn’t form in 1972 until they took a stand and decided to make the 21st century sound as much like the seventies as they could. However, the band are a little more complex than that. The band was formed around the friendship between singer Charlie Starr and guitarist Paul Jackson, who met in LaGrange, Georgia and became gig buddies in short order. The two would head down to the state capital of Atlanta to see bands play, and it was there that they met brothers Brit and Richard Turner, who know play drums and bass respectively. Each of them had been playing their instruments since they were children, and eventually, the four piece got around to jamming together.
Soon enough, Brandon Still joined on the keys and the band made their live debut in 2000, playing anywhere that would have them. They spent the first three years of their existence playing live around the Atlanta rock scene, before signing to Cock Of The Walk records in 2003 and releasing their debut album “Bad Luck Ain’t No Crime” in January of the following year. Since then they’ve supported practically every southern rock band of note that’s still going, from ZZ Top to Lynyrd Skynyrd themselves. They’ve even started to see some well deserved commercial success come their way, with their third album “The Whippoorwill” charting in the top ten of the Billboard country album charts. Its follow up, 2015’s “Holding All The Roses” did even better by hurtling into the number one spot on its first week of release. They’re the next generation of classic American rock music, and for that, they come highly recommended.
Blackberry Smoke I’m assuming aren’t talking about the Blackberry phones with their name surely? Nope. They bring to the table a very distinct southern rock with the grittiest vocals and guitar sound. Their music is so catchy, this whole atmosphere feels like a party, with maybe four thousand people watching them, all of which are dancing and singing along, with at least one drink in their hands. I’ve got to give it to this band, they just know exactly what they’re doing with the tightest sound and some of the most soulful lead breaks from the both guitarists and keyboard players.
It almost feels like a country and western musical with the variety of songs that they play despite all being that of a country vibe. Some personal highlights for me this evening are songs such as “Shakin Hands with The Holy Ghost”, and “One Horse Town” every song being as good as the last.
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