Charley Crockett Holds Court at a Sold Out Ryman
For at least the next six weeks, Charley Crockett remains the reigning Saving Country Music Artist of the Year. And what a year it has been for Charley Crockett, who has recently transitioned off the club circuit to full-blown theaters. And in country music, there is no bigger theater than the Mother Church of Country Music, the Ryman Auditorium. Playing the Ryman is a rite of passage. Selling it out is even more significant. Selling it out on a Monday is an even greater feat, and that’s what Charley Crockett did on Monday, November 14th.
“I always wanted to play on this stage,” Crockett said to the crowd. “but I never thought it was possible.” Then he laid the blame squarely on the patrons who filled the Ryman to capacity for making it all happen for him.
The Ryman Auditorium is an ideal place to see any artist, regardless of genre. But with the way Charley Crockett reignites appeal in the Golden Era of country music—an era that transpired right there on the Ryman stage originally—the legendary venue makes for the ideal location for catching a Charley Crockett show.
For Crockett, they ran out the footlights that Johnny Cash once famously kicked out, and got him banned from the Grand Ole Opry for a spell. The backdrop to the stage was golden velvet, as was the skirting around the band’s risers. Stepping foot in the Ryman on Monday night was like taking a trip back to the 1950s.
Charley Crockett commenced the set with a near verbatim rendition of the first half of his new album, The Man from Waco. Then he played a couple of cover songs from George Jones and Johnny Paycheck before launching into the title track of his previous original record from 2021, “Music City USA.” It’s not exactly a country protest song, but it’s one with a pointed message to the Nashville machine about the reception many outsiders and authentic souls receive when they arrive in town.
Something about that song, at that time, and in that venue made for such an unbelievably singular moment, after Charley rang out the final note, the crowd came to their feet, broke out in uproarious applause, and didn’t stop for what seemed like an eternity. It was as if all of the pent-up frustrations people have with the state of country music today and how the genre treats artists like Charley Crockett came out in one big spontaneous exhalation.
Rarely or ever do you experience such a randomly generated standing ovation in the middle of a set like that. The only reason people stopped clapping and cheering is because Charley Crockett wanted to stay on time and play the next song. But rest assured—and those in attendance will attest— Charley Crockett and his rendition of “Music City USA” at the Ryman Auditorium on Monday was a moment they will never forget.
Afterwards, Charley Crockett launched into the James Hand portion of the set, paying tribute to who he calls “The real deal.” Crockett started the night on the acoustic guitar, then sang for a bit with no instrument. You knew it was on when he brought out the banjo for a few songs, but Charley Crockett always seems most comfortable with a Danelectro guitar in his hand, moving around the stage with hip shakes, boot scoots, and raising the guitar neck above his head like Dwight Yoakam.
The whole time, Charley’s backing band The Blue Drifters are behind him, seamlessly sliding through genres and eras as they follow Captain Crockett on a journey through the roots of American music, mostly dwelling in country sounds and influences, but not afraid to explore blues, soul, and jazz modes, punctuated by trumpet blasts and beefy rhythms.
Charley Crockett made sure to swing by some of his biggest hits near the end of the set; songs like “Trinity River” and “I’m Just a Clown,” the latter which spent a dozen weeks at the top of the Americana radio chart. He also played Townes Van Zandt’s “Tecumseh Valley,” and “I’m a Honky Tonk Man”—a version of Loretta Lynn’s “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl” in tribute to Loretta who launched her own career from the Ryman stage.
Charley Crockett started his career busking on street corners and lurking in back alleys. “The alley is just outside, but it’s a long way from here,” Crockett said, referring to the famous alley between the Ryman and the legendary haunts of Lower Broadway like Tootsie’s and Robert’s Western World. It’s where you can most feel the ghosts of country legends lurking.
Even if Crockett never makes it past venues like The Ryman, he’s accomplished something spectacular by getting there. Some like to criticize Charley Crockett as a show, or a shtick. Well, of course it is. But it’s a show better than most, which recalls all the goodness of classic country and American roots music, and makes it feel alive in the souls of a modern audience once again.
