A Year of Music ~ 2015 in Review

When asked about my favorite memories of 2015 its nearly impossible to decide. From playing ping pong with my favorite band to my first concert road trip to starting this blog and setting up a fan account for an incredible up and coming country singer, 2015 will go in the books as one of the best of my life. Here's a monthly recap of a musical year for the books including every artist I got to mark off my See Live Before I Can't See list.

In January the year kicked off to a great start when the band that started it all came back to Oklahoma. Parmalee played at Cain's Ballroom with six man band, Backroad Anthem as the opening act. I had started my See Live Before I Can't See list with Parmalee after seeing them acoustically a few months before. I actually won invites to hang out backstage before the show with Parmalee. After the show I added Backroad Anthem to my list as well. Because I want to see them as a headliner. I didn't have a show in February and in March I saw the incredibly talented and hilarious Brett Eldredge. I had added Eldredge to my list after seeing him a few months prior in a radio acoustic show with other artists that included Dustin Lynch whom I added as well.

Backroad Anthem & Parmalee

In April I won invites to a ladies only acoustic show to see singer/songwriter Eric Paslay. Despite being outnumbered by ladies (some who might have taken full advantage of the bar) he put on a great show! He was so sweet afterwards too! May brought two concerts. First I saw Chase Bryant with opener Justin Adams at Cain's Ballroom. Adams put on such an incredible show I added him to my list that night in hopes of seeing him as a headliner. The other was a ladies only acoustic show with Canaan Smith I won invites too. Smith was another artist from my list and he is one of my favorite solo artists. In June I attended my first show at the BOK Center because two of the artist from my list were on the bill, Luke Bryan and Dustin Lynch. Randy Houser also performed that night. 

Artist meet & greets from April-June

July I was checking out a new concert venue The Hard Rock. Because someone from my list was having a coming home concert. I got to mark off The Swon Brothers that night. The bonus was fellow Okie and Voice contestant Corey Kent White was the opening artist. He was incredible!  In August I was back at the The Hard Rock to see Gary Allen. He sings one of my favorite songs "Every Storm Runs Outta Rain" and it was unbelievable live. September actually brought me back to the BOK Center to mark off two more artists, Florida Georgia Line and Frankie Ballard. Thomas Rhett performed that night too.

FGL/Frankie Ballard/Thomas Rhett

October brought many musical moments including my first outdoor concert when Parmalee came back for the Tulsa State Fair. Since my concert adventures began with Parmalee, I made that show my first concert review and An E.A.R. For Music was born. A few days later I was blown away by Dustin Lynch at the fair. I had already seen Lynch acoustically and as opener for Luke Bryan. A full show with Dustin Lynch as the headliner was definitely bucket list worthy (Review Here). After the fair shows, I won invites to a ladies lock in acoustic show to see Canaan Smith again (Review Here). I actually got remembered by both Smith and his guitarist Stephen Whitfield that night. Then I saw Maddie and Tae with opener Tucker Beathead at Cain's Ballroom (Review Here). My first road trip for a concert happened in November. I saw The Swon Brothers put on a benefit show at the Muskogee Civic Center for the Salvation Army (Review Here) and Canaan Smith (again) in Lawton. That was my first full band show with Smith and it was incredible (Review Here). His guitarist Stephen Whitfield is definitely my favorite guitarist!

Meet and Greet's from Oct - Nov 

The first time I heard Michael Ray's "Kiss You in the Morning" I added him to my list. When he came to Tulsa on a radio tour there was acoustic events with all three country stations. I attended two of them (Review Here) and it was right up there with hanging out backstage with my favorite band Parmalee. In December I had four concerts. The first two were radio station shows. The first being 106.1 The Twister's Bands Against Hunger event with Dylan Scott, Love and Theft, Cam, and Scotty McCreery (Review Here). The second 98.5 KVOO's Jingle Jam with James Otto, Waterloo Revival, Craig Campbell, Jana Kramer, Canaan Smith, and Jerrod Neimann (Review Here). My next show I was extremely excited about. Justin Adams was back in Tulsa and he was headlining the show with Lower 40 as the opening act. It was another list moment (Review Here) and it was the perfect show to be my last of the year. Then a week later a friend surprised me with tickets to Tyler Farr and Tennessee Jet, the one man band. It was a such a great show with tons of great people (Review Here).

Meet and greets from Nov & Dec

Concerts have been amazing this year and I've learned so much. Besides the billed artist there are plenty of other things to watch in live shows. Opening acts can pleasantly surprise you. I now run social media fan accounts for one such artist. Besides opening acts, there was one other thing I learned deserves attention and that's the band. From Canaan Smith's guitarist Stephen Whitfield to Justin Adams' drummer Clark James, I've witnessed some great musical talent this year. 2015 brought 21 concerts, 34 different artists, Fan clubs,  and the birth of An E.A.R. For Music. As 2016 kicks off with Corey Kent White's Folds of Honor tour, I'm very excited to see where it goes!