Café Firenze – Birmingham, Alabama
March 31, 2011
Ty Stone’s blue-collar has indeed earned a fair dollar. However, at Café Firenze in Birmingham, Alabama on Thursday, March 31, 2011, his blue-collar attained him something much more substantial: respect.
The one-hour set was diverse and intriguing. Stone’s vocals adroitly belted traces of the blues, rock-n-roll, country, with a twist of Motown soul. Backed by his band The Truth, Ty Stone gracefully meandered through face-pounding, guitar driven, in-your-face, rock-n-roll, only to then exquisitely draw the packed house in close for one of his several ballads.
Ty Stone’s connection to the Birmingham-metro area is sincere and goes back to 2005. Stone, who is signed to Kid Rock’s label, Top Dog Records, played his first major gig opening for the American Bad Ass at Pelham’s Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in 2005. "It was the greatest night of my life," recalls Stone in between songs during his set. "I came out by myself with just my acoustic guitar. There were 12,000 fans and it was insane." Only a few days before, Ty Stone was living in Los Angeles flipping burgers.
Drawing his song selection from his soon-to-be-released album on Top Dog/Atlantic Records, American Style, Ty Stone was a crowd-pleaser. Songs like "Real Thang," "Anywhere’s Better," and "Bob Seger" introduced the crowd to the Detroit-native’s original catalog; whereas, covers of John Cougar Mellencamp’s "Hurts So Good" and the Georgia Satellites’ "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" got the crowd singing along word-for-word. Stone closed Thursday night’s set with his ode to the steel mill rocker, "Down River."
Fans can expect his Top Dog/Atlantic debut LP to hit stores by the end of the Summer of 2011. "American Style" will start impacting radio in May.
Set list:
1. "Long Time Comin'"
2. "Real Thang"
3. "Hurts So Good"
Anywhere's Better"
5. "Easy Come, Easy Go"
6. "Love and Hate"
7. "Hands To Yourself"
8. "Bob Seger"
9. "American Style"
10. "Down River"
Michael Cloninger
Trussville, Alabama
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