Bluesfest Day 6: Zac Brown Band hosts a country shindig

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The half-way point of Bluesfest’s 30th-anniversary edition on Wednesday featured yet another country act, the Zac Brown Band, demonstrating their particular style of Southern rock-infused twang. 

After shows by Orville Peck and Pokey LaFarge last week, Jelly Roll and Shaboozey on Tuesday, and Charley Crockett earlier Wednesday, Bluesfest is starting to feel a lot like a country-music festival. 

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Wednesday’s display of Nashville showmanship from Brown and his band did little to dispel that notion. Brown, a tattooed, bearded singer in a Jelly Roll T-shirt, showed off the persuasive nature of his velvety voice as his band dished out all the right notes with a Vegas-style flourish on top of their country-rock base. 

In the crowd, fans kept a close eye on the weather apps. Tuesday brought periods of heavy rain through the day, along with a string of dire warnings, prompting Bluesfest organizers to delay opening the gates for a short time.

By the time fans gained entry to LeBreton Flats Park, skies were cloudy, but the rain was minimal. Attendance was down, however, as the uncertain conditions kept many fans at home.

Those who showed up prepared for the intermittent showers, lapped up every note of Brown’s crowd-pleasing, chicken-fried rock ‘n’ roll party. 

The concert featured a surprising number of cover songs, including The Devil Went Down To Georgia, the Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black and mashups like You Can Call Me Al/The Lion Sleeps Tonight and Free/Into the Mystic.

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In essence, it was nothing less than a cleverly designed soundtrack for a good time, starring a talented cast that happened to be well-versed in country, rock and harmonies. 

Main-stage opener Charley Crockett was a terrific discovery. In a white cowboy hat and vintage denim, the 40-year-old Texan gave us a roundup of his most classic-sounding original songs, including $10 Cowboy, Welcome to Hard Times and Man From Waco, plus some blues for the occasion, digging out a mournful version of T-Bone Walker’s Travellin Blues. 

He sang in a deep voice that channelled Elvis, Johnny and the past masters of Texas songwriting and had a stellar band with him to concoct a potent brew of old-time country-soul. 

After Monday’s one-day break and Tuesday’s Jelly Roll takeover, Bluesfest was back to firing on all stages Wednesday, with Canadian rocker Matt Good on the River stage, some local blues in the theatre with Murray Kingsley and Wicked Grin, and the usual DJ shenanigans and mechanical bull rides at the ridiculously popular Crazy Horse Saloon. 

For me, another highlight of Day 6 was the Medicine Singers with Yonatan Gat and Lee Ranaldo on the SiriusXM Stage. The Indigenous singing-and-drumming group provided the pulse while the guitarists did their best to puncture the wall of percussion. It got spacey and intense, but never lost sight of the beat. 

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Bluesfest continues Thursday, with a lineup that does not include Neil Young and Crazy Horse. The rock legend dropped off the bill a few weeks ago, citing illness in the band, and organizers quickly booked the Offspring as a replacement, with Cancer Bats and Silverstein warming up the stage.

Also playing Bluesfest on Day 7 are Alberta’s Corb Lund, Australian indie-rocker Steph Strings, Ottawa’s John Allaire and more.

lsaxberg@postmedia.com

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