Jack Dryden @ Wildcat Country
Going over to listen to Jack Dryden today at Wildcat Country. Unfortunately I have only heard Jack one other time for a few songs a few months ago. I was not fortunate the first time to hear how wonderful he is with his fans in the audience. So I am in Wildcat Country waiting for Jack to log into his stream and say hello. You can imagine when I hear him start to talk to the audience with a British accent that I was thinking I was in the wrong club lol
I did not get to hear him talk the last time I stopped in for a few minutes so I was so surprised that Jack had a British accent! I was really interested to hear a Brit sing some country!
Jack starts talking to his audience and he is very good at interacting with them. I am sure if you have read my blogs before you know how much I appreciate when a artist does that. I also love it when he took the time to recognize by name the people in the audience.
I have not been to Wildcat Country for a while but have always enjoyed my time that I spent there. As I arrived the host was very friendly, and I had a nice conversation with the manager Billie Lynn Siodmak. This year they are celebrating their tenth anniversary, a long time to have a club in Second Life, congrats!
From what I see they have live singers here about 4 nights a week and the rest of the time they have some great DJs.
Jack starts out with "Della and The Dealer" and that British accent turns into an American one. This is a great little song that was very upbeat to get the show going. I dealt farther into why British accents sound American when they sing. From what I read singing has an accent-neutralizing effect and vocal pitches change. There you have it, just like magic he becomes an American Country singer.
Next up is "The Whiskey Ain't Workin' " This is a great melancholy ballad with lots of guitar and some great harmony. It only proves no matter where you are from you can sing any genre of music and do a great job at it as Jack just did.
Jack is now singing "He Stopped Loving Her Today" originally sung by George Jones. This is a great 40-year-old country song with some great lyrics. It is about the kind of love that everyone would like to find in their life.
One group I have always appreciated was The Highwaymen. This group consisted of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson. Jack is now singing one of their songs called Highwayman. You can tell how much Jack appreciates this song and the other country songs he sings. He sings these songs so relaxed; Jack has a maturity and an understanding of these songs; I call Jack an old soul.
Now we are in between songs and Jack was kind enough to notice Talia and I who are both with Toggle for Music in the audience. That was a very nice gesture!
Somehow even if you are singing mainly country an Elvis song always slips in. One of my favorite Elvis songs, Can't Help Falling in Love was next. This was based on a French song and was supposed to have been originally written from the perspective of a woman as "Can't Help Falling in Love with Him" Leave it to the French to write a great song! I loved the way Jack sang this, he did it so well.
As the show went on Jack would love to talk in between songs. He has a great personality and is not shy at all when he talks to the crowd. If you go to one of his shows you will get a sense of the compassion he has for his fans.
Tennessee Whiskey is next, this is one of my favorite country songs. This song is older than we think, it is 40 years old now. I never really heard it until the night that Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake sang this at the 2015 Country Music awards. Jack of course nails this song!
Jack sings a couple more country songs. A Kenny Rogers song called "Daytime Friends" and then "Gentle on My Mind "by Glenn Campbell.
He now sings an original song called My Beautiful Daughter....his daughter is staying with him for a few days. What a great song about his little girl.
The next song is interesting, a song called Redemption Song which was originally sung by Bob Marley. What a great song this is, and so glad Jack sang this, have not heard it for years.
I was not expecting to hear these next two songs from Jack. Both Simon and Garfunkel songs, the 59th Street Bridge Song but I think we know it as Feelin' Groovy and The Boxer. Personally, I think these songs fit Jack perfectly he sang these with the same expression as it was originally sung.
That was the end of the concert, and I was amazed at the crowd that Jack brought into the venue.
Although all of Jack's songs are not country you can certainly appreciate his love for this genre. He did throw in an original song written for his daughter and a few pop songs which I enjoyed. I just wanted to add that country music sings about culture, emotions and the feelings of people and it is pretty much truthful about what life is about. This is something I think Jack completely understands when he is singing to his audience. When he sings it is as if he makes you feel every single word. I really cannot say enough good things about Jack's performance except thank you Jack, you were very refreshing and pleasantly different from what I am used to!
