Blackberry Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

By Debbie Brautman  |  Photos: Chris Schmitt

After a few moments of The Sex Pistols’ “Holidays In The Sun,” The Retrograde, a Tallahassee band, opened the Blackberry Smoke show sharply at 7:30 pm with their tight and explosive set. They quite frankly surprised the crowd with how good they were. This four piece, high energy, young band was hard rockin’ and bluesy. The exuberance of youth evident. Their lead singer Joe Fox plays a mean guitar, and his energy was off the chart. Their other guitarist, the tall Cade Pickering, struck a Charlie Sexton pose with his cool hair and look. He did a nice slide guitar solo. They have a kickin’ drummer, Carson Degner, and bass player Josiah Pye blends right in. “Dirty Daisy,” was catchy and the bouncy “I Need a Little,” could easily be a song by The Struts. “If 6 was 4” has the soul of The Black Crowes and went over very well. Then they turned it up another level with a high intensity instrumental jam. “Olivia” is a song off their new record and is both retro and modern at the same time. Nice to see some original Florida bands, as there are not enough of them. Even the impressive Orlando band Cinema Stereo has moved to Nashville.

Exactly at 8:45 pm, the lights went down. Blackberry Smoke casually came out for their Rattle, Ramble and Roll tour stop in Ft Lauderdale at the glorious venue, The Parker. It was the perfect venue for them, with fabulous sound and lighting. There was this wall of sound that was rich, vibrant and clear, from start to finish. The entire audience was excited and on their feet for almost the entire performance. They have been together for almost 25 years and have been collecting dedicated fans, in addition to collecting multiple hit songs and albums. There were loads of loving fans at the concert from their many rock and roll cruises. This tour is celebrating their Nov 14^th compilation album release, Rattle, Ramble and Roll: The Best Of Blackberry  Smoke, Volume One. It is their first greatest hits album. They are a super live band, confident and comfortable in their skins. This is a band that is down to earth and very close with their audience. Their fans’ adoration is clearly evident. As one fan put it, “I’m spreading the smoke, everywhere I go.” Their fan club is called The Smokers Lounge. They are Southern Rock at its finest. Originating from Atlanta, they consider themselves a rock n’ roll band, even though they love country music. They are true music lovers and not confined to one genre. The band consists of Charlie Starr (Charles Webb Gray) on vocals and lead guitar, Paul Jackson on lead/rhythm guitar, Benji Shanks on guitar, Brandon Still on keyboards, Richard Turner on bass, and drums by Kent Aberle. Sadly, Richard’s brother and original founding drummer, Charles Brit Turner, who went by Brit, passed away from brain cancer in 2024. They have a memorial onstage for him with three giant letters CBT on a stained glass looking backdrop, as he was such a major part of the band. Charlie said during the concert, “Let’s do one for Brit.” The song they did in his memory was “Always Be Right Here,” which is a lovely song with a great melody. On another song, Charlie said, “You all look beautiful tonight” before he broke into “Pretty Little Lie” from 2012. This leads one to wonder if maybe he was lying about everyone looking beautiful…. a pretty little lie, perhaps?

The band was very 70’s, in appearance with long hair and plenty of facial hair. Charlie was decked out in outlaw cool, with dark sunglasses, jeans, scarf and jewelry. His hair is way shorter than it was years ago, but not too short. His former long bushy sideburns are slightly more trimmed up, but still long and thick, reminiscent of Neil Young’s trademark sideburns. Charlie looked great and was a superb frontman in every way. When he took off his jean jacket, he had a vest and a slinky sheer patterned long- sleeved shirt that almost looked like he was tattooed. His voice was crystal clear and sheer perfection. To boot, he is also a great guitarist. “Good One Comin’ on,” was a crowd pleaser, as was “Til the Wheels fall off,” and definitely “Hey Delilah.” “Waiting for the Thunder” has a fantastic chorus and great guitar riffs. On “Bottom of This,” he pleads, “Can’t a fellow have just one beer?” It’s all so relatable, like their song, “Hammer and the Nail,” with the lyrics, “The whole world swings the hammer, and I’m the nail.” “Sleeping Dogs” was another winner, (with Arthur Alexander’s “Burning Love” and Midnight Special interlude) and taken from their superb 2012 album The Whippoorwill.

They were asked by Bad Company to do a Bad Company song for a tribute album. They chose, “Run with the Pack” and their live version showed off Charlie’s beautiful vocals, that would make Paul Rodgers proud. They more than nailed it.  He thanked the audience for coming and said, “I can’t think of a better place to be than Ft. Lauderdale on a Friday night. “Ain’t Got The Blues” included an audience sing along and sounded like they sure had the Blues down. On “Runaway from it All,” Charlie was spinning around, like a true rock star, while playing his guitar and genuinely having a good time. They are a fun live band, and they look like they are enjoying every song. They even change their set lists all the time and play different covers to make it interesting.  They love music. They went back in time to an early Anthony Smith cover song, “Who Invented the Wheel,” from their 2009 album, Little Piece of Dixie, and they certainly did it justice. They have the talent to cover the best of the best. “One Horse Town” is one of their own well-known hits from their Whippoorwill album, and it’s another beauty.

At 10:15, they exited the stage for only two minutes and came back to perform their encore of the Isaac Hayes/David Porter song, “I Thank You,” originally recorded by Sam & Dave and later a big hit for ZZ Top. South Florida bred Roosevelt Collier came out as a guest guitarist, and an excerpt of Little Feat’s song, “Willin’” was in the middle. Finally, they finished with “Ain’t Much Left of Me,” (with Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McKoy’s “When the Levee Breaks” interlude, well known since Led Zeppelin covered it so well.) At 10.34 pm they took their bows and left the stage, and a great time was had by all!  Blackberry Smoke got in our eyes and our hearts.