By Brett Ryder
I must confess I’m not much of a country music fan. The twang of the violin, er, fiddle, and the even more non-ingratiating twang of the steel guitar (oh, and let’s not forget the usual twang of the singer’s voice) in general make me want to run for the (city) hills. And then there’s the celebratory lyrics of a parochial America I’ve either been too busy to notice or perchance, one that only exists in the atypical mind of the country and western romantic – or maybe a Mellencamp or Springstein. Enter Chris Cagle Sunday evening at Adriatica. In a concert benefiting Habitat for Humanity, Cagles band, I must confess, exceeded my wildly modest expectations. As the clock struck eight (p.m.) and an anounymous voice announced the imminent arrival of Cagle before a crowd of more than 3,000, many of whom – not me – had the good sense to bring either a blanket or chair, a barrage of pre-recorded 10-second snippets of Joe Walsch, Molly Hatchet, Guns and Roses, Lenny Kravitz and Hank, Jr. blared from the loudspeakers. Cagle’s band mounted the stage and out came Cagle replete with black t-shirt, jeans, straw hat and sunglasses. The band immediately galloped into a ferociously up tempo “Good To Be Back” off Cagle’s latest chart topping album, “My Life’s Been a Country Song.” The crowd screamed and hollered. Cagle flashed a brilliant smile while the band – a full seven members any of whom could obviously be moonlighting in Ozzy Osbourne’s band – chugged along in the rock groove. “My name is Chris Cagle and these are the boys and we’re here to rock your world,” Cagle said fittingly. The slick hillbilly/southern rock outfit punched out one familiar song after another, moving through a 16-song set list – “I Breathe In, I Breath Out,” Chicks Dig It,” “What a Beautiful Day,” etc. -- that lasted just more than an hour, bowtied with Cagle’s latest hit, “What Kinda Gone.” Through it all, Cagle’s voice was strong, the band a well-oiled machine, and the mix, with crisp highs and pulsating lows, delightfully strong. Cagle’s first two albums, released in 2000 and 2003 respectively, went gold on the strength of several Cagle-penned singles. Cagle’s third effort, the 2005 “Anywhere But Here,” only charted one single. “My Life’s Been a Country Song,” debuted at number eight on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart in late February.
