This past Sunday night brought rising country star Leah Turner to wrap up her 2014 tour at the Mohegan Sun Wolf Den. The Wolf Den provides a great opportunity to catch some great up-and-coming acts in an up-close, intimate setting, and Leah Turner brought her rocking roots and didn’t disappoint the capacity crowd.
As the lights came down and the band took the stage, Leah came out to open the show with songs ‘Make Your Move’ and ‘Do it Like That,’ before performing her first cover of the night, ‘Proud Mary,’ originally recorded by band Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1969, and later performed by Tina Turner in 1970. Leah went on to say that since her name was Turner and she sang with a raspy voice, and Tina’s name was Turner also singing with a raspy voice, it just seemed right.
Turner then began to play hits off of her self-titled EP from May of this year leading off with her highest ranking Billboard Country Airplay song and first single ‘Take the Keys,’ and the song ‘Bless My Heart’ before showing that her leather studded jacket wasn’t the only thing that rocked with covers of ZZ Top classics ‘Sharp Dressed Man,’ and ‘La Grange.’ Leah then began to tell the audience that after a break up, you realize that you should build the same sort of memories with somebody as you do an old truck, leading into another song off of her EP, ‘Beat up Bronco.’
The crowd warmly applauded as Leah described her entire band as phenomenal musicians, and that drummer Doug Frasure liked to include one song in every show that could demonstrate his vocal talent, kicking into Wild Cherry’s ‘Play That Funky Music,’ with lead guitar player Ben Jordan taking over his drum kit. Then came Jordan’s time to display his vocals with a cover of Bill Withers classic ‘Ain’t No Sunshine.’ Turner took back over the microphone to tell us of a hit song written by close friend Bridgette Tatum, kicking off a rocking rendition of Jason Aldean’s 2008 smash hit ‘She’s Country.’
As the set carried on toward then end, Turner began to close her show with her second single, ‘Pull Me Back.’ Leah then began to confess that after traveling the rodeo circuit with her team-roping champion father, she had a thing for cowboys, leading us into a cover of the Dixie Chicks classic, ‘Cowboy Take Me Away.’ After thanking the crowd for such a wonderful evening, Leah began her last song of the evening and current hit, ‘My Finger.’
The Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun really provides for a unique experience, with shows nearly every night of the week including local, current, and past legends, with most artists offering a meet and greet directly after each show. If you happened to miss Leah Turner on Sunday night, than you’ll have to wait until she schedules more performances in 2015, and be sure to mark your calendars for country stars Easton Corbin, Eric Paslay, and the Eli Young Band performing the venue in the coming months.