CONCERT REVIEW: TG SHEPPARD SINGS THE HITS IN LIBERTY, NC AND WE LOVED 'EM EVERY ONE

Artist: TG Sheppard
Venue: Liberty Showcase Theatre - Liberty, NC
Date: 9/14/2024
Reviewer: Jennifer Smith

There are shows where you go, you drink, you get loud, you shoot constant video with your phone and you're just there for a Saturday night good time. Then there are shows where you go to have a good time and wind up having a different kind of good time, the kind that stays with you as an appreciative memory because you took the time to truly pay attention to the music and see the true emotional value of the artist and the depth of their own love of the music they sing. This was the kind of good time we had at the Liberty Theatre recently with country music legend, TG Sheppard.

Let me preface this with how much I love TG not just as an artist but even more as a person. Sure he's had big hits, but his biggest hit is who he is. He has the biggest heart, the most genuine love of the music he writes and performs and his sense of humor cracks this old lady up. He's not just a musical legend, he's a gift to every person that's ever listened to his songs. Just ask Elvis.

At the age of 15, TG ran away from home, spent his nights sleeping on the streets and in alleys and eating out of garbage cans. One special night, he was at a skating rink where his friend worked. He walked outside after the rink closed and some Cadillacs pulled up, the door of the first car opened and the driver stepped out and it was Elvis Presley. Elvis walked up to TG and asked him where he was going. He told him he was leaving because the rink was closing and Elvis invited him to stay and skate all night. Thus began the friendship of a lifetime and a relationship that changed the life of a 15 year old.

The thing I love about a TG Sheppard show is that it's not just "get up there, sing and leave", it's a night of story telling, a night of vulnerability, a night of connection with the audience through more than a song. Yes, he sings the hits but he also stops to just enjoy memories with the crowd, reminiscing about special times associated with certain songs, cracking some hysterical jokes and just taking us all out of the craziness of the world for a few hours of normalcy.

Added bonus, Dale Wallace, his keyboard player and backing vocalist is from one of my favorite bands, Emerson Drive. Dang that guy is good.

Here are just some of the hits he sang:

I Loved 'em Every One
Slow Burn
Last Cheater's Waltz
Do You Wanna Go to Heaven
Black Coffee (Lacy J. Dalton cover)
Only One You (My favorite!)
War Is Hell (On the Homefront Too)
Fooled Around and Fell in Love (Elvin Bishop cover and my other all time favorite)
The Day Elvis Died
Folgers Coffee Jingle (yes, he wrote this fixing coffee "nekkid" ... LOL. He'll tell you!)
I Wanna Live Like Elvis
Party Time

He really hit me where it counts with one from his "Midnight in Memphis" album called "I'm a Song". This song envelopes the very reason I love music. A good song will always outlive the singer and those who wrote it and played instrumentals on it. A good song is a legacy in itself, it's a hero to someone who's life it's changed, it is a bugel playing when a service member dies, it's "Here Comes the Bride" when she's walking down the aisle, it's a memory, a nudge in the right direction, it's a map that can lead you home. Our lives are a song and I am so grateful for those who have given us the one freedom that can never been taken away because we will always carry the songs in our hearts.

Thank you TG for another wonderful night and for being the person you are. You are so much appreciated. You change lives. You are a blessing to music and to it's listeners. Thank you for keepin' on. 

Thank you to the amazing staff at the Liberty Showcase Theatre. The owners, Denny and Leslie Brown, are the best venue owners I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with - very kind and accommodating and not thinking I was some crazy super fan just trying to meet the artist when I told them I knew TG. They run a great venue with the top names in music and their staff is wonderful (yes, this includes you Brian Carpenter and the kids that are the best ushers ever.)

Oh, and to the guy who had to try and put on his "security face" 3 times and couldn't keep a straight face and made me laugh like a hyena jacked up on Red Bull, you are awesome! We should be friends. LOL!