The men of the Turnpike Troubadours do not mess around.
Turnpike, any time of the day, is always a good choice, and today, we have some new Turnpike performances to watch. There is no better way than blasting their new “Live AF Session” with Western AF to kick off your day.
Last year, Western AF began a new video series called “Live AF,” featuring short setlists highlighting some of the best country talent in the industry. There was no better choice to kick off that series than with the Red Clay Strays, who were breaking into their stardom at the time of their taping. While they have had many stellar features on the series since they kicked it off with the Mobile, Alabama group, they are rounding out 2024 with one of Red Dirt’s greatest bands, the Turnpike Troubadours.
Since returning from their 2019 hiatus, the Oklahoma group has been unstoppable. Following the release of their latest album A Cat In The Wind, Turnpike has been on the road nonstop, even all over the festival circuit. They have rounded out their year by making quite a few appearances on Taylor Sheridan shows, with songs featured in Landman and a performance featured in Yellowstone.
But before saying farewell to 2024, Turnpike is giving us one last gift: a “Live AF Session.”
“In case you missed it: We followed up our appearance on Yellowstone with the release of the Live AF Session: New recorded live versions of ‘Mean Old Sun,’ ‘Good Lord Lorrie,’ ‘Brought Me’ and ‘Pay No Rent.'”
While the audio from the sessions dropped earlier this week, the video portion of the session dropped today, completing the collection of four songs.
Before sharing the video portion, the production company, Western AF, shared that this has been a long time coming.
“Friends and neighbors, we’re here to say that dreams really do come true. It began when Turnpike took the stage at Cain’s in early 2022. A few months later, we joined them at Under the Big Sky in Montana, marking the start of what would become a two-year effort to bring this session to life.
Now, after two years in the making, the Western AF x Turnpike Troubadours live session is finally available on all streaming platforms.”
And thank goodness they made it work because everything about this live session is pure country gold.
Kicking off the live performance with “Good Luck Lorrie,” Evan Felker and the rest of the band look like they are barely trying the best way possible. They have their craft down, and being in this stage is nothing new for these seasoned professionals. After their old classic, they move into one of their newer songs, “Mean Old Sun.”
The shift from old to new highlights that even after some time apart, these Okies did not change their band’s sound; it just aged like wine during that time apart. They round out the performance with their fan favorite, “Pay No Rent,” before bringing it home with “Brought Me.”
The slightly scaled-back sound of the performance with RC Edwards playing upright bass gives the overall session a slightly unplugged feeling without going entirely acoustic, and they knock it out of the park.
This session is well worth the 17-minute watch. Turn it all the way up.
