Walker Hayes cemented his place as one of the essential rising artists in nation music with a killer efficiency on the 2022 CRS New Faces of Nation Music present in downtown Nashville on Friday evening (Feb. 25).
The singer delivered a set that was equal components progressive and basic nation, kicking off with “Consuming Songs” and working via his present single, “AA,” in addition to his career-altering hit from 2021, “Fancy Like.”
Hayes possesses an Everyman high quality that is one of many keys to his enchantment, and his hook-laden, tightly organized songs have a tendency to stay immediately and stick with the listener. That juxtaposition is a winner, and it made his set one of the pleasant of the evening, however the spotlight of his set was really a tune that lower towards the grain of the remainder of his materials. Hayes accompanied himself on acoustic guitar and displayed well-developed fingerpicking chops when he closed his set with “Briefcase,” an emotional ode to his father.
Lainey Wilson was one other spotlight of an evening full of highlights. The breakout nation star took the stage clad in her trademark bell bottoms after a hilarious intro video that featured cameos from Hardy, Cole Swindell, Jimmie Allen and Tracy Lawrence, launching her set with the opening acapella vocal intro to Queen’s “Fats Bottomed Ladies” earlier than segueing into “Straight Up Sideways.”
She additionally carried out her breakthrough hit, “Issues a Man Oughta Know,” earlier than closing her present with what she introduced as her subsequent single, “Coronary heart Like a Truck.” Wilson gave an exuberant stage efficiency that displayed a pure command of the stage, and the battle-hardened crowd of {industry} insiders gave her an exceptionally heat reception.
Parker McCollum and his arena-ready band delivered an exceptionally sturdy, very tight set of rock-leaning nation songs, starting with “To Be Beloved by You,” one of many night’s strongest particular person songs. He adopted up with “Fairly Coronary heart” earlier than stripping issues down for a heartfelt efficiency of “Hell of a Yr,” however the spotlight of McCollum’s set was undoubtedly his closing tune. “I Cannot Breathe” is a gradual, heavy ballad that leans closely into his emotional vocal supply, and McCollum’s highly effective efficiency earned him a standing ovation from the assembled radio executives and music enterprise movers and shakers. McCollum is slated to tour with Thomas Rhett in 2022, nevertheless it’s not laborious to foretell he’ll be headlining enviornment reveals of his personal within the subsequent few years.
Gabby Barrett has actually grown since her first CRS appearances after her run on American Idol in 2018. Not solely has she scored a number of huge hits at nation radio, however she’s additionally gained new confidence and poise on stage and that was evident in her efficiency on Friday evening.
Barrett got here out rocking with”Jesus and My Mama,” and he or she carried out “The Good Ones” and “Choose Me Up” earlier than she and her husband and guitarist, Cade Foehner, ratcheted again the tempo to ship an acoustic rendition of “How Nice Thou Artwork.” Barrett has even better vary and management over her extraordinarily highly effective vocal instrument than she did just a few years in the past, and he or she confirmed it off to most impact on the heartfelt hymn earlier than closing her set along with her career-launching hit, “I Hope.”
Jameson Rodgers gave one of the high-spirited performances of Friday evening, opening together with his rollicking “Chilly Beer Calling My Identify” and working via “Some Ladies” earlier than providing up a canopy of certainly one of his personal hits as a songwriter, Chris Lane‘s “I Do not Know About You.”
Rodgers confirmed off not solely his personal vocal expertise, however his total band’s when he borrowed the concord vocal intro from the Eagles’ “Seven Bridges Highway” to open his ultimate tune, “Lacking One.”
The 2022 CRS New Faces of Nation Music present passed off within the Broadway Ballroom of the Omni Lodge in downtown Nashville. The annual showcase for nation’s hottest rising stars has turn into a ceremony of passage for a lot of the greatest future artists in nation music over the a long time. The present closes out the Nation Radio Seminar yearly, an industry-only occasion that brings collectively radio programmers from everywhere in the nation, labels, publicists, artists and journalists for 3 days of conferences, performances, conferences, interviews and panels that assist set the agenda for the remainder of the yr in nation music.
PICTURES: See Contained in the 2022 CRS New Faces of Nation Music Present
The 2022 Nation Radio Seminar culminated with the CRS New Faces of Nation Music present on Feb. 25. Gabby Barrett, Walker Hayes, Parker McCollum, Jameson Rodgers and Lainey Wilson all took the stage in a various lineup of essentially the most up-and-coming artists in up to date nation music.
