Friday night, Chris Stapleton, Little Big Town and blues guitarist Taj Mahal gathered in Nashville for a tribute to Allman Brothers Band singer Gregg Allman for the third installment of the Skyville Live online concert series.
While all of the artists taking the stage that night were certainly influenced by the country rocker, it's Stapleton's performance of the The Allman Brothers' tune, "Whipping Post," that stood out for his exceptional vocal performance that had Allman giving a standing ovation by the end.
There aren't too many lyrics to the song, but Stapleton's bluesy, soulful voice simply rocked the main refrain of the song before the band broke out into some killer solos. Allman said he never thought other artists would look up to him the way he looked up to the artists of his day, and expressed his gratitude on the night to Rolling Stone Country.
"When you're in the process of learning, you don't even think about somebody else picking up on you, Because you're more focused on picking up from somebody else," Allman said.
Little Big Town performed a number of the band's own hits from "Boondocks" to "Girl Crush," while joining Allman for a slow rendition of "Midnight Rider," according to Rolling Stone Country. Taj Mahal was coming up as a recording artist the same time as the Allman's and even recorded the classic blues song, "Statesboro Blues," together, which the two performed again last night alongside Stapleton.
Taj Mahal also played another blues classic, "Walkin' Blues," and his own "Catwalk," with some help from a tuba player. When asked about the legacy of the Allmans, he simply said, "What I always liked about them was they had their way to play and that's how they played it."
Head over to The Tennessean for a photo gallery from the event and check back in for more video footage.
