Concert Reviews Archives

Morgan Evans 10 in 10 New York City Tour Stop

June 29, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

Ten nights, ten cities, one incredible artist. Australian native, Morgan Evans has spent the past week touring the country, playing ten shows in ten nights and night number eight just happened to be New York City. Having played shows so far in California, Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Texas, and Georgia, Evans teamed up with Southwest Airlines to jet set to each location to promote his current single “Kiss Somebody”.

New York Country Swag has been following Evans since last year when he first played Opry Circle in the City, his infectious charisma hasn’t changed one bit as his American following has grown immensely over the past year. Signed to a record deal with Warner Music Nashville and gearing up to release his debut EP later this fall, Evans is primed and ready to bring the success he found in Austraila over to the states.

He opened his set with a single that was only released two weeks ago to digital outlets, however, the sold-out New York City crowd knew every single word to “Day Drunk”. “You guys are officially singing this song the loudest I’ve heard yet,” he stopped to tell the audience. Having moved to the United States just a few short years ago after traveling back and forth, Evans has since then met the love of his life, Kelsea Ballerini, got married and signed a record deal with a major Nashville record label. His life has changed drastically and he wrote a love song to not only his wife Kelsea but also to America called “American” as well as “Life Changes” which he then mashed with Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin'” and The Beatles huge hit “Hey Jude”.

One of the most unique and interesting parts of Evans’ show is the fact that he has the ability to play all of the instruments needed for each of his songs. With the help of a pedal loop which allows him to record each individual part of the song he then plays them all together while he sings. It is fascinating to watch and to start each song the crowd was attentive watching his talent shine through. He sang “I Do” which was released just days after his wedding, pointing out that in the audience right up front was a couple who got engaged before he sang that song in Nashville a few months back.

His set wouldn’t be complete without “Kiss Somebody” which Evans’ explained, “As of last week, officially, crazily, became a top 1o single” thanking John Foxx and his team at Nash FM 94.7 for playing the tune. The smile on his face watching the sold-out crowd sing every word back to him was priceless and the perfect way to end a great night of amazing music from the newcomer.

For exclusive videos from Morgan Evans’ 10 in 10 Tour in NYC head to our Instagram.

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Craig Campbell Plays His First NYC Show at Opry City Stage

June 28, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

After his Swag Session with New York Country Swag, Craig Campbell headed to Opry City Stage in the heart of Times Square to perform his first New York City show for fans. The 75-minute set took place in The Studio, the fourth floor of the Opry City Stage venue and Campbell sang songs from his previous albums as well as tracks from his latest EP, which was released earlier this month. Included in his set were “My Little Cowboy” which he wrote when he found out that he was going to be a father, as well as “Family Man”. “This song may have single-handedly gotten me my record deal,” he said before singing the heartfelt track from his debut 2011 album.

“I’m going to play you some of my favorite country songs of all time,” he said before performing a medley of “Two Dozen Roses” by Shenandoah, “Killing Time” by Clint Black, “Brand New Man” by Brooks and Dunn and “Here’s a Quarter” by Travis Tritt. “Those are just some of the reasons why I fell in love with country music,” he said after the intimate audience cheered for him.

“I’m excited to be here tonight to play you these new songs,” he said referring to “Me Missing You”, “Mas Tequila” and “Kids in the South” which all are featured on his new EP. These songs have been written over the course of Campbell’s past three years, getting ready to release the best possible music for his fans. With a little bit of everything, each song highlights another side of the singer and his ability to spin real-life stories into song.

Continuing to showcase his talent and versatility he stepped up to the piano to play John Legend’s “All Of Me” and even stated that since his daughter wouldn’t stop singing this song around the house, he had no other choice, but to learn to play it, leading him into the Disney phenomenon “Let It Go” from Frozen. Putting his own twists on classic tunes, his vocal ability was showcased throughout the night.

