Blackberry Smoke do a mixture of country music and Southern rock. They gained quite some popularity in the USA, but also have a very good fan base in the United Kingdom or Germany. Fans had to wait some three years for a new album. With You Hear Georgia, the band is giving them relief from 28th May 2021 onward.
Blackberry Smoke – About The Artist
Blackberry Smoke is a US-American country rock band, which has been founded in Atlanta in 2000. Today, it is a band of five members, Paul Jackson, Charlie Starr, Brandon Still, Brit Turnier and Richard Turner. In 2003, they released their debut album Bad Luck Ain’t No Crime, which has however not been a commercial success. With The Whippoorwill, their third album, they became much more famous. In three major US album charts, the 2012 release made it into the Top 12. Pretty Little Lie, one of the singles taken from the album, had significant airplay as well. Their next two albums, Holding All The Roses (2015) and Like An Arrow (2016), topped the US Country as well as the British Rock Album Charts. Their most recent album release was the 2018 Find a Light, which had very good commercial success as well.
Blackberry Smoke – You Hear Georgia – Track by Track
The ten track album lasts forty minutes.
1. Live It Down
The album starts in perfection: a catching Southern rock song, which has a great sing-a-long potential for any future Blackberry Smoke concert.
Reachin ’up from the bottom
I tell ya it’s a bitch
It’s a helluva thing to break yo back
Just to make another man rich
Oh, I might mention that the band is doing rather straight and clear messages in their songs… There might be explicit messages in the songs.
2. You Hear Georgia
They say that to see is to believe
But you know you can’t believe
Everything you read
A hammer and a block of stone
Singing ’that tired old song
Maybe you can find a new harmony
If you hear Georgia
The title song feels a bit old-fashioned – but overall, it is just too good to be any bad. Nice track, the rough riffs remind me of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Blackberry Smoke are definitely great ones in their genre.
3. Hey Delilah
The piano has a rather strong melodic part in Hey Delilah. In the second song of the album, which has already been a single release, Blackberry Smoke just do what they do best: honest and straight work on the guitar and bass, a lovely country vibe. This is the basis for the very catching and easy to get into song. You just have to enjoy this one.
4. Ain’t The Same
Ain’t The Same reminds me that much of some of the works by The Eagles. Ain’t that lovely country music with a Southern style rock influence? This track is definitely among my absolute favorites of the album.
5. Lonesome For A Livin’
Yea the blues have been
My old boss man
And lovesick it knows me by name
You could say I was lonesome for a livin’
And heartache is my claim to fame
After a lot of rock and powerful tracks, Lonesome for a Livin’ is at least a little bit slower. The steel guitar and the more modest power leads to a lovely traditional country song sound.
6. All Rise Again
The last track gave you four and a half minute of slower speed and relaxing – at least the guitars are back at All Rise Again. Even though the song sometimes even has the touch of a hard rock track, it is still rather modest in its tempo. Definitely a track guitar lovers will love – it is a Southern rock riff festival.
7. Old Enough To Know
It’s mostly uphill goin ’from the cradle to the grave
A junkie needs a needle a preacher needs a soul to save
Stay somewhere in the middle
Stand behind the things you say
I guess we all just learn it as we go
They don’t tell ya till you’re old enough to know
Blackberry Smoke are also a great band if the songs are quiet, the guitar is acoustic and you don’t think about whether you should start headbanging to their songs. You need a proof? Listen to Old Enough To Know. Amazing track – which is emotionally definitely one of the big highlights of the album.
8. Morningside
Morningside is an amazing composition, which adds a new sound to this album. There is some alternative touch in this song, which is powerful and energetic. Nonetheless, you feel the spirit of Blackberry Smoke. Fascinating.
9. All Over The Road
You haven’t been rocked enough? I guess All Over The Road will change it. Smashing riffs, great melodies and a fantastic song just to sing along and enjoy. Great one, which feels to be performed by a really, really big act.
10. Old Scarecrow
The Old Scarecrow is closing the album – and especially at the beginning of the song, it almost feels like a blues rock song. Finally, it feels like a 3:37 minute song, which has something for any Blackberry Smoke listener – unfortunately, that also makes me feel that the song is less catchy than other songs.
Blackberry Smoke – You Hear Georgia – Spotify
Here is the album on Spotify:
Blackberry Smoke – You Hear Georgia – My View
I expected a really good album when I received the promo package for You Hear Georgia. These guys did not disappoint me at all. The album is a ten track firework of powerful songs and emotional tracks. You might mention that Old Scarecrow is a bit weaker than the remaining songs – but the level of quality is simply really high. If you like Southern rock or country rock, you just have to listen to this album.
Blackberry Smoke – Tour Dates
In early 2022, Blackberry Smoke will tour Europe, supported by The Steel Woods:
Th 03.02.2022 | Barcelona (SPA) – Razzmatazz | |
Fr 04.02.2022 | Madrid (SPA) – Sala Riviera | |
Su 06.02.2022 | Zurich (SUI) – Kaufleuten Festival | |
Mo 07.02.2022 | Milan (ITA) – Alcatraz | |
Tu 08.02.2022 | Munich – Backstage WErk | |
Th 10.02.2022 | Cologne – Carlswerk Victoria | |
Fr 11.02.2022 | Stuttgart – LKA Longhorn | |
Sa 12.02.2022 | Vienna (AUT) – Flex | |
Mo 14.02.2022 | Wiesbaden – Kulturzentrum Schlachthof | |
We 16.02.2022 | Berlin – Huxleys Neue Welt | |
Fr 18.02.2022 | Stockholm (SWE) – Münchenbryggeriet | |
Sa 19.02.2022 | Oslo (NOR) – Rockefeller Music Hall | |
Su 20.02.2022 | Copenhagen (DEN) – Amager Bio | |
Tu 22.02.2022 | Utrecht (NED) – Tivoli Vredenburg | |
We 23.02.2022 | Leuven (BEL) – Het Depot | |
Fr 25.02.2022 | Paris (FRA) – Bataclan | |
Su 27.02.2022 | Birmingham (UK) – O2 Academy | |
Mo 28.02.2022 | Glasgow (UK) – O2 Academy | |
We 02.03.2022 | Belfast (UK) – The Telegraph Building | |
Th 03.03.2022 | Dublin (IRE) – Olympia Theatre | |
Fr 04.03.2022 | Manchester (UK) – Academy | |
Su 06.03.2022 | London (UK) – Roundhouse |
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