Craig Campbell @ Duke's--Portland, Oregon--10-18-12

Craig Campbell made his way back to the Pacific Northwest with a show at Duke's Bar & Grill, In Portland, Oregon,  October 18, 2012.

Lock, Stock & Barrel were orginally scheduled to open for Campbell; though at the last minute local favorite, Kurt Van Meter, filled in for the band instead.

You could tell, even though it was last minute, Van Meter was up to the task, and happy to be there.  He and his band played original songs scattered between cover versions of other tunes.  The whole band was having a great time playing, and joking around with each other on stage.  They fed off each other, and the crowd, and in return the crowd picked up their energy as well.

Towards the end of his set, Van Meter brought Tyler Titus, one of the co-founders of Lock, Stock & Barrel on stage to sing with him.

As it turns out, Titus is leaving Lock, Stock & Barrel, and Portland.  He's heading back to Texas and forming a new band.  This was mentioned on stage, after he and Van Meter sang together.

When Van Meter's set was done, there was a short break while the stage was set for Craig Campbell.   When it was time, B-Dub from KUPL introduced the "Family Man" singer to the audience.

Campbell performed a mix of music from his first CD, as well as new music, and covers of other country songs.

Whether it was tearing through a rocking number; or performing a ballad; Campbell gave each song his all.  Though at times Campbell's voice did get drowned out by the music; during the ballads he shined.

As with Kurt Van Meter, the crowd gathered at Duke's fed off the energy being given from the stage. When Campbell would ask for audience participation, he got plenty of it; which in turn fed his energy level.

Craig Campbell may not be as well known as other country artists; however, don't be fooled, the man has tons of talent, and is very professional at what he does.  He more than proved this at Duke's that night.

Space For Rent

(Today's word will be in ALL CAPS, BOLD, ITALIC, and STRIKETHROUGH.)

I had a post planned for today. I knew exactly what it was going to be about, I knew there would be photos I could use; maybe even a video or two. All I had to do was be in a certain place at a certain time, watch, have fun, then come home and write about it. Unfortunately THAT didn't happen.

Mother Nature decided to give winter one last shot, dumping snow where I live once again. So instead of being at the Ponderosa Lounge enjoying the "$10 Hoot & Holler" show on February 29, 2012, I was stuck at home.

Instead of being able to tell you about the performances of Cloverdayle, The Farm, Marlee Scott, Craig Campbell, and Lee Brice, I'm left to fill this post with explanations of what should have been. Sigh...

For those who did make it to the show, I hope you had a wonderful time, and please, feel free to share the experience here. After all, there's plenty of room on this post!

I Don't Get It

Honestly, I really don’t know how CMA, (or any award for that matter), nominations are done. I know they’re voted on, etc; beyond that though, I don’t know anything about it. Because of that, maybe I really shouldn’t say anything; though that’s never stopped me before.

With that said: I don’t get how Luke Bryan, Eric Church, and even Chris Young can STILL be nominated for “New Artist”. How many times has this been for Luke now? I like Luke, and Chris, (not so big on Eric), but really? If it’s just because they need to “round out” the list, I’d think there are plenty of new artists that could have been nominated.

What about Craig Campbell? He’s had two big songs out this year.

How about James Wesley? He's had "Jacksonhole", "Real" and "Didn't I".

Heck, even the LoCash Cowboys had a couple of good songs on the air.

I’d also throw the Eli Young Band into the mix; though I think “Crazy Girl” came out after the time frame for nominations.

Maybe their hits haven’t been as big, but they’re still newer artists than Luke, Eric, or Chris. To me, any of these acts, (or others I haven’t thought of at the moment), are deserving of nominations; whereas Luke Bryan, Eric Church and Chris Young are a few YEARS past the “new artist” stage. Again, this is just my opinion.

I totally agree with The Band Perry, and Thompson Square being nominated for "New Artist"; and I think the Band Perry has the win.

Since it seems obvious the Band Perry will win, would it really matter who else is nominated? Or do you think it’s because the Band Perry seems so obvious that they threw in the other three as a distraction?

As I said at the beginning of this blog, I just don’t get it. So I wanted to throw this out to see what others think.

Craig Campbell @ The Bing Lounge-8-3-11

The only thing I knew about Craig Campbell before seeing him at the Bing Lounge were his two singles, "Family Man" and "Fish".  I like both songs, so I was interested to see and learn more about Craig; I wasn't disappointed. 

 

 

Acoustic shows are great, because you get to really hear an artist's voice, without all the other things that can clog up a recording or performance.  Craig Campbell definitely has a great voice.  His style and sound harkens back to the country music of the late 80's, early 90's.  Not a big surprise when you learn that was Craig's favorite era for country.  When asked, he said his biggest influence from then is Travis Tritt.  Just my opinion, I think Craig could easily reach Travis' level of fame, or higher. 

Watching Craig in the Bing Lounge, it was easy to see he has a great sense of humor, as evidenced by a couple of songs he did, "I Bought It", and "When I Get It".  As much as I love the song "Fish", I think these two songs have become my new favorites of Craig's music.

Speaking of "Family Man", Craig knows about this first hand, as he's a husband and dad to two little girls.  Craig told a story about how before his first child was born he was positive the baby would be a boy.  With that inspiration in mind, Craig wrote a song about his yet unborn child, "My Little Cowboy".  Of course, when his first child was born, it was a girl, but Craig was okay with that.

After the concert, Craig took time to sign autographs and take pictures with anyone wanting one; even though he did have a plane he had to catch.  Sometimes, when you see and hear someone on a stage, they're different when you meet them in person; not Craig.  Even though he was under a time crunch, Craig took the time with each person, and was very nice to everyone who met him.

To be honest, I've seen a lot of great performances in the Bing Lounge, and met a lot of artists who are really nice.  Of all of them though, I think Craig Campbell is the one that's impressed me the most so far; enough that I went and bought is CD on my way home that day.

If you ever get a chance to see Craig Campbell in concert, do; you won't be disappointed!