Being sure to thank his entire team from Broken Bow Records and BMG, many who were in the crowd, he was humbled by the success and love he felt from the room. Closing the night with his latest single “See You Try”, “Outskirts of Heaven”, “Keep Them Kisses Coming'” and the hilarious play on words “Fish”, Campbell entertained and proved that listening to his new music was the perfect way for New Yorkers to spend a Wednesday night.

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Mason Ramsey Performs at Nash FM 94.7 Stage 17

June 25, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

Some may call it an overnight success, but after going viral on the internet for yodeling in Walmart, 11-year old Mason Ramsey has had quite a few exciting months. He stopped by Nash FM 94.7’s Hackensack Meridian Health Stage 17 last week to charm the studio audience and DJ Jesse Addy with his quick wit, adorable smile and exceptional singing voice.

Ramsey, dressed in jeans, boots a slick button-down shirt and of course his giant cowboy hat took the stage and talked with Jesse Addy before playing his two singles “Lovesick Blues” and “Famous”. In typical 11-year old fashion, he was playing basketball out in the hallway and when Addy asked if he won he replied: “Well, I kept on dunking”. His innocent nature and a tip of the hat in gratitude after each song, he left the audience smiling and feeling great. Check out the full Facebook Live below.

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Dillon Carmichael Plays His First NYC Show

June 19, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

The Rockwood Music Hall is an intimate venue, perfect for any artist’s very first show in New York City. Kentucky native Dillon Carmichael performed songs from his forthcoming debut album, due out later this summer to fans last night, bringing a little bit of Burgin, Kentucky to the Big Apple. “I ain’t ever seen TV’s that big, it’s like being in the future up here,” Carmichael tells us when he introduces himself before the show. “It’s been awesome, Y’all got a pretty cool place here, I even had a slice of pizza, best pizza I’ve ever had,” he laughed. We had the opportunity to chat over the phone last month for his Swag Spotlight Feature, where he explained he had never been to New York before.

His forty-five-minute, full band, showcase gave listeners a sneak peek into his debut album, filled with traditional country grit and a blend of soulful bluesy tones. The album which was produced by Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Anderson East) features songs about growing up in a small town and loving the greats like Waylon and Haggard. He even performed a cover of the 1979 Jennings classic “Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line”.

He performed his current single “It’s Simple” towards the end of the evening, then closing out a night of country soul music with the title track to the album “Hell on an Angel” he explained that he is a huge Lynrd Skynrd fan and that he felt him in the room when they wrote that song that day. “This is my “Freebird”,” he said before playing the track to end his set.

Be sure to preorder Hell on an Angel here which is slated for release on August 17th from Riser House Records. Head to NYCountry Swag’s Instagram for exclusive videos from last night’s show.

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Dierks Bentley NYC Album Release Week

June 14, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

Dierks Bentley released his latest album, The Mountain last Friday so naturally, he came to NYC to help promote the new music. Stopping at Good Morning America, Nash FM 94.7 Studios, Pandora, Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and many other outlets.

Photo courtesy of Nash FM 94.7 Facebook

The New York Country Swag Team headed first to his Nash FM 94.7 Stage 17 show yesterday, (Wednesday, June 13th) where Bentley chatted with Nash DJs Katie Neal and Jesse Addy about the new music. He was pridefully rocking an FDNY t-shirt during his set. He performed his 17th number one chart-topper “Woman, Amen” as well as his next single “Burning Man” which features Brothers Osborne on the album version. He couldn’t leave the studios without singing his biggest hits, “Drunk on a Plane” and “I Hold On”.

Bentley with NYCountry Swag Founder, Stephanie Wagner

Next up, we caught Bentley at his Pandora Up Close performance which took place at the beautiful Capitale in downtown Manhattan. The theme of Bentley’s album, The Mountain was prevalent throughout the space, his backdrop the outline of a mountain with tiny lights representing a night sky. He opened his hour-long set with an oldie but a goodie from his debut album, “What Was I Thinking” right after exclaiming to the crowd “What was I thinking? I was thinking that New York City has the best fans!”

