Shooter Jennings gets down with Syracuse
Shooter Jennings gets down with Syracuse
A mass of cowboy hats, leather boots, and blue jeans flooded the entrance of The Lost Horizon on Saturday night, the country music fans looking appropriately Bound Ta Git Down as they arrived for a night with Shooter Jennings.
The venue buzzed with the clinking of beer bottles and patrons chatting about their favorite country records. The walls, adorned with hundreds of photos of musicians, reminded locals of the quality entertainment that continues to echo through the establishment.
Bathed in a red spotlight, the crowd hooted and hollered for the two opening acts, Steven Cali and Josh Morningstar. Cali was able to rile the crowd with tasteful covers, including a chilling rendition of Bon Jovi’s “Dead or Alive.” Morningstar lightened the mood with his humorous and relatable songwriting, lyrics discussing relationships and smoking pot. One song, “Damn These Birds,” revealed Morningstar’s early life struggles, including his past connections with drug dealers.
After a few moments, Shooter Jennings took the stage and the crowd exploded into a frenzy. Sporting a black button-down shirt, the songwriter took to his keyboard and began the show.
Jennings’ touring band is made up of five members, including bassist Ted Russel Kamp, who is another established singer-songwriter in the country and southern rock genres. Kamp’s bass lines held down a steady groove that drove the rest of the band.
Aubrey Richmond, the band’s violinist and backing vocalist, provided a warm atmosphere with melodic statements from her violin. Her soaring harmonization with Jennings gave the vocals a rich quality that broke through the instrumentation.
Jennings blazed through the setlist seamlessly, switching duties between vocals, guitar and keyboards. The wild and inebriated crowd swayed and sang along to Jennings’ tunes, including the raucous “Bound Ta Git Down,” the haunting “All of This Could Have Been Yours” and the riff-laden “I’m Wild & My Woman is Crazy”. In the middle of the show, Jennings paid tribute to his father, the late country music icon Waylon Jennings by covering one of his songs, “Belle of The Ball.” Before playing the tune, Jennings addressed the crowd.
“How ‘bout some Waylon?”
The crowd erupted into thunderous cheers, proving that the artist’s legacy is still in the minds of many country music fans.
Shooter Jennings’ performance at The Lost Horizon marks the third-to-last show of the 2018 portion of the Bound Ta Git Down tour. The band will finish up the year with shows in Portland, Maine and Stafford Springs, Connecticut.
The 2019 extension dates have also been announced, beginning at Venkman’s in Atlanta, Georgia.