On Thursday, April 20, the Dusty Armadillo opened its doors for a very special acoustic show featuring Jordan Davis and headliners LOCASH. This show was very special because it was hosted by the staff of 94.9 WQMX and it raised a lot of money for two local charities that are close to their hearts, Northeast Ohio Foundation for Patriotism (NEOPAT) and Pay It Forward For Pets.
The show kicked off with newcomer Jordan Davis; just him, his guitar, and his beard on stage. (Cue the beard jokes, which LOCASH would continue later.) He has a cool, laid-back style. His songs, while unknown to the audience, were catchy, and easy to sing along to by the end. His five-song set included “Goin’ Round,” “Singles You Up,” and “Detours,” which is special to Davis, because he wrote these lyrics about the man he used to be before his met his wife, whom he announced he married just three weeks ago. He is currently working on his first studio record, so it will be exciting to hear what is in store for Jordan Davis later this year.
Dusty Armadillo veterans LOCASH took the stage next. Consisting of Chris Lucas and Preston Brust, this ACM-nominated Duo of the Year, obviously felt right at home on the Dusty stage, where they have performed many times before. They started out with an upbeat track from their current album “The Fighters,” released in 2016, “Ain’t Startin’ Tonight.” They then got the audience pumped with their first number one hit that they wrote for Keith Urban, “You Gonna Fly.”
Next came the story of how their single “I Know Somebody” rose up the charts. It seemed to stall at number four, until they got the help of WQMX to spin it all the way to number one. Their second top ten hit was “Truck Yeah,” which they co-wrote with Chris Janson and was recorded by superstar Tim McGraw.
Although we are just now hearing LOCASH on the radio waves over the last couple years, they have been around for much longer than that, having written so many songs for other artists. It is exciting to see them finally having the success they deserve with songs they have recorded themselves. They finished out their acoustic show with four more stand-out tracks from their record: the current chart-climbing single “Ring on Every Finger,” fun party song “Drunk Drunk,” title-track “The Fighters,” which they dedicated to all veterans, police officers, firefighters, teachers and many more in public service.
LOCASH finished the night with the song that finally got everyone to take notice, “I Love This Life.” Before performing this last number, they asked WQMX, Jordan Davis (and his beard) and others to join them on stage. It was a big party and everyone in the audience felt like they were right on the stage with them.
LOCASH really knows how to entertain the audience and made the most of a shortened, acoustic show. Although it was acoustic, it had a full band sound, and some audience members who have seen them perform here many times before thought they sounded better than ever. The band loves this area and the Dusty Armadillo, so if you missed this special charity show, they will no doubt be on the roster again in the future. It was great to see LOCASH give back to the radio station that helped them get their start, by donating their time and money to the charities Pay It Forward For Pets and NEOPAT.