Throughout the night he mixed new songs from his album including “Woman, Amen”, “Burning Man” and “Living” with hits that have gotten him to this point in his career like “Up On the Ridge” and “Somewhere on a Beach”. “We haven’t done this song in many, many years but we wanted to keep you guys on your toes tonight, I hope you remember it,” he told the audience before singing “Come A Little Closer” from his 2005 album Modern Day Drifter.

Bentley referenced several times how excited he is to bring his Mountain High Tour to Madison Square Garden this fall. “We’re playing the biggest honky-tonk in the world, MSG, that is right at the top of my bucket list, bigger than any dream I could ever dream.” For tickets to the September 8th show, head to www.dierks.com/tour “This song is for you guys, I certainly want to specifically thank all of our firefighters and police officers as well,” Bentley told the crowd before singing his emotional and uplifting hit “Riser”.

Before playing his final song of the night, Pandora hosts surprised Bentley on stage with a plaque that indicated he had reached over three billion spins on Pandora. Putting him in a class with the Rolling Stones, Snoop Dog, Lady Gaga and one of Bentley’s all-time heroes in country music, Alan Jackson. Bentley was honored and humbled by the surprise. He closed out the high energy set with “Drunk on a Plane”, leaving the packed room of fans in awe of his stage presence and commitment to making incredible music. Grab your copy of The Mountain here.

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NYCountry Swag Takes on Taste of Country Festival

June 12, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

For the second year in a row, New York Country Swag headed to Hunter Mountain to set up shop and cover the Taste of Country Music Festival. The weekend takes place on a mountain, with a huge stage at the base and fans packed onto its grassy hills to listen to their favorite country artists.

The lineup for the 2018 festival included huge stars like Florida Georgia Line, Dustin Lynch, Lee Ann Rimes, Justin Moore, Eric Church and Sam Hunt. This was the biggest year for the festival, having sold out the general admission tickets, fans were thrilled to be heading back for their favorite weekend.

The team headed to Hunter Moutain early on Thursday morning to set up our vending booth to sell items from our store as well as brand new merchandise that festival goers had the opportunity to shop first before it hits the site next week. Our signature line features hats, tank tops, t-shirts and sweatshirts that all help to cohesively explain our brand, clothing, and accessories that country music fans will love. In addition to our country music inspired items, our Hero Collection was expanded this summer with the addition of tank tops and t-shirts all showcasing the red and the blue line American flag. This turned out to be a huge seller at the festival, initiating awesome banter between those that support our firefighters and those that support our police department.

Fans also had the opportunity to take a boomerang photo in front of our step-and-repeat at our photobooth station set up within our vending booth. With props featuring their favorite country artists as well as cowboy hats and even a blow-up horse, this turned out to be a fantastic fun addition to our setup this year. Guests can view their photos boomerangs here and more photos here. We also included a giveaway which entered our shoppers into a raffle to win a signed Eric Church Jack Daniels guitar. The winner was announced right before Sam Hunt hit the stage and the lucky winner collected her prize before the festival ended.

Our managing editor, Christina also interviewed some of the festivals biggest names at our tent including Jimmie Allen and Rodney Atkins. They both talked about new music which they played during their respective sets. Allen and Atkins both revealed that their albums will be available later this fall.

We also had the opportunity to interview Dustin Lynch and find out what 3 essential camping items he would bring if he was attending Taste of Country Music Festival as a fan. Jimmie Allen took time to hang out with some of our shoppers and take pictures with each of them after his set.

The weekend was filled with meeting so many of our followers and making new friends that rocked our gear at the festival. Between the great music and the perfect weather, Taste of Country Music Festival 2018 was a huge success. We are already looking for next years event, for more information and tickets head to www.tasteofcountryfestival.com Our team wants to thank everyone who stopped by to say hello, purchased an item from our booth or just was friendly to us this weekend. We had the best time and look forward to seeing all of our followers at more events this summer.

