Jamey Johnson with Whiskey Myers and Kasey Tyndall
Appalachian Wireless Arena
Pikeville, Kentucky
June 27, 2021
Review by James Stamper / Images by Tom Biggs TRB Photography
It’s a beautiful Sunday evening in Eastern Kentucky, as I find myself traveling to the Appalachian Wireless Arena to see an amazing show in Jamey Johnson and Whiskey Myers. Usually, you’ll catch me going to rock/metal shows, as that is my favorite genre of music, but with a tremendous band like Whiskey Myers and a super voice like Jamey Johnson, I just couldn’t pass it up. Speaking of which, I want to give a special shoutout to the Appalachian Wireless Arena for doing a spectacular job of booking some phenomenally talented artists! Appalachian Wireless Arena is located in Pikeville, Kentucky. A very groovy place to see a show. Not one bad seat in the whole arena. If you ever get a chance to see a show at The Appalachian Wireless Arena, please do it! Help support these guys! They are bringing us live music back to Eastern Kentucky! We have to back them if we want to see these remarkable shows we all love!
Now, let’s talk more about the show in detail.
Waiting for the show to start, I see this band come out on stage, ready to play. I thought to myself, when did Whiskey Myers obtain a girl singer? Once they started, I found out it was none other than Kasey Tyndall and her band from Nashville, Tennessee. I was not expecting an opener, but I was thrilled to watch her perform live! No one really knew who she was, but when she hit the stage and started performing, Pikeville found out quickly who Kasey Tyndall was!
The crowd was loving her! They were moving to the songs, they were screaming, they loved what Kasey had to offer Pikeville! I must note, one song she performed stood out to me. It was titled “Jesus and Joan Jett’. She told the story behind this track. Tyndall stated:
“These were the 2 I looked up to. I always asked myself, ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ and ‘What Would Joan Jett Do?’ so, I wrote a song about it”.
Now, how cool is that? I’ve heard Jesus associated with firearms, booze, even gravestones, but never have I heard Jesus associated with Joan Jett. See, this very talented young lady is being her own thing, writing songs that mean a lot to her and material that fans can relate to. That is what I truly like in an artist. Someone who actually feels what they’re singing in their heart makes a big difference from someone who’s just singing. That’s the very reason why Kasey Tyndall stood out to me. She’s an excellent performer, with an infinite amount of talent, along with strong pipes that could hit any key or any note known to man. As I said, I was so thrilled I got to see Kasey Tyndall in action! She rocked Pikeville down, no question in my mind. To quote country singer, Jason Aldean, she left a “Tattoo On This Town”.
Now, it was time for Whiskey Myers to come out on stage.
For those of you who are not familiar with Whiskey Myers, that needs to change right now! Whiskey Myers hails from Palestine, Texas. Being influenced by legends such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hank Williams JR, and Waylon Jennings, Whiskey Myers would put all 3 of those names into a blender and add their own special touch! They released their first album in 2008 titled “Road of Life”. Three years later, they would start getting a lot of attention with their 2011 release, “Firewater”. This album would go to number 4 on the US Heat charts and number 26 on the US Country charts. Their latest album “Whiskey Myers”, released in 2019, hit number 1 on the US Country charts AND hit number 1 on the US Indie charts! If that doesn’t tell you how talented this band is, nothing will! Also, Whiskey Myers really started to blow up when they were shown playing in a bar on the tv show, “Yellowstone”. I would recommend checking it out! It’s an exciting scene! Worth checking the show out just to see them play! The unique lineup of Whiskey Myers is “Cody Cannon” – lead vocals/acoustic guitar, “John Jeffers” – lead guitar, slide guitar, lap steel guitar, vocals “Cody Tate” – lead and rhythm guitar “Jeff Hogg” – drums “Tony Kent” – percussion/drums, “Jamey Gleaves” – bass.
Now that you know a little bit about Whiskey Myers, let’s talk about their epic performance!
