Kenny Rogers – Better Than a Fine Wine

Better Than a Fine Wine

Written by Janell Webb – Nashville, TN – January 22, 2012

Kenny Rogers took the stage with the Nashville Symphony on Saturday night, and I had the pleasure of representing Nashville Music Guide in a very small number of media personnel onsite (and by small, I mean two). Before anyone has a chance to ask the expected questions, let me answer them quick….

Yes, he still looks great, especially in that blue shirt he teased an audience member about wanting to have.

Yes, he still sings unbeatably well, and only sounded better and better as the show wore on, hitting his best moments in the last few songs.

Absolutely, he is every bit as soulful, passionate, genuine, and charismatic as he was when he began his career in the “first fifty years” that he jokes about – “as though there would be another 50.”

No, he wasn’t at all overpowered by the beautiful sounds of the symphony behind him. He is, after all, a musician’s singer, and his voice and the melodies have a mutual respect for each other.

All in all, the only problem with seeing Kenny Rogers live is that I didn’t want him to stop singing to talk. Yet, when he began to speak, I hated when he quit joking to sing. That’s the result of his ability to treat his audience as though they are one of his closest friends…you know… the kind of friend he only picks on because he likes them. That, and the fact that the perspective with which he reflects upon his own career is both entertaining and thoughtful and is best expressed through a combination of both stories and songs (with a little video sprinkled in on occasion for highlights). Fortunately, there was plenty of both and I’m happy to share with Nashville Music Guide readers a nearly exclusive glimpse of the evening. If only a picture were truly worth those thousand words.

 

 

 

3 Comments

  1. This man has no other big fan than I, he can sing Old McDonald and make it wonderful, I have all of his music and enjoy it thourally, I hope he never stops.

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