Like the word “Fusion,” “Southern Rock” is another musical moniker that has been overused throughout the years. It is a category of music that made up a huge part of the sounds of the ’70s and ’80s, yet it is also a phrase that elicits stereotypes and misconceptions. After years of established Southern Rock groups often touring successfully with few original members — as well as countless Southern Rock cover bands and maybe a few Outlaw Country artists dabbling in the style — there is finally a new outfit that is bringing a fresh take to the genre called Blackberry Smoke.
Cincinnati has long been a part of Southern Rock history. Perhaps the music’s best-known group, The Allman Brothers Band, recorded its now-famous “Live At Ludlow Garage” album in Cincinnati back in 1970. The legendary group was also the first act to perform at U.S. Bank Arena (then Riverfront Coliseum) when the venue opened in 1975. The original lineup of Lynyrd Skynyrd performed here just months before their fateful airplane crash, while the local Southern Rock scene was for years well represented by bands such as Wheels.
With two full-length albums and a couple of EPs under their belt, Blackberry Smoke began to attract some attention from Rock music fans who wanted a little grit in their musical gravy in this new century. Then, they began to get bigger and better gigs, opening for ZZ Top and the Zac Brown Band, the latter of which signed the group to their Southern Ground record label. That resulted in Blackberry Smoke’s well-received new album, The Whippoorwill. The group has also released the live DVD, Live at the Georgia Theater, which showed fans that Blackberry Smoke has the ability to deftly expand upon their studio recordings in a live setting.
BLACKBERRY SMOKE perform Tuesday, Jan. 8 with Drake White at Bogart's in Corryville. Buy tickets, check out performance times and get venue details here .
