Long live Keith Whitley.
The late great country star is one of my favorite artists of all time, and I’ll argue until I’m blue in the face that Keith Whitley would have been the King of Country Music if he hadn’t tragically passed away in 1989.
I mean, just look at the impact that he’s still having on country music today, despite having such a short career.
If you ask any of the (actual) country artists out there today who is on their Mount Rushmore of Country Music, there’s a 100% chance that Keith Whitley would be in the conversation. And recently some of those (actual) country artists took to the stage together to pay tribute to the late, great country legend.
During the Two Step Inn festival in Georgetown, Texas this past weekend, ERNEST hosted a tribute to Whitley featuring one of those stone-cold country up and comers, Zach Top.
And during his performance, Hannah Dasher, who’s another incredible artist who’s keeping traditional country alive, joined them for a killer performance of “I Never Go Around Mirrors.”
@hannahdamndasher Thanks for lettin me crash the KW tribute boys 🥰 @Ernest @Zach Top @Two Step Inn #twostepinn #keithwhitley #countrymusic ♬ original sound – HANNAH DASHER
If you’re not familiar with Zach and Hannah…well, you should be by now. They’re both two of the best up-and-coming artists who are still making country music that gives you that ’90s country sound – or in other words, country music that actually sounds like country music.
Zach has a sound that’s eerily reminiscent of the ’90s country legends like Randy Travis, Alan Jackson and George Strait. And Hannah’s one of the only (if not THE only) female artist out there right now who actually tours with a pedal steel in her band, which only helps to highlight her brilliant lyrics and badass country sound.
And while Ern may still be best known for his work with Morgan Wallen, he’s actually got quite a few songs on his solo projects that are stone cold, fiddle-and-steel soaked country music.
I could listen to this group cover Keith Whitley all damn day.