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Michael Ray Opry City Stage Album Release Show

June 5, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

Photo Credit: Heather Lucas (@theheatherlucas)

Michael Ray included New York City’s Opry City Stage in one of the many stops he made during his album release week. From the Grand Ole Opry Stage to Good Morning America and even Ellen, one of his final stops was NYC to play for fans at The Studio at Opry City Stage.

After being introduced by NASH Fm 94.7 DJs Katie Neal and Jesse Addy, Ray opened with “Fan Girl” from the new record as well as his debut number one breakout hit “Kiss You in the Morning”. He then told the crowd about his brand new album and explained he would be playing each song for them. Amos which was released this past Friday is an ode to Ray’s grandfather and his conviction when singing each song off the record truly comes to life when hearing the songs live.

Photo Credit: Heather Lucas (@theheatherlucas)

“We’re going off of your energy here tonight New York City, we’ve been rolling since 3:45 AM”, he explained, referencing his early call time for Good Morning America. The crowd didn’t disappoint, they were singing along to the songs that were just released as if they had heard them hundreds of times. In between songs on the album Ray also covered Dwight Yoakam’s “Fast As You” as well as David Lee Murphy’s “Dust On The Bottle” after asking if there were any 90’s country fans in the audience tonight.

The intimate room of fans were excited to see such a high energy performance and get to hear each song from Amos live. “Thanks to NASH FM 94.7 this next song is sitting at number 13 on the charts. We just played this song on Ellen a few hours ago, this is the first single off the album, here’s “Get To You”, he said before playing his current radio single. He closed with “Think a Little Less”, another hit from his debut self-titled album. Take a listen to Amos and head to our Instagram for exclusive videos from the show.

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Luke Bryan and Sam Hunt Break Records + NYCountry Swag Tailgate…

June 4, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

A busload of NYCountry Swag Fans Head to Luke Bryan + Sam Hunt at MetLife Stadium

The humidity and sun beating down didn’t stop Luke Bryan’s fans from packing out Metlife Stadium this past Saturday. New York Country Swag headed to the New Jersey venue by the busload, bringing 50 fans from Rockaway Beach to tailgate and get to experience the record-breaking concert “What Makes You Country” event. The lineup included four absolute powerhouse country artists: Morgan Wallen, Jon Pardi, Sam Hunt and finally headliner, Luke Bryan.

As the fans filed in from their tailgates, Morgan Wallen performed his huge single “Up Down” and Jon Pardi sang songs off his critically acclaimed album California Sunrise including “Heartache on the Dancefloor” and “Dirt on my Boots”.

Next up, Sam Hunt took the stage opening with his latest “Downtown’s Dead” then played all of the songs from his album Montevallo. He also took time to slow things down, grabbing a guitar and playing some old school country music acoustically. He closed his hour long set with “Body Like A Backroad”, to which every single person in the audience was singing along.

Finally, as the sun set, Luke Bryan took the stage with a pyrotechnic show as well as fireworks, opening his set with “Country Girl (Shake It For Me). Bryan entertained for nearly two hours, at one point even rolling a giant cooler onto the stage and throwing Miller Lite beers out to the crowd. It was the largest stadium crowd he has ever played for and his energy and vocal ability thrilled New York and New Jersey fans, singing songs from all of his albums that have gotten him to where he is today, a total superstar.

As if the spectacle wasn’t enough, he closed with “Rain is a Good Thing” before coming back for a two song encore. As the final song came to a close, like magic the skies opened up and rain droplets covered the crowds as they cheered and walked to their cars or buses on a total high.

Catch the What Makes You Country tour as it makes its way across the country. For tickets and more info click here.

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Russell Dickerson Sells Out New Jersey Venue

June 1, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

Located right near the beach in New Jersey, House of Independents is a venue that isn’t well known for their country nights. Russell Dickerson was only the third country act to play at this particular venue and boy did the fans show the owners of the venue what country music fans can do, selling out the venue and packing both floors. Before heading out on tour with Darius Rucker and Lady Antebellum for the summer, Dickerson is making a few stops around the east coast this weekend and the New York Country Swag team wouldn’t miss an opportunity to see a full band, full set show.

