Chris Stapleton’s musical prowess electrifies
Singer, songwriter, producer, and country star Chris Stapleton could have remained the guy who wrote the killer, hit songs for big-name country artists.
Or he could have chosen to be simply a very successful lead guitarist in a country, blues, or Southern rock band.
Or he could have remained the singer for the progressive bluegrass band the Steeldrivers. He’s that good at all of it.
But then, the loyal fans who filled the Value City Arena last night for a nearly two-hour set wouldn’t have heard all of his talents in one neat package. The man did it all.
The songwriting
Starting with the songwriting part, Stapleton is a gifted lyricist who lays words into copacetic settings that range wildly. Some of the most gracefully sentimental were delivered last night, including his sweetly nostalgic first radio single, “What Are You Listening To” and “Joy Of My Life.”
Stapleton writes dizzying rockers that owe a lot to Southern and classic rock but break out on their own, including “Might As Well Get Stoned,” “Parachute,” the Lynyrd Skynyrd-ish “Second One To Know,” and “Arkansas,” which owes its groove to Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll.”
In fact, Stapleton not only got away with playing Skynyrd’s tired “Free Bird” as an introduction to “The Devil Named Music,” but got raves for it from the audience.
He has a penchant for writing deep blues tunes as well. “I Was Wrong” was the real deal and accompanied by Stapleton’s emotion-drenched guitar solo, could have made Freddie, B.B., and Albert King all proud. Even the country tunes owed a deep debt not only to blues but gospel.
Stapleton’s singing a marvel
And then there were the pure country chestnuts, from the lovely, hopeful “Starting Over” to “What Are You Listening To,” which genre-checks power ballads and radio rockers in its narrative. There were the ones also that got jacked-up on blues (“Cold”) and rock ‘n’ roll (David Allan Coe’s “Tennessee Whiskey.”) “Broken Halos” and “Hard Livin’” were simply classic, timeless country songs.
Stapleton’s singing was a marvel--alternately deep in soul, gospel, country, and rock. “Cold,” in particular, electrified the audience with the soulful side, going from a whisper to a scream.
Stapleton is an impressive guitarist who soloed on nearly all the songs, relying on his second guitarist only for backing. He played so many different guitars that this writer lost count after six or eight.
Margo Price came on before Stapleton with a set that spoke well for her songwriting and seasoned performance, despite being a relative newcomer like Stapleton. She delivered rockers with a bluesy side suggesting Janis Joplin and country songs like Emmylou Harris, and also impressed with originals such as “Hurtin’ (On The Bottle).”