Country music is full of incredibly talented artists right now. From global superstars like Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, and Garth Brooks to the mid-level acts like Dustin Lynch, Kelsea Ballerini, and Randy Houser to young and aspiring singer-songwriters. The range of artists in the genre is truly incredible. Witnessing the rise of these artists is inspiring. LiveNation recognized a few of country music’s rising acts when they announced LOCASH, Ryan Follese and Michael Tyler as the acts on the Ones To Watch Tour.
The toured stopped at the House of Blues in Boston on February 8th. Michael Tyler kicked off the night with a trio featuring himself, a guitar player, and another on an electronic percussion pad. His set featured various songs including originals from his upcoming album, titled ‘317‘ (set to be released on March 17th), such as ‘Secret,’ and ‘Hey Mama’ to a cover of Gavin DeGaw’s ‘I Don’t Want To Be.’ Before he played his current single, ‘They Can’t See,’ he told the crowd, “This is my current single. if you like it, I’m asking you to bug the shit out of your radio stations about it.” Michael also said, later on his set, “Big shoutout to LOCASH and LiveNation for having me out on this tour. I really like this city. I wish I had some more time to run around.” But the highlight of his night on stage was his performance of a song he co-wrote and hit the top of the charts last year… ‘Somewhere On A Beach’ which was recorded by country superstar, Dierks Bentley.
Ryan Follese followed him Michael Tyler and totally owned the stage like a season veteran. Well that’s because he is no stranger to the stage. Ryan has been around music his entire life and had incredible success in the pop world with his former band Hot Chelle Rae. With his stage time he treated the crowd to a performance Hot Chelle Rae’s multi-Platinum selling 2011 single ‘Tonight Tonight’ which had the crowd singing along. The Big Machine recording artist also played his current single, ‘Put A Label On It.’ But our favorite part of his set was a little story he told the crowd. “Both of my parents are country music songwriters. Dinner time was different for me. We’d sit around the dinner table they’d share different songs they wrote that day. One of my first jobs, I worked in my dad’s music company. I’m downstairs in the basement and one day my dad comes down and is so excited because he thinks his song he wrote is a smash hit. And it went something along the lines of this… I had a BBQ stain on my white t-shirt…‘” After a few chords of Tim McGraw’s ‘Something Like That,’ a song that Ryan’s father, Keith, wrote and indeed became a Number One hit, Ryan went back to the story. “One day my mom calls and says that it’s cool that I’m playing dad’s songs on the road but asks why I’m not performer her songs.” Well, Ryan played a few of hers too. Maybe we’re suckers for songwriting. Maybe we just like a good story. But it was definitely cool to have an inside look in the Follese household. All-in-all, Ryan put on one helluva set, commanding the stage and keeping the crowd entertained the whole time. You can catch Ryan this summer on Sam Hunt’s 15 In A 30 Tour, which Ryan told us backstage that he can’t wait for this summer because of that tour.
There was a buzz in the music hall as fans awaited for LOCASH to take the stage. And they did so with ‘Ain’t Startin’ Tonight’ and followed that up with ‘You Gonna Fly,’ a song they co-wrote with The Cadillac Three’s Jaren Johnston and was recorded by Keith Urban. Chris admitted that he was a Ravens fan and Preston admitted he is a Colts fans, which got some boos from the Boston crowd. But the duo told the crowd to wait as they were about to show some admiration for our freshly crowned World Champion New England Patriots. “This place is rocking! Maybe because you’re Super Bowl Champions… This is a great town to be in this week… This is a great to town to be in every week because because you guys always win… We voted and bet on the Patriots to win the game.” After playing a new song, titled ‘Moonwalking,’ they introduced their next song by saying, “This next song is called ‘All Day.’ If you’re ready to part all day and all night with LOCASH, make some noise!”
Later in the night, Preston told the crowd, “Every time we get a chance to come to Boston to do a show we say yes… This is the part of the show where it gets a little crazier,” as they led into ‘Truck Yeah,’ another song they co-wrote (with Chris Janson and Danny Myrick). Their high energy set also featured ‘Drunk Drunk,’ their current single ‘Ring On Every Finger,’ and a medley of classic songs by keyboardist Will Doughty including a cover of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin” which got a rousing reaction from the crowd. Some of our other favorite moments of the night include when Preston sat on the front of the stage during ‘The Fighters’ and honor a soldier in the crowd, Preston wearing a Taylor Swift t-shirt and acknowledging it by saying, “I love Taylor Swift. I just joined the fan club and got this t-shirt,” and their night-ending performance of ‘I Love This Life,’ one of our favorite songs on country radio the past few years.
While Michael Tyler and Ryan Follese set the stage, LOCASH’s energy was unmatched. Their set was incredibly entertaining and it’s no wonder why they’ve had some great success over the past few years. With these three Ones To Watch, the future of the genre look bright.