Blackberry Smoke continue busy schedule with two live streams

Southern Rock's very own Blackberry Smoke will stream two upcoming shows as part of a schedule that is, by 2020 standards, surprisingly busy.

The band's shows on October 30 (with the Black Betty’s, at West End Sound Studio in Atlanta) and on November 28 (the band's traditional homecoming show at the Tabernacle Theater) will both be streamed live. Tickets are available now, with access to individual shows costing $25 and a pass for both shows $40.

Bundles are also available, with options including stickers, t-shirts, and virtual meet-and-greets.

The band have played several socially distanced shows over the last couple of months, including a show at the CornBelters Stadium in Normal, Illinois, and a Drive-In show in the parking lot of the Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, Georgia.

“At this point, I don't have much of a choice,” band leader Charlie Starr tells WLGT. “So, I was really experiencing so much joy and just a release. Just being on stage with my buddies playing… just a fantastic feeling. It was immediate.”

“Basically, we were on top of a mountain on a stage and everybody was down at the bottom of the mountain. So, it was like this huge expanse between the stage and the audience. There were big screens, you know, drive-in screens with video playing, but it was great. It was great to play music for people."

The band have also released a live album recorded at another socially distanced show, at the Blu Grotto in New Jersey last month. It's available from the band's Bandcamp page.

They've also released a video for Run Away From It All from 2018's Find A Light album. The video was directed by Andy Sapp, who's previously worked on videos for the Zac Brown Band and psychedelic southern rockers The Law Band. Sapp captured the footage used in the video while on a motorcycle trip across the US.

In June Blackberry Smoke released Live From Capricorn Sound Studios, an EP of cover versions of tracks by The Allman Brothers Band, Little Richard, The Marshall Tucker Band and Wet Willie. Proceeds from sales of the record will benefit the Recording Academy’s MusiCares COVID-19 fund.

The band have some more socially distanced shows lined up, and have been working on a new studio album with producer Dave Cobb. The album will feature a collaboration with country singer Jamey Johnson, who previously performed with the band on Yesterday's Wine, a track that originally appeared the 2010 reissue of the band's second album, A Little Piece Of Dixie.

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.