Thursday, December 3rd brought some of country music’s brightest young stars to the Cadillac Ranch in Southington, CT for the Country 92.5 Unwrapped & Unplugged acoustic concert benefiting St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Tyler Farr, Drake White, with Lauren Alaina and a sold out crowd were at the popular watering hole for an unplugged night to remember.
Unlike many performances, the Cadillac Ranch and Country 92.5 are known for hosting very unique nights, instead of three separate sets, each artist joins each other onstage, allowing for seldom seen interaction, a very humorous and warm setting. The lights went dim, and the three stars sat on their individual barstools. Immediately, the crowd favorite Tyler Farr hollered into his mic, “Are you ready for our big guest surprise? Welcome to the stage, my good buddy, Jason Aldean!” The sound level would’ve broken many records, but Tyler was quick to apologize for such a cruel joke.
On the far right, Drake White began the evening with ‘Everybody’s Got A Story,’ ushering in what was sure to be an amazing night of performances. “Give a big ole warm welcome to my buddy Tyler Farr up here!” Tyler, who was seated center stage was about to begin, when Lauren Alaina disagreed. “I don’t want to go last after all of Tyler’s hits! I’m gonna go next with a song about my kind of people, are ya’ll my kind of people?” The crowd was immediately blown away by the American Idol star, gaining many fans right away with her incredible voice and stage presence. As Lauren concluded, Tyler began to look around the room and chuckled, “This place is awesome man, look at all the deer heads and the Elvis Presley rebel flag, there’s some hillbillies up in Connecticut! Now somebody make some damn noise.” He shocked everybody by beginning his turn with 2013’s gold certified single, ‘Whiskey In My Water.’
The night grew later, and after Drake White performed ‘Back To Free,’ Lauren Alaina stole the evening with an incredible mash up. “Where my girls at? I like to do this every night for all the women who have inspired me, this is for you girls!” What started with the famous opening chords and chorus of Shania Twain classic, ‘Man! I Feel Like A Woman,’ into ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody,’ by Whitney Houston, touching upon ‘Wide Open Spaces,’ by The Dixie Chicks, ‘Fancy,’ by Reba, ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time,’ by Britney Spears, ‘Umbrella,’ by Rihanna, ‘Single Ladies,’ by Beyoncé, and concluding to a standing ovation with ‘Last Name,’ by Carrie Underwood. The roof nearly collapsed as she took a bow, but Tyler Farr was the only one upset. “That’s not right, you just sang your ass off now my trashy voice has to follow that?” If the foundation hadn’t already cracked it surely split wide open as Tyler took his turn with top 10 hit, ‘A Guy Walks Into A Bar.’
“How many of y’all can honestly say you’re ‘living the dream’? This song will be released to radio tomorrow so if you like it, call it in, and if you don’t, just don’t tell anybody!” The song was so new that even Drake forgot a verse in between chorus lines! What happened next had everybody, even the bartenders doubled over. “What man in here would like to come dance with me?” asked Lauren. An eager participant jumped onstage, but Lauren wasn’t so easily fooled. Noticing his wedding ring, “Are you married?” she asked, “Oh, you’re engaged? Get out of here!” The next eager bachelor grabbed his chance, taking as many selfies as his phone would allow. “You know, you look a lot like my next boyfriend,” Lauren shouted, picking up into a song of the same title. The lucky audience member soaked it up, even displaying his knowledge of popular dance moves, the ‘Stanky Leg,’ and “Watch Me Whip,’ forcing Drake and Tyler to lower and shake their heads in disapproval. “You can certainly come to my shows,” Tyler told the young man as he headed off stage, “But no dancing. You took more selfies up here than Justin Beiber on hot flash Friday!” Tyler kept the room laughing, before performing ‘Damn Good Friends,’ a song written with Jason Aldean. “People thought Jason and I were sleeping together, touring for three years straight. TMZ was all over us!”
The last round of songs brought the night to a near end, but certainly the peak of the evening. Drake White concluded with a cover of the popular hit, ‘What’s Goin’ On’ by 4 Non Blondes, and at a certain point in the chorus, you couldn’t hear the PA anymore, drowned out by the crowd singing along. He finished his set with a freestyle about the evening, verses about the venue, whiskey, the crowd, and Lauren Alaina’s guest dancer. The song conclusion was greeted by a standing ovation, from musicians and fans alike. “That was amazing, do I even have to sing?” asked Lauren, who concluded her evening with the song ‘Georgia Peaches.’ For the last songs, the fans had crowded the stage out of their seats, and Tyler noticed all the fans suddenly closed in around him. “Look at all these people in Connecticut wearing cowboy boots, and I’m here in a Compton hat and Air Jordan’s, All about the shock factor! Here’s my newest single.” The headliner ended his night with current radio single, ‘Better In Boots,’ transitioning to crowd favorite and highest charting song, ‘Redneck Crazy.’
Country 92.5 and The Cadillac Ranch annually pack the venue to benefit the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, raising massive donations, as well as never leaving a fan disappointed in the unique performances. We along with most of central Connecticut cannot wait until the next collaboration!