I know a lot of you have either been listening to this record or his first one.

Saw him live tonight, and man, what a show. He's definitely not long for bigger things. His band is tight, and even between song banter is great. He hates the Waylon comparison, and said that while he appreciates it, Waylon was actually not one of his initial inspirations and he discovered him quite late in the game--which I found pretty interesting considering his vocal stylings are pretty damn close. His Estonian guitar player, "Little Joe" is incredible as well. He is probably part of the reason that record sounds so damn good.

We caught him at the Birchmere, which is where he was supposed to open for Pokey LaFarge 4 or 5 mos. ago, until he dropped off that tour and picked up with Zac Brown. Tonight, they headlined while a Baltimore dude named Cris Jacobs opened. Expect to hear that name in the future as well.

In all the years of going to the Birchmere, I've never seen it that packed, that early. Usually, doors open, people get their number and just mill around town. Tonight, we rolled up at doors, and there was a like 30 deep. Birchmere hold 500ish and he sold it out, so the RS, Letterman, NPR press is really propelling him. Lotsa folks there we talked to who had heard of him through those avenues. And judging by the demo of the average age of 50+, I guess that's about right.

He played an incredible cover of Orbison's "Crying", a Lefty Frizell song, and lamented that since people say he sounds like Jennings he might as well do a song of his. In this case it was "Waymore's Blues", which it might be sacrilege to say, but the way they covered it sounded better than Waylon's.

We left after the encore, but the other cool thing was that Sturgill was personally meeting every fan who wanted an autograph, pic, or wanted to talk. That's a class move, and will definitely endear him some fans.

Anyway, catch him on this tour if you can. It's worth it.

Damn, that sounds great. I really need to see him live.

The name Sturgill HAS to be garspeak.

Make the G hard and it totally is. STURGILLG?

#postcountry

#neo-roots

#twostepbumpkin

Haven't really listened to his album all that much but seeing him this Friday. Seems like it will be a good show based on the original post.

Fucking hell, someone sent me a video of his, and he's pretty damned talented. All of this makes me happy, and slightly optimistic for the future. At some point, enough people might be sick of what now passes for "country" that guys like this can make a fucking living. And that's all I want - Guys like this and Daniel Romano to be able to pay a mortgage and have health insurance.

Except Daniel Romano is a clown and this guy is the real fucking deal.

Also, I feel like I've been waiting a year for you to hear Sturg--glad you finally did.

I'm trying to think of a time you've been farther off the mark than this, and I can't come up with anything.

yeah, romano is pretty great

Speaking of country music...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bro-country

Like, by all means, decide he's not to your taste or something, But... "Clown?" He's written, sung, AND played lead guitar on some of the most moving music I've heard in the last 7 or 8 years. Everything about his work is respectable - the process AND the finished product. If you think this guy is a clown... I'm not butt-hurt over it, but these days you're usually pretty measured with your scorn. Surprised is all, I guess.

I've never listened to him but "clown" seems a bit harsh.

I also reject the notion that I have to choose one or the other of them.

Dangill Romango.

I'm pretty sure Sturgill is already making decent coin. His concerts are selling out at decent size venues. He's played just about every late night talk show. He's already gotten a lot more exposure than Romano ever will. He's come a long way in the last year.




I went back and re-read the old Daniel Romano thread to see if I could find any negative remarks on Romano by you and didn't. Your opinion of him change somewhere along the way? I think Cap'n and Stu have probably passed me as the board's biggest Romano cheerleaders but I still like him. He does get a little "paint by the numbers" in his songwriting and does camp it up a little but I think that's probably just his personality. See him live and tell me he's not the real deal. His George Jones covers were really impressive.

OHG and anyone who likes Sturgill and Romano should check out Ags Connolly. I like his new album more than the new Sturgill:

<breaks land speed record typing this into spotify>

Full agreement from me all around.

I haven't seen him live, true, but yeah, somewhere along the way I grew tired of Romano. Come Cry With Me just never clicked and something about the way he carries himself irritates me. *shrug*.

And Kyle, nobody's asking you to pick one or the other: just giving my opinion, not invalidating yours.

"clown" vs "Real fucking deal" seemed to imply some sort of test that DR didn't pass. Like, because he's Canadian or something.

I HATE the woman's voice on Come Cry With Me, no idea why he picked her. And there are fewer keepers on that record, too. But ...-shrug- I'm not so quick to toss him out on the street.

Meh. For me they're two sides of the same coin. Like George Jones vs Waylon.