SALEM – When “American Idol” Season 10 winner Scotty McCreery came onstage at the Salem Civic Center, the crowd went wild.
McCreery was in Salem Oct. 4 as a part of his headlining Weekend Roadtrip Tour 2013. October is a big month for the whole McCreery family, and his parents, Mike and Judy McCreery, were helping out at the merchandise and World Vision setups in the civic center’s front room. Scotty McCreery’s 20th birthday is Oct. 9 and his second album, “See You Tonight,” will be released on Oct. 15.
Nicole Brown poses for a picture with Scotty McCreery at a VIP reception after his performance at the Salem Civic Center Oct. 4. He is holding the birthday book of letters from fans. Photo by Mary Booth, intern
Angie Johnson opened the show for him. She served one active duty term in the U.S. Air Force as an intelligence analyst and Air Force Band vocalist when a video of her singing Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” was uploaded to Youtube.
She has been seen on “The Ellen Show” and season two of “The Voice” and now has a record deal with Sony Nashville Records in Tennessee. She performed original songs like “Outlaw Spirit”, which she had written for her parents. At the end of the set she took a selfie with the crowd and uploaded it to her official twitter@angiejohnson.
When McCreery came on stage the crowd went wild. He performed songs from his record-breaking debut album. Clear As Day. and performed covers of more traditional country songs from Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley. In a phone interview prior to his Salem concert, he explained he grew up listening to the traditional country songs and his favorite song to perform on stage right now is “Papa Loved Mama” by Garth Brooks.
He took a moment to tell the crowd of the first time he met Garth and he had everyone laughing by the end of it. “I was trying to pay attention to the man but Garth was eating pineapple and the only thing I could think of was ‘That’s pretty dagum cool; Garth eats pineapple, I eat pineapple. We’re practically the same.”
There are unwritten traditions during a Scotty McCreery concert that many of the girls look forward to. When he started singing “Write My Number On Your Hand,” girls rushed to the front of the stage so he could do just that. He takes a minute during this song to grab a couple of lucky hands and write a number on them.
He gave the crowd a sneak peek at his new album with the song “Suntan” and his newest single on the radio now “See You Tonight.” He finished the concert out with “Gone” by Montgomery Gentry.
A few lucky fans who ordered VIP passes got to meet McCreery after the concert, which is exactly what Nicole Brown, 17, of Richmond got to do. This was the third time she has met the country singer and had decided that since the concert was so close to his birthday, she wanted to make something for him to help fans that haven’t had the chance to meet him before let him know what he means to them.
“I came up with the idea because I wanted to give everyone who hadn’t met him a chance to directly reach him because I know how happy I was when I got to talk to him for the first time,” she said. Posting on Twitter and Instagram, she spread the word that she was making a birthday book for McCreery and for everyone to send her letters to add. She hadn’t expected many letters but by the day of the concert she had 63 different letters included, coming from as far as England. When she handed the book to him and explained who it was from, he smiled and said “Thank y’all.”
McCreery is doing much more than just touring right now. During the phone interview with him, he spoke about working with World Vision. “It’s a great cause; I’m proud to have my name associated with it.” He said after explaining what it was like sponsoring a child himself. He is also in his second year at North Carolina State University, going to classes Monday through Wednesday and studying media communications.
“People don’t understand that there is a lot more than just the singing that goes on in the music business. Media is a big part of it,” he added.
This has been a big year for McCreery and it’s continuing into next year. He is a part of the “Duck Dynasty” cruise to set off in summer of 2014. “It’s always fun when you’re around the Duck Dynasty crew, but having the fans there will definitely make it special.” Although he has a full schedule between college and everything that he is a part of, McCreery said he wouldn’t be here without the fans. He gave all his fans a big thanks for sticking by him these last couple years and he hopes that they enjoy the new record coming out.
– Review written by Mary Booth, intern