Old Crow Medicine Show – CMAC in Canandaigua, New York Friday July 22, 2016

If you’re going to a roots revival, you might as well catch one of the finest so I checked out Old Crow Medicine Show at CMAC in Canandaigua, New York on Friday night. The seven-piece outfit proved why it was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry with a spirited and snappy performance that got folks at the outdoor ampitheater moving in the aisles. Brandi Carlile and Los Angeles-based folk-rockers Dawes opened the festivities. Carlile and her band were captivating during a solid one-hour set. For an alt-country gal, she threw out some curve balls towards the end and shredded her guitar nicely. Old Crow Medicine Show was up next and stuck to what it does best and gathered up a head of steam and kept on rolling. It’s a tight group that plays loose and genuinely loves the music it plays. The sound was mighty and big and I love how this band gives other bands an old-school kick in the ass. Front man Ketch Secor whirled around like a whirlwind with a fiddle while drummer and multi-instrumentalist Cory Younts exhibited some nifty dancing skills on a few of the numbers. The musical performance was reliably upbeat, of course, and included raucous covers (“Folsom Prison Blues,” “Jolene”) with Carlile at the helm and old-favorites including “Wagon Wheel.” Old Crow Medicine Show’s set concluded when it invited members of the other bands onstage for a grand finale. The super group played a rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35;” the band said, “everybody must get stoned,” and I imagine that many in the house agreed.

Roman Jones

Live photo by Roman Divezur

Folsom Prison Blues at CMAC in Canandaigua, New York

Jolene at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in Atlanta (great video)