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The Greyhounds from Austin, TX opened the set. Find a full set list below. Photos by Eric Ahlgrim.
Setlist:
The Man From Waco Theme
Cowboy Candy
Time of the Cottonwood Trees
Just Like Honey
Black Sedan
The Man From Waco
Who’ll Turn Out The Lights (George Jones cover)
Odessa
The Valley
Jukebox Charley
Music City USA
Midnight Run (James Hand cover)
Lesson in Depression (James Hand cover)
Don’t Tell Me That (James Hand cover)
Borrowed Time
Welcome to Hard Times
Name on a Billboard
Jamestown Ferry (Cover)
I Feel For You ( Jerry Reed)
Travelin’ Blues ( Cover)
Lily My Dear
Round This World
Trinity River
I’m Just a Clown
Goin’ Back to Texas
Tecumseh Valley (Townes Van Zandt Cover)
I’m a Honky Tonk Man (Loretta Lynn tribute)
Paint It Blue
November 16, 2022 @ 9:37 am
Forgot to mention, also met some cool readers at the show, Sir Adam The Great and a couple others. Good times.
November 16, 2022 @ 10:58 am
Trig, it was a fantastic show and a real pleasure to meet you. Sorry if I fan-girled a bit! I probably wouldn’t have known about Charley or most of the music I listen to if not for you or this site, so thank you very much for all that you do.
November 16, 2022 @ 12:43 pm
I want to like him but…
November 17, 2022 @ 1:36 pm
hey man, you don’t have to! there are so many great artists to choose from now.
November 18, 2022 @ 5:03 am
I’ll give him credit that he’s continually followed in the steps of 60’s and 70’s country artists by playing those classics and deep cuts in a stripped down manner. His cover of “I can help” came on the radio and I like it. Didn’t even realize it was him until halfway through.
November 16, 2022 @ 1:24 pm
I have seen Charley 3 times this year, seeing him again soon in Columbus, OH.
He puts on a show like no other, I love how he only stops a few times, from one song right into another.
November 16, 2022 @ 1:32 pm
Sorry to be off topic, but a couple of things, this article included, got me thinking. I was listening to a bunch indie and alt country on Spotify and up popped BR-549 on the indie country playlist mix Spotify made for me. Am I wrong to think of Crockett is in many ways a modern, obviously solo, version of what BR-549 was? I mean that in the best way possible as I love everything BR-549 has put out.
Was BR-549 one of the innovators and influencers to the retro sound that artist like Crockett and Sierra Ferrell have been producing?
November 16, 2022 @ 5:03 pm
I could see that, definitely. I remember when BR-549 came out, and I liked their consciously “retro” country sound and look, and there is clearly more than a bit of that same approach with Charley too. Of course, Charley has his own thing, musically, with classic blues, soul, and R & B in his sound, so he’s not *only* retro-country, but he is in a retro vein (sound and look) that I remember going back, before BR-549, to Dwight Yoakam in the ’80s. Charley is deeply into the original, classic, country artists who *inspired* the ’80s and ’90s “retro” artists, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Charley were also a fan of Dwight and BR-549 too, and had been influenced by them, and, maybe, other acts in that “retro” country vein.
November 16, 2022 @ 9:18 pm
I would go out on a limb and say BR-549 influenced the legendary shack shakers and Hank 3 into creating this genre of music we all consider to be “saving country music”
So the answer would be a definite Yes in my opinion
November 17, 2022 @ 1:46 pm
Like Southern Man says, there were a ton of other artists doing retro before BR-549. And there are many many more now. As always, here’s a giant crowdsourced list of non-mainstream country artists and there are a TON of people who are doing retro music as well as Charley or Sierra Ferrell:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E4rYG4AWUW0zIp_vuEugfXC2TPU9jal0e4CL17C-p68/edit?usp=sharing
I think Hank 3 existed before BR549 although I can’t find confirmation of that- I’m pretty sure I heard him doing Wayne Hancock covers before the late 90’s- anyone know when he started doing retro country? Was his album out in some independent format before he was on Curb?
