By: David Schultz

Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane crash, the slow disintegration of the original Allman Brothers Band and the slow slide into obscurity of bands like .38 Special, Molly Hatchet and the Marshall Tucker Band contributed to the end of southern rock's seventies heyday. Though not a dying genre, southern rock has seemed to fade from the forefront of popular rock and roll. Kid Rock and even more so Drive-By Truckers have admirably kept the genre vital and Shooter Jennings seems ready to join the cause.

Jennings, the son of country icon Waylon Jennings and singer Jessi Coster, has just released his second album Electric Radio and came to New York City's Irving Plaza to introduce his music to a metropolis outside of country's usual target audience. However, Shooter Jennings isn't your typical country singer. In fact, Jennings' hybrid of country and southern rock probably falls under the forced heading of alt-country, which seems to be another term for modern day southern rock. Scruffy enough to embody a rugged country outlaw, Jennings doesn't look like a country star. With his bookish glasses, long, straight hair and white George Jones T-shirt, Jennings looks like he'd more at home on the lower east side then at the Grand Ole Opry.

Southern rock, country music and rebellion all seem to go hand in hand and Jennings comfortably embodies all three. Converting any skeptics in the New York audience early, Jennings quickly dispelled the idea that his visit to Irving Plaza would be a jangly little country show, launching right into his guitar-heavy rock. In fact, during songs like "Manifesto 2," "Little White Lines" and "Southern Comfort," it's hard to believe that you're watching Waylon Jennings' offspring. Well, OK, maybe not that hard to imagine while he's singing a song called "Southern Comfort." Unavoidably, Shooter will always play in the shadow of his famous father's reputation, which in some circles has grown to mythic proportion. After all, Jennings Sr. did give up his seat to The Big Bopper on the plane that also carried Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens into immortality, joking that he hoped it would crash as he exited the ill-fated aircraft. Ironically, any rebellion Shooter may feel towards his upbringing just makes him sound more like his father, one of the original outlaws of country music.

Already possessing the country pedigree, Jennings has incorporated southern rock in a way that echoes the best of the guitar based southern bands cut from the Lynyrd Skynyrd mold. On Electric Radio as well as his debut album Put The "O" Back In Country, Jennings puts forth a neo-country, hard-charging mix of rebellious foot-stomping songs and reflective, introspective, not quite power ballads. In some respects, Jennings's approach to country and rock comes from the same love of both that often inspires Kid Rock. However, they each approach the task from different perspectives. Playing with a simple band, Jennings' songs translate well live and he infuses them with an infectious energy. With Irving Plaza chanting his name, Shooter returned for his encore and sat at the keyboards for a trio of tunes, including Electric Rodeo's "Aviators." Nowhere near as exciting as when he's playing guitar, Jennings' keyboard based tunes sound more akin to more traditional wave-the-flag country, except for when he drifts into a full on Led Zeppelin Houses Of The Holy mode.

The opening band Diamond Nights provided an interesting contrast to Jennings' southern rock. With a drummer that seemed to have stepped out of a Loverboy video, Diamond Nights offered an intriguing blend of hippie idealism, seventies metal and pure spectacle. Channeling the same charming and goofy charisma of Chris Robinson, lead singer Morgan Phalen possesses many of the same strengths as the Crowes mercurial singer. He also has an extraordinary power of persuasion. After leaping down in to the audience during their closing cover of Joan Jett's "New Orleans," Phalen got a New York audience to join him on his knees in a secular prayer, even lying on the ground amongst the kneeling crowd. Phalen's peace and love persona may not have been an act as he mingled with the fans in between sets hugging anyone he could.

The Sopranos star, radio DJ and one-time guitar hero "Little" Steven Van Zandt made an unexpected appearance, introducing Shooter to the curious New York crowd and Sirius Satellite Radio's audience. Expertly warming up the crowd for the young singer, Van Zandt placed Jennings into the category of outlaw country, which "coincidentally" happens to be the name of one of Sirius' radio channels. Van Zandt correctly pointed out that a whole group of young musicians are getting frozen out of any mainstream airplay because they are too heavy for traditional country radio or too country for traditional classic rock. An alt-country outlaw? Well, what else should be expected from the son of Waylon Jennings?

Labels: Shooter Jennings