Our Swag Spotlight from last month Abby Anderson was the supporting act for last night’s show, performing to a room full of Russell Dickerson fans and definitely introducing her unique sound to a new fan base. She sang her current debut single “Make Him Wait” and the crowd erupted in cheers at the conclusion.

After a quick set change, Dickerson took the stage, his high energy set included songs from his debut album including “Float”, “All Falls Down”, “twentysomething” and “Every Little Thing”. “Did anybody come to dance tonight, or get a little funky?” Dickerson said to the crowd before performing “Would You Love Me” which was co-written by Hannah Ellis, our Babes, Booze & Brunch performer from earlier this year.

He closed the night with three of his biggest hits thus far including a mash-up of “MGNO” and Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” where he ran through the crowd just to kiss his beautiful wife Kailey who was watching from the soundboard. He then performed his next single, “Blue Tacoma” and although it just hit radio stations, the entire crowd sang along. Head to our Instagram to see an exclusive clip of the crowd belting out the last chorus. “I appreciate you guys from the bottom of my heart, this song has completely changed my life,” Dickerson said before playing his breakout hit “Yours” to end the night.

After recalling when he played to very small crowds in New Jersey before his album was released, he was humbled and expressed his gratitude for all of his fans that have been there since the start of his career. Now with a number one song, Dickerson is heading out on a huge tour this summer, sure to garner plenty new fans across the country. Grab your tickets to any of Russell Dickerson’s upcoming shows here.

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NASH FM 94.7 Presents Chris Janson at Opry City Stage

May 31, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

Wednesday night (May 30) the newest inductee to the Grand Ole Opry, Chris Janson made his Opry City Stage debut for an intimate performance for NASH FM 94.7 winners. Janson took the stage after being introduced by NASH FM DJ Jesse Addy to tell stories about his songwriting, his latest album Everybody and to play some of his biggest hits to date.

“I write all of my own songs. I only write and record my own songs no matter what and I am so thankful that it has paid off, thanks to NASH FM especially, it’s paid off,” Janson says at one point during his performance, as he discussed with the audience the origins of his songs “Everybody” and the song he wrote with Preston and Lucas from LOCASH, that they then cut and was a top ten hit, “I Love This Life”.

He also played his breakout hit, and first number one song “Buy Me A Boat” and the title track to his latest album, “Everybody” along with his own version of a song that Tim McGraw recorded called “That’s How I’ll Always Be”. The intimate setting on the fourth floor of Opry City Stage always allows artists to feel like they can share stories about their music instead of just playing them. Janson admitted that he was first and foremost a huge punk rock fan growing up, wanting to rebel against his small-town life growing up in Perryville, Missouri. He explained that he was a fan of The Ramones, Weezer, and Sublime and he knew that the New York City crowd would understand his love for those bands. He mashed into his set “Undone” by Weezer and The Ramones, “I Wanna Be Sedated”.

“All I can say is thank you, Jesus, and thank you NASH FM 94.7” he laughed as he explained how incredible it was to have a song of his go number one, right before singing his second number one, “Fix a Drink” then in true New York City fashion, sat down at the piano and played the unmistakeable chords on his harmonica to Billy Joel’s “Piano Man”, which had entire crowd swaying and singing along. As his set came to a close, he performed his current single, “Drunk Girl” as he told the crowd that he has four children, two daughters, and two sons and he hopes in the future that his daughters are taken care of like hte girl in the song but more importantly that his sons are good men and listen to the lyrics of the heartfelt song.

Ending the night with an upbeat, Janson version of “Folsom Prison Blues”, Chris Janson proved why he is not only the youngest living member of The Grand Ole Opry but also one of the best entertainers in country music. Head to our Instagram for exclusive stories and videos from the show.

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