But BR-549, The Mavericks,The Derailers, etc- were sort of doing honkytonk about 5-6 years after Dwight Yoakam first brought turbocharged honkytonk to mainstream radio. There’s kind of a mix of people who created the mid-to-late 90’s version of honkytonk that made it onto mainstream people’s radar now and again. I think all those bands ended up on various late night TV spots now and again and generally helped raise the visibility of ‘retro’ country music but there was just a lot of retro everything happening at the time (see swing dance craze, rockabilly, etc)
Keep in mind too that the mid 90’s were when a lot of people heard reissues of old music for the first time because EVERYTHING was being re-released on CD for the first time so there was a renaissance of interest in old music. That’s probably one of he biggest reasons that smaller bands started doing retro sounds in places that didn’t previously have a rockabilly/retro country/bluegrass/americana type scene efore.
November 17, 2022 @ 1:48 pm
I meant to make another point: retro stuff was happnening in individual scenes around the country- LA had a huge retro country scene and some kind of rockabilly revival in the late 70’s and throughout the 80’s if i”m not mistaken. Dwight Yoakam took it up a notch but he wasn’t the only artist doing that kind of thing there. It all got a lot bigger in the mid to late 90’s but there was similar music happening in some surprising places before then.
November 16, 2022 @ 5:20 pm
Aside from being the greatest act to ever launch from Lower Broad, BR5-49’s influence on classic honkytonk music is inestimable.
I commented about Charley Crockett recently and was stunned at the criticism he received. I was at the show last night and thought he was absolutely fantastic. I cannot imagine disagreeement from that anyone who loves good, energetic classic country music. Charley is one of our modern musical treasures.
Trigger question: You said the Ryman was an ideal place to see live music. I always tell people the three greatest places in America to see a concert are the Ryman, Gruene Hall, and Red Rocks. What would you add to the list?
Trigger question #2: The footlights issue fascinated me. How often do they put those out? I do not recall ever seeing them before and I go to 5-6 Ryman shows a year.
November 16, 2022 @ 11:09 pm
There are a lot of really really good places to see artists, but the ones you listed are probably Top 3. Like The Ryman, there isn’t a bad seat in the house at Austin’s Moody Theater where they tape Austin City Limits. It just doesn’t have the history, and it’s really a hoity-toity venue with asshole security. It’s right down the road from me and I never go. Cain’s Ballroom is right up there with the Ryman and Gruene Hall for legendary spots. But I wouldn’t say it’s a great place to see a band, unless you get there early and can get right up front. Another great venue, though small, is the Kessler in Dallas. One of the best intimate venues around. The Troubadour in LA also has a great combination of history and a good listening experience.
As for the footlights, I know I have seen photos of them being used before, but I’ve never seen it personally. It’s very rare for sure. I’m not sure if Charley supplied them, or The Ryman, but it was the perfect touch for him.
November 17, 2022 @ 5:57 am
I love the Ryman, I surely do. There are bad seats there however. Last few rows on the floor, back far enough where the overhang blocks your view of the performers. No thank you
November 17, 2022 @ 8:54 am
Fair point. I have been back there before and the site lines are bad. There are also seats behind the poles, though I believe they disclose this and offer those seats at a discount. As a member of the media, they usually don’t place you in a bad seat. I’ve been at the very back of the balcony at media tables before, and it’s still great site lines/sound.
November 17, 2022 @ 7:41 am
I love the Ryman but would contend that some of the seats under the balcony towards the back suck for louder shows. Any seat in the balcony is great or in front. I’ve seen many great shows there for relatively cheap.
November 16, 2022 @ 5:25 pm
A great write-up on a milestone concert by one of my favorite newer country artists! Major congratulations to Charley and his band! I wish that I could have been there.
This man may well be the hardest-working artist in country music today. I know that not everyone here is a fan, and no one *can* be a fan of each and every country artist out there, but I’m *definitely* a fan, and I am happy that he has such a large discography, already, to explore, with so many songs that I really enjoy. “I’m Just A Clown” is one of the best songs, by any country artist, or any musical artist, period, that I’ve heard this year, or in the past few years.
