Nashville Star Tour @ Niagara Fallsview Casino

  The show opened with clips from the second season of Nashville Star.  The Nashville Star Band was playing in the background, and the stage was set up similar to the set from Nashville Star that was broadcast on CMT.

The first song "Put Some Drive In Your Country", a Travis Tritt song, brought Lance, Matt, George and Brad. All four of these classic looking country boys seemed to already be having a great time. The harmonies in the song were amazing and they performed very well together.   All four guys left the stage as we watched clips of Lance Miller during his performances and interviews on Nashville Star.

Lance came out looking and sounding very old school country. “Working Man Blues” and “Louisiana Saturday Night” were the first two songs he performed.  He was very comfortable on stage and the band performed really well with him.  Lance has a great sense of humor, and received a lot of response and reaction from the crowd. His third song, "Daddy Can You See Me", is off of his CD that is coming soon, and you can buy it at www.lancemiller.com.  This song is a touching country ballad about a son talking to his dad in search of the right direction.  With Lance's deep rich voice (and how good he looked in his jeans) you can’t tell he was meant to sing great ol' Country style music. "Beer's Not Just for Breakfast Anymore", was Lance's fourth song.

Lance's last song for the evening (much to the disappointment of the fans) was "George Jones & Jesus" is another original of Lance's that shows his creativity.  It’s a catchy tune that is easy to sing along with, in which during the rough times, George Jones and Jesus pulled him through. Lance said he was hoping that his first release would be this song.  I recently was on Lance's website, and learned that he met George Jones, who said that he saw Lance sing this on Nashville Star, and liked his singing.  Way to go Lance!

Clips of Matt come on screen as Lance leaves the stage.  In the clip it shows Matt saying that he picks fruit all day long, and sings and plays songs all night long.  As the clips end you see Matt come onstage.  In typical Matt fashion he is wearing jean coveralls, his red hat and playing his washboard. Matt’s first song "Folsom Prison" shows how low Matt’s vocals really are . His range and phrasing truly made this song his.  Matt is extremely entertaining and the crowd seems to love him.  Matt said he learned the next song in Montana.  It has only 3 chords, and starts in "G".  Matt invited the audience to sing along.  Matt's song "It's Not Wrong, Not Right, Just Different", which is where he states "change is the only thing that stays".  This slower song shows that Matt also has a serious side.  An original song Matt sang on Nashville Star, "Ooladee Adeloo" shows that with Matt's sense of humor he can be compared to artists like Cleadus, and for his last song "I've Been to Georgia on a Freight Train", much to the delight of the crowd he brought back the washboard.  I think this years CMA awards special instrument award should be awarded to Matt for his washboard playing.

George Canyon's clips came on the screen, a Nova Scotia born Canadian man whose clips stated he is a big family man who paid his dues. George Canyon was the first runner up on Nashville Star, and made all Canadian country music fans proud.  "Ring of Fire" was George's first song.  This song showed his extremely smooth voice.  During Nashville Star George had "Good Day to Ride" getting a lot of well-deserved airplay on Canadian stations.  With the sound quality in this small theatre, and the incredible musicians on stage, it was a perfect compliment to George's voice and stage presence.  George has a new album due in stores September 28. The song "My Name” was an emotional song he wrote about a friend’s miscarriage, from the perspective of the unborn child.  This lyrically is a sad, yet uplifting song that will be considered a tearjerker. "I'll Never Do Better Than You", is a song George wrote on a trip to Alberta.  George's last song, "Rainbow River", is an upbeat song.  George confided to us that this song was supposed to be on his current album, but wanted to hold on to it for the next one.  The audience gave a standing ovation to our Canadian Boy, and Mona, Terry, Debbie and Karen waved a huge Canadian flag with "Canyon Fans" written on it. (For this they were rewarded front row seating! Way to Go Ladies)

Brad Cotter’s clips came on screen.  Brad (Season 2’s winner) had a similar past to last year’s winner Buddy Jewel.  Both had been in the industry for years prior to Nashville Star. “I’m A Patient Man”, Brad’s first song shows he is definitely ‘new’ country.  These clever lyrics and his look on stage remind you of Keith Urban.  Like Keith, Brad doesn’t seem to be afraid to do his own thing.  “Can’t Tell Me Nothin’”, Brad’s second song shows he is a great songwriter and he admits he has albums of songs already prepared.  Brad’s third song is “Blue Collar Night”, which was written by Nashville’s Jeff Steele.  For this song Brad put his guitar down and was able to move more freely around the stage.  “I Miss Me”, another incredibly written Brad Cotter original that he sang onstage during Nashville Star was his next song.  Brad took a break to tell us that he had a special guest.  Another Nashville Star contestant and friend to all the guys - Shawn Patrick McGraw was in the theatre, and was going to grace us with a song. Sean Patrick sang “She Loves All Things Texan”.  Sean Patrick has exceptional vocals and a definite stage presence.

Brad joined the stage again for his first release, “I Meant To”, another well-written original, that Brad played the keyboard on while singing. This man really is multi-talented.

   Overall this show was amazing. The Fallsview Casino is a wonderful venue. The format of the show was brilliant, as it kept the audience’s attention.

   After the show the only words over heard in the lobby were “Excellent”, “Better than I imagined” and “Wonderful”.

The last 4 finalists gave the viewing audience of Nashville Star a lot to consider when choosing their 2^nd season Nashville Star.  Brad Cotter won the contest, but all four gentlemen are amazing, and even better live than on T.V.  Their smiles are real, their songs original, their goals and dreams in motion.  I, as well as many others, look forward to hearing more from each of the artists.

Written and photographed by Gennie Walton & Karen Egan

© 2004 Opry North/Whitepaw Productions

All Rights Reserved.

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