Rhett Akins

I was lucky enough to get to see the wonderful country musician Rhett Akins perform in Valdosta a few years ago, and it's not a memory I shall soon forget. Rhett Akins' voice is just so perfectly suited for country music that it's hard not to appreciate the talent he pours in to his music.

Like many country musicians, Rhett was dressed in jeans and a ballcap, and was absolutely wonderful to see perform live.

While seeing him perform, I was lucky enough to see one of the best country songs in the book, "That Ain't My Truck." This rendition was nearly flawless as far as renditions of this song go, but it was made even better by the excitement of the crowd. Not only was the crowd cheering and clapping with Rhett as he sang, they also joined in with the lyrics, which always makes me appreciate a country performance even more. Rhett Akins was obviously having a lot of fun on stage, too, as he crouched down and pointed and gestured with the hand he wasn't holding the microphone with. In addition to this, he made sure to interact with the crowd, prompting them to sing along with him and take over verses or refrains, too.

Lorrie Morgan is the pride of Tennessee. She’s been flogging out country and western hits for decades and is showing no signs of slowing. She broke out into the country charts in 1989 with the single ‘Trainwreck of Emotion’ and has been a mainstay in the Billboard Hot Country chart ever since.

She’s had three number ones: ‘Five Minutes’ off her debut, Leave the Light On (1990), the sassy ‘What Part of No’ off Watch Me (1992) and the later single ‘I Didn’t Know My Own Strength’ off The Colour of Roses (2002).

These days she’s no spring chicken, but she’s as charming as ever. She still pulls off the bell-bottomed, low-waisted jeans, the snazzy, silk-embroidered blazer, the oversized jewellery and glittery country guiutar to match. And she still has the warming classic country-singer smile, making happy banter with the audience in her cheeky Southern drawl.

Every song she plays is recognised and given a hearty reception; it is apparent that there are some real fans here. There’s a great amount of starry-eyed singing along and the atmosphere is just like old times.

Billy Dean – what a whopping list of achievements. He’s had three hit songs reach number 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts: the poignant ‘Only Here for a Little While’, the brutally honest ‘Somewhere in My Broken Heart’, and the absolute classic ‘If There Hadn't Been You’ and seven others reach top ten. He’s lent his talents as backing vocalist to Kenny Rogers for his number 1 chart topper, ‘Buy Me a Rose’. He’s had three studio albums and a greatest hits certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and has starred in Kenny Rogers’s musical The Toy Shoppe. He is one of country music’s shining stars and watching him perform is a huge privilege.
He plays the kind of music that makes you want to grab your lady, turn the lights down and dance slow and intimate-like. His soft country balladry is a real mood-setter. His latest single ‘I Can't Leave a Good Thing’ is a particularly tear-jerking little number about the challenges of a dedicated relationship. As always, Billy Dean sings with a real honesty and connects with his fans like only a true country star knows how.

It was wonderful we had a great time. Looking forward to next time. They was funny and done all the songs we wanted to hear plus some. They even signed our cowboy hats.