Love your work, Charley! Hoping to see you in concert, sooner rather than later!
November 16, 2022 @ 6:09 pm
Would have been cool to see that show. Great write up.
November 16, 2022 @ 7:43 pm
He’s awesome! That’s a bunch of great songs. If you don’t like him you’re missing out on an awesome band.
November 16, 2022 @ 7:49 pm
Got to see him at Floore’s this past weekend. What a show. Got the whole crowd engaged and singing along to almost every song. Would definitely see him again.
November 17, 2022 @ 2:12 am
FYI: The picture at the top of the article doesn’t seem to be loading properly.
November 17, 2022 @ 8:50 am
Thanks. I believe it’s fixed.
November 17, 2022 @ 2:25 am
Saw him a couple of weeks ago in our country (the netherlands) great show Played 20 songs in one hour Hope that someday he will come back
November 17, 2022 @ 5:16 am
I apologize in advance for this comment as it is mostly unrelated to the article. Feel free to delete at your discretion with no I’ll will from me.
I Love your articles and attempts to bring attention to less mainstream artists and music creators, as well as updates on classic icons and current popular country artists.
I also find your discussion of the business of music interesting, and I don’t know if it is something you find worth your attention, but if it interests you, I was wondering what your take on this week’s ticketmaster fiasco regarding the upcoming Swift Era’s tour, and the outcry by everyone from fans to politicians calling for investigation into it as a monopoly. Do you think a situation that happened this week with one of the biggest artists in the world has any real indication of problems with ticketing and selling shows for country and alternative artists, or is it just an issue with the top few worldwide stars?
November 17, 2022 @ 8:51 am
I have an article about this coming up, though it deals more with Tyler Childers and the issues his fans experienced as opposed to Taylor Swift, though it’s basically the same issue.
November 17, 2022 @ 11:26 am
The Ryman has to be one of the most unique and greatest places to see a country music concert. It does have a really special atmosphere…….and a hard seat!
November 17, 2022 @ 12:58 pm
I went to see him when he came to England on Halloween and it played out much like your gig (but without that special ‘Music City USA’ moment, though the song still got a great reception). As with your gig, he seemed to want to stay on time and play the next song. He was like a possessed jukebox and while I initially wanted him to let it breathe a little, it worked out in the end. He seemed to be searching for a sweet spot with the frantic pace, the moment in a night of live music when energy turns into momentum, and he found it. The night just got better and better.
November 17, 2022 @ 1:42 pm
Charley Crockett reminds me very much of Dwight Yoakam live. He doesn’t talk much, plays a tons of songs, and moves around the stage with style.
November 18, 2022 @ 1:51 am
Simple but effective. An old-school approach.
I saw him on a much smaller stage than the Ryman and he still managed to find room to dance around and play to the crowd.
November 17, 2022 @ 11:05 pm
Going to see him Sunday. 1st time.
November 18, 2022 @ 11:20 pm
I saw Charley in Berlin, Germany three weeks ago. The Club was small (about 350 people) and sold out. There were people from arround the country and i even met people from Italy. The Show was fantastic. What a party!
November 19, 2022 @ 10:14 am
I saw him last night at a sold out show in DC. 1,225 capacity. Very happy for Charley. Got hooked on him when he was opening up for Turnpike Troubadours for forever. Not complaining. Highly energetic show. Loved it.
Also those same footlights from Ryman picture were at last nights show. So must be a Charley setup. Keep up the great work Trig!
November 19, 2022 @ 10:23 am
Yes, saw some photos of him using the footlights in New York too. Really cool thing to bring to the stage presentation, and perfect for Charley.
November 19, 2022 @ 10:29 am
I think he’s show and total presentation are more refined. It’s a positive thing. Like you tell alot goes into it. Happy for Charley!!
November 21, 2022 @ 8:34 am
Great show last night… Fun for all live performance. Might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but not sure anyone can deny he entertains.