Brantley Gilbert leads country triple bill at Show Me Center

Kick it at the Show Me Center with Brantley Gilbert's Let It Ride tour on Oct. 24.

"He puts on a really good show," said Show Me Center director Wil Gorman. "He's not just someone who sits on a stool and plays; he's one to interact with fans."

Gilbert's rough-edged, muscular take on popular country has been climbing the charts with singles such as "Bottoms Up," "Kick It in the Sticks" and "You Don't Know Her Like I Do." Earlier this year, he released his third album, "Just As I Am," which since has been certified gold.

Touring with Gilbert is Chase Bryant, the 21-year-old Texan whose hit single, "Take It On Back" has been enjoying airplay on country radio as well. He said the tour so far has been a string of high-energy shows.

"It's been great," he said. "[Gilbert[']s] treated us really well, and we've been having a blast so far."

Submitted (Chase Bryant, 21, already is enjoying country airplay with the single "Take It On Back.")

He said his objective when performing is to deliver what the fans came to see.

"I like to keep everything as close to sounding like what I've recorded," he said. "Things like 'Take It On Back'; if you've heard it, that's what you can expect. I want to give fans a chance to live inside the record, as I always like to say."

Part of keeping that consistent sound he attributes to his instruments. That includes one of his guitars, a pink Telecaster he played on most of his first release, "The Debut EP." He plays it left-handed to produce a characteristic style.

"Especially playing with another guitarist, it sounds different coming at it," he said. "If you hear Chase Bryant, that's the guitar on the record. That's the record."

The opening act will be Aaron Lewis, former lead singer of the alt-metal group Staind. He's been performing country music since 2010 and has recorded a hit single "Country Boy" with George Jones, Chris Young and Charlie Daniels.

Aaron Lewis fronted the alternative-metal band Staind before going country a few years ago. (Submitted)

"It's got to be difficult for someone with a hard rock background to cross over into country but he's been very successful," Show Me Center marketing director Josh Hanlon said. "To record with [iconic country singers] is a really quite a start to the career."

Lewis has played at the Show Me Center before, opening for Eric Church in 2012. Hanlon said fans can expect a similar performance.

"It's a really high-energy show," he said.

He said tickets are going fast, but there are plenty of good seats left. Tickets are available at the Show Me Center box office and online at showmecenter.biz.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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