It was the perfect band to close out a great festival!  Lynyrd Skynyrd cranked out the hits and blew the crowd away Sunday night at the Born & Raised Festival in Pryor, Oklahoma. It was amazing to look around and see the reaction of the crowds faces and listen to them sing along to all the Skynyrd hits.

Yes, it’s true. The band currently touring no longer contains any of the original members.  Guitarist Gary Rossington was the last of the original touring band but he too is sitting out the last of this years’ scheduled shows.  2022’s “Big Wheels Keep Turnin’ Tour” started out as the make up dates of pandemic postponed “The Last Of The Street Survivors Farewell Tour” that began back in May of 2018. All the tour dates from June through October of 2020 were pushed back to 2021.

So, was the band on stage a type of “tribute” band? In a sense perhaps, but that didn’t matter to those in attendance. They relished the opportunity to experience the next best thing and with the continuous pictures and videos on the giant screen behind the band, it felt like you were experiencing what it might have been like to see the band back in the mid-70’s. When “Free Bird” began with a video of Ronnie singing the vocals flashed on the screen, goosebumps popped up on the arms of nearly everyone in the crowd. It was truly a “spiritual experience.”

Over the next week or so I’ll be sharing artist interviews, pictures, and the sights and sounds of the Born & Raised Festival. If you missed it this year, don’t miss the next one. It’s three days of some of the best country music you’ll ever hear.