Country Singer Entertained Large Crowd at Ole Red in Nashville

Photo by Alicia Lenea

The opinions reflected in this review are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of staff, faculty and students of The King's College.

NASHVILLE – (REVIEW) The country artist, AJ Kross, performed a four-hour set at Blake Shelton’s Bar, Ole Red, in Nashville, TN, on Thursday, March 16. 

AJ Kross is a country singer and guitarist. He had electric guitarist Tim Paslay, drummer Tim Provence and bassist Dave Abdo on stage with him that night. With downtown gigs, the band members can change. Kross must have four people on call for each instrument for each gig he plays. 

Kross started the night with “Feel that Fire” on Ole Red’s first-floor stage. It was 6 pm in the low-lit bar when the crowd shuffled through the door on the far right side of the room. Upon walking in, modern country music with a soft and firm voice sounded from over the speakers throughout the first floor of Ole Red. Attendees moved around the full tables and stood in front of the bar with their backs toward it. At the same time, their eyes were glued to Kross as he sang the lyrics, “She needs to feel that fire.” The crowd started to sway back and forth to the slow, steady beat of the song. 

“Feel that Fire,” originally recorded and performed by Dierks Bentley, is slow and smooth with an upbeat, fun chorus that is fun to listen to and makes for a great opening song. 

As Kross ended the first song, he engaged with the crowd by pointing to people in the audience and asking where they were from. There were people in the audience from all over the United States, including New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Maine along with locals. Kross easily went from talking to the crowd to going into the next song, “Drink in My Hand.” He asked the crowd if they had a drink to raise it so everyone with a drink raised it. The crowd watched in excitement as Kross started to play again. The large screen behind Kross showed the crowd in the bar and what was happening on stage as Kross sang, “all I wanna do is put a drink in my hand.” 

“Drink in My Hand” was originally recorded and performed by Eric Church. This is a drinking song that gets everyone up and moving. It is fun and makes the crowd want to dance with a drink in their hand. Kross sang the song very well, but his voice did not have as much twang as Chruch’s. 

After Kross finished the song, a man from the crowd walked up to the stage and handed Kross a glass of whiskey. Kross did not know who he was before that night but was thankful for the drink. 

Kross drank the whiskey and started to play “How Country Feels” as the crowd began to dance. A group of women danced in front of the large stage, putting out their hands to anyone they could get into their group to dance with them. They started a line and tried to do a line dance but did not know the exact moves. They were just having fun walking around the entire bar, passing people, and trying to get the women out of their seats to join 

“How Country Feels” was initially recorded and performed by Randy Houser. It is a feel-good country song, and the crowd loved how Kross performed it. 

Kross continued to sing more country songs, increasing the crowd. A little girl came to the stage as Kross had just finished a song, and she asked him for his autograph. The girl was so happy when he bent down on the large stage and signed something for her. She was just a little taller than the platform. Her head moved in excitement as he handed her the autograph, and she bounced away from Kross to her family, leaving him to sing another song. 

Kross sang a total of 48 songs in four hours during his set. As he continued to play some of the greatest country hits, Ole Red continued to have more and more people enter the bar. It became difficult for the workers to keep it clean, and they seemed to have vanished behind the bar as beer cans were left lying on the tables, and the floor started to become a little sticky. 

Over the four hours, Kross played a few fan favorites like “Whisky Glasses,” “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy,” “One of Them Girls” and “Tennessee Whiskey.” Kross played his heart out on Ole Red’s stage, having fun and watching the crowd continue to enjoy the music. Kross ended his set with “Friends in Low Places.” 

“Friends in Low Places” was initially recorded and performed by Garth Brooks. It is a great song to end with because it is easygoing and upbeat. 

Kross plays at Ole Red 4 to 6 times a month. Look at Ole Red’s website to see when Kross plays next and each night's line-up.

Alicia Lenea is the Live Music Columnist at The Empire State Tribune. She is a senior majoring in Journalism Culture and Society.