Raleigh Keegan and his band opened the show Friday night at The Grizzly Rose. He has a very unique background, describes his sound as organic, mixing the old with the new and staying somewhere in between. Although he says most of his musical influencers have been country artists, and he’s a great artist, I wouldn’t describe his sound “country”.
His love of music started when he was quite young and at age 8 he got his first piano, and didn’t stop there…fast forward to 2017 things got serious and he made the move to Nashville. He has a dedicated fan base, if you’re able to, check out one of his shows. https://www.facebook.com/raleighkeegan/app/123966167614127/
Even before Shenandoah, took the stage, fans were telling me their stories of when they first saw the band, some showed me their first meet and greet photos and told me about the special songs! It was very cool to hear.
Shenandoah first formed the band in 1984, thirty-five years ago in their hometown of Muscle Shoals, AL. Marty Raybon and Mike McGuire were original band members. They released their debut album in 1987, but their next album was the one that produced many of their top ten hits. Over the last few years Jamie Michael, Donnie Allen, Paul Sanders and Travis Mobley joined the band.
Shenandoah opened with one of their top hits “Next To You, Next To Me’ and the fans were more than excited. It was great watching them have so much fun on the stage, fist pumps, handshakes and smiles to the fans as they sang through their hits and telling a bit of story telling as they sang another one. One favorite story was when they were asked to record a duet, lead singer, Raybon, said he only wanted one musician to sing with them and it was bluegrass-country singer, Alison Krauss. The song was “Vicinity of the Heart” and not only was it a good song, they won the Grammy Award for the Best Country Collaboration and CMA for Vocal Event of the Year in 1995. When they sang it Friday night, even without Krauss, it sounded great.
They said they loved being back at the Grizzly Rose and made mention they hadn’t been on that stage for at least 30 years! They are currently on tour in many states, if they are playing anywhere near you, go see them, you can get a little nostalgic and hear a couple of new tunes. Oh, and, I see why their fans love them and had so many stories, the band was very down to earth and couldn’t be more genuine! https://www.shenandoahband.com/