Whiskey Myers made their way on stage and oh my gosh!! That was indeed the loudest crowd I have heard in a long time! I’m talking ear ringing loud! Pikeville was so excited to have Whiskey Myers perform!! Starting out with “Frogman”, Whiskey Myers already stole Pikeville’s heart! There were a couple of times during the show, I thought I was going to have to take cover because it felt like the roof was coming down!! Whiskey Myers had such an incredible sound! Everything from the vocals all the way to the drums to the guitars sounded perfect. Shoutout to the soundmen for this show, for doing an amazing job with their sound! If the sound were any better, I would 100% believe the CD was playing, because it was that pristine. Whiskey Myers continued to rock Pikeville with rocking songs such as “Ballad of A Southern Man”, “Deep Down In The South”, “Bury My Bones”, “Bar, Guitar and a Honky Tonk Crowd” among other super tracks!
Whiskey Myers literally blew my mind, not only with how talented they are but with the tightness of this band, along with the outlaw/western rock sound, that would put you in a visual of riding through Texas with Clint Eastwood by your side! When a band captures your mind and puts a superb feeling inside your heart, making it warmer than hot chocolate on a cold winter’s day, you know for a fact, they’re doing something right! No question in my mind, if someone asked me if I would go see Whiskey Myers again, I would run faster than The Flash going to see Iris-West Allen. This band is worth 100% of the money you pay. As I mentioned before, the crowd was roaring! I mean, it was crazy! The crowd knew every word to Whiskey Myer’s songs! At one point in the show, Cody Cannon stopped singing and let the crowd take over. Such an amazing experience and to see how Whiskey Myers connected with the fans, only made me more of a fan! 10/10 performance!
Now, it was time for Jamey Johnson’s performance.
Jamey Johnson has played in Kentucky many times over the last 10 years. Why this is my first time seeing him? I couldn’t tell you, but I will say this, that was a huge mistake on my part not seeing him sooner!
Jamey Johnson hails from Enterprise, Alabama. Johnson served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve for 4 years. While serving in the military, he decided to pursue a career in country music. He started playing around bars in Montgomery, Alabama and in the year 2000, he found himself opening up for the legendary country artist, “David Allan Coe”. Johnson’s debut album, “They Call Me Country” came out in 2002. Having written so many songs for big names such as George Strait, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Trace Adkins, it’s no lie that Jamey Johnson is a phenomenal songwriter. Johnson really hit it big with his 2010 release “The Guitar Song”. This album hit number 1 on the US Country charts, and later on, would go Gold!
When Johnson hit the stage at The Appalachian Wireless Arena, the crowd still had loads of energy and once again, erupted!! Jamey Johnson started waving at everyone, so excited to be standing on the stage again, entertaining all his fans! He started out the night with “Keeping Up with The Jonesin’” and look out! If Whiskey Myers hadn’t melted the place enough, Jamey Johnson turned up the heat a couple more notches! Oh, but that was just the beginning. Johnson performed “In Color” which caused an even bigger uproar, along with “High Cost of Livin’”, “Between Jennings and Jones”, “Ray Ray’s Juke Joint”, “Take It Away – George Strait cover”, “Take This Job and Shove It – Johnny Paycheck cover” and other super songs!
Again, I have to shout out the soundmen for doing an excellent job with sound! Jamey sounded crisp as ever! If you closed your eyes, you could imagine yourself traveling down Interstate 75 with the windows down, playing a CD of Jamey Johnson. That’s what the sound was like. The acoustics in that arena are top-notch. The way Johnson echoed through the arena, would bring chills down your spine. All in all, I have to say, Jamey Johnson did not disappoint. He came to Pikeville with strong vocal cords and laid down the law. I am very fortunate I got to attend this amazing show! Thank you, Jamey, for stopping by Pikeville to entertain Eastern Kentucky! Pikeville loved it and East Kentucky hopes to see you again very soon!
Overall, no disappointments insight. The whole show was 10/10. I would re-live it if I could. Amazing. Thank you once again, Appalachian Wireless Arena for booking this show and thank you, the reader, for supporting music and supporting live shows! We have to keep supporting to have shows like this! Please, go see a show, buy a t-shirt, buy vinyl or a CD, anything helps the bands to stay on the road so we can see their amazing performances close to home! Thank goodness live music is returning, slowly but surely!
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