Texas born country music revivalist Charley Crockett and his tight as a drum 5 piece backing band did their best to transform Seattle’s typically genteel and refined (and absolutely gorgeous) 5th Avenue Theatre into a lively honky tonk last night. The Grammy winning Crockett is touring in advance of his next release, ‘Age of the Ram’, slated to drop in April. A second sold out show goes off this evening at 8pm.

Crockett’s demeaner and stage show is a pleasing combination of glitzy production and stagecraft mixed with straight down the middle of the highway, old school C&W (looks like Vegas, sounds like Merle!). He spends precious little time gabbing with the audience, instead preferring to knock out a crowd and ear pleasing blend of traditional country sounds mixed with traces of blues and soul. As lovely as the 5th Avenue is, this show was positively crying out for a Texas sized dance floor. There were plenty of brand new hat & boot bedecked urban cowboys and cowgirls two stepping in their seats and a few intrepid souls dancing in the aisles and alcoves of the theater. I find it heartening that an artist so true to the origins of Nashville style C&W circa the heyday of George & Tammy can command two well attended shows at a Seattle theater the size of the 5th.

Thursday’s show opened with a well-received set by Seattle’s Brudi Brothers. The three-piece sibling act plays a winning brand of what I think of as ‘cowboy movie C&W’. Their performance brought to mind the comforting and intentionally corny music of performers such as Gene Autry and Tex Ritter. The Brudi’s singing, whistling, and yodeling met with much approval from the audience, who rewarded the brothers with a standing ovation at the conclusion of their short but satisfying set.