When Kevn Kinney takes the stage and sings, it comes from the heart, and it all comes down to the fact that he enjoys the songs he performs.
“When I come to a concert, I’m going to sing the songs I want. If they want to listen to it, they can,” said Kinney, the lead singer of Drivin N Cryin, who also performs solo gigs and has written a solo song to that effect.
Formed in 1985, the Southern Rock band will be in concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Columbia County Performing Arts Center.
The band has a gold record, nine full-length albums and several EPs. In 2012, “Scarred but Smarter: Life n Times of Drivin’ N’ Cryin’” a documentary of the band, was produced.
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Kinney said fans shouldn’t let the fact that he sings what he likes to hear bother them because the band will play all their favorites with no surprises. The set list may change some from night to night, but “Straight to Hell” and “Fly Me Courageous” are the two required songs every time.
“We will give you all the hits,” he said. “We won’t experiment on you, and it will be fun.”
After three decades, the band has a unique fan base.
“A lot of our fan base are the children and grandchildren who grew up listening to us because their dads listened to us in the car,” he said.
Drivin N Cryin
Augusta is one of Kinney’s favorite places to play.
“We’ve played there once a year for at least 30 years,” he said.
He’s been so often he knows the geography, and he’s grateful to have Coco Rubio bringing the band to Augusta again. Rubio, who operates ALMA Presents, is a friend of Kinney’s and a fixture in Augusta’s music scene.
Kinney’s looking forward to the Augusta gig and playing in a venue he’s never seen.
Tickets to the Drivin N Cryin concert start at $16. For tickets, visit thecenterofcc.com.
(Editor’s note: if you’ve read this far and are interested in attending, managing editor Charmain Z. Brackett has one pair of free tickets to the show for a lucky reader. First come, first served. *congrats to Debra Shockley!)
Charmain Z. Brackett is the managing editor of The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
