Garth Brooks’ Blame It All On My Roots Tour is leaving fans and fellow country artists speechless. Even Garth himself doesn’t know how to put into words the energy that he’s feeling inside each and every arena.
The country music superstar is currently out on tour for the first time in a long time. That in itself has driven up the demand for Garth Brooks concerts, and the “Friends In Low Places” singer has helped increase the anticipation even further by announcing his tour dates one stop at a time.
Some even say the tour announcement method he’s rolled out is the cure to “Blue Dot Fever.”
While there’s conversation to be had about that, there’s no question that the Blame It All On My Roots Tour has been a massive success thus far. Every tour stop, from Indianapolis to Denver, has had to add additional shows to meet demand. Country fans all across the country want to see Garth Brooks play live, and even fellow country artist Ward Davis was looking forward to see the country legend up on stage.
If you know anything about Ward Davis, he one of the best songwriters in the game, and someone who probably embodies the “outlaw” spirit of country music as well as anybody in these modern times. He’s the real deal… after you read this blog, go check out his music, you won’t regret it.
But on the surface, you might expect a guy like Ward to be critical of a megastar like Garth… we all know what Waylon Jennings thought of him. But that’s not the case at all…
Davis saw Brooks while he was out in Denver, Colorado, and a lengthy social media post from the singer-songwriter about his Garth Brooks concert experience has gotten a lot of attention. Why? Because Davis described the feelings he’s felt while seeing Brooks on stage, and to say he got emotional would be an understatement:
“Honestly, I wept for most of the show. I really tried hard to hold it in and conceal it but it was completely overwhelming. That little mop-topped kid in Arkansas was standing right beside me, holding onto me as much as I was holding on to him. All those songs and all those memories and all the purpose behind what I have spent my whole life doing started with a song and a moment and led to dreams and roads and the only life I’ve ever known.
That right there is high praise.
It even got the attention of Garth Brooks himself. The country star used his website to share an open letter that both responded to Davis and attempted to capture the feelings that Brooks is experiencing night in and night out of the Blame It All On My Roots Tour. Brooks admits that he too is having trouble describing the atmosphere that is being created by his live shows:
“His inability to describe what he felt gave me the courage to speak up and share my own inability to describe what I am feeling… but it seems we are BOTH feeling it. It started in Milwaukee at Summerfest. It happened in Hyde Park across the water. Indianapolis was NOT just the opening city.
Denver was a high I have never seen. Something is happening on this tour. I don’t know if it’s the realness of the music… no loops, no prerecorded stuff, just honest, live in all its blemishes… raw, real music.”
Garth went on to say in his open letter that he’s truly never felt the energy like he’s feeling, and thinks that the “raw” music is helping to nurture a sense of unity during his concerts.
The country singer says he’s witnessing the joy and the tears of the audience each and every night, and the only explanation he can think of is everyone is putting their differences aside to come together in the name of music. Garth says it’s such an overwhelming sensation that it is making him believe again, and he wants to be clear that he’s rather a part of the magic… not the cause:
“Let’s get two things out of the way, please. This is NOT a promotion for the tour. Second, this has nothing to do with Garth Brooks. I am NOT the cause of it, but I am a PART of it… and that is why I am telling you this. What I am seeing and what I am feeling makes me feel ‘full’. Makes me believe… in what? I am not sure… maybe ‘us.’
Someone needs to tell us we are good people. Someone needs to tell us when we unite in song that ‘one voice’ is what I think love would sound like — a commonality – of empathy and relating to one another. Anyway, whatever it is, SOMETHING is happening, and I am damn lucky and very blessed to be part of it. I thank God and you for it.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m all for the “something” that is evidently happening at Garth Brooks concerts all across the country.
