One of the celebrated Kentucky music family’s younger generation, Walker Montgomery, made his debut on the Frankie’s Plaza stage in Morehead, Kentucky.
Walker Montgomery is the son of John Michael Montgomery and nephew of Eddie Montgomery (Montgomery Gentry). With Logan Purcell opening the show, it was a showcase of the young talent rising in Kentucky.
Purcell, a Somerset native attending Morehead State University, brought the local crowd in early. Playing a mix of his original songs and covers, he got the crowd to the stage early. Starting the night with Zach Top’s “Sounds Like the Radio,” Purcell mixed his originals like “Ain’t Right” and “Dirty Floorboards” with an eclectic group of covers ranging from Tyler Childers and Keith Whitley to Alice in Chains and Jamey Johnson over a 17-song set. Purcell recently transitioned from playing mostly acoustic solo shows to electric full-band performances. One of the highlights of his set saw him return to the solo acoustic format to cover Darrell Scott’s “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive.” During this song, you could have heard a pin drop in the normally rambunctious honky-tonk, with the exception being the crowd singing the chorus with Purcell.
Montgomery took to the stage and made it clear to everyone that while he is definitely his father’s son, he is also his own man. Coming from a family known for being not just first-class musicians but also larger-than-life onstage personas, Montgomery quickly established that he embraces that legacy. Going as far as filming a selfie video during one of the songs with the crowd behind him. Kicking off his set with a cover of his father’s “It’s What I Am,” he then paused to work the crowd a little by honoring the late Toby Keith by leading into “Shoulda Been A Cowboy.” His first original song of the night, “Never Again One More Time,” followed and the rest of the night, Montgomery held the crowd right at the stage rail. He interspersed stories and banter into the mix of his songs, his father’s, and classic 90s country and southern rock covers.The crowd hung on to every word of his stories that preceded and gave insight into his songs such as “Simple Town” which, as he said, put him on the map. The title track of his debut EP, Simple Town, was one of the songs that the crowd came to hear. Montgomery described how performing “Simple Town” at the University of Kentucky football game was an “I can do this” moment for him and a great stepping stone for his career. With the crowd already fired up from “Simple Town,” Montgomery and his band launched into a blistering cover of Marshall Tucker’s “Can’t You See” which took the rowdiness of the crowd to another level.
Over the course of his 17-song set, Montgomery kept the crowd engaged and enthralled from the first note to the last. It is easy to see that he is definitely a member of the Montgomery music family of Kentucky and that he is the current flag bearer for the family.
WALKER MONTGOMERY
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LOGAN PURCELL
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FRANKIE’S PLAZA
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