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!

THE GREAT 4TH OF JULY FOOD FIGHT

Everyone knows that America celebrates its independence on July 4^th.  We celebrate all the freedoms we have; all the choices we can make in this great nation. 

  Freedom of choice was the main topic of this morning’s “Simon in the Morning” show.  It started over a debate whether burgers or hot dogs were the “official” food for Independence Day.  Jolynn said they needed to add chicken to the vote, since that’s what she prefers.  Jake insisted that the 4^th of July means burgers, rather than hot dogs.  He really didn’t want to add chicken into it, but grudgingly did. 

 Listeners had to choose from one of those three choices.  Even then, people were calling in with other options, besides the original three.  Someone pointed out that brats are different than hot dogs; so which was it that the morning team meant?  Someone else said they have pulled pork sandwiches at their 4^th of July celebration.

 It was pretty funny to listen to, especially when anyone voted for chicken.  By the time the show was almost done, Jake said it really didn’t matter which food won the fight, as long as it wasn’t chicken.  At that point that was his goal, for chicken to lose.  Of course, it was all in fun.

 I really liked Scott’s solution best; make all three.  Why not?  Isn’t that what freedom is all about?  Why limit it to just burgers, hot dogs and chicken?  What about steak, or fish and seafood?  Heck, anymore, you can make an entire meal on a grill, the main dish, side dishes and dessert. 

 So, my thought is, on this day of celebrating freedom, why put limits on what kind of food to serve?  Enjoy the day and the freedom to eat anything you want