TURNPIKE TROUBADOURS
SATURDAY 8/17. First Security Amphitheater. 6:30 p.m. $54-$241.50.
When Oklahoma country rock outfit Turnpike Troubadours take the stage at First Security Amphitheater on Aug. 17, it will be two weeks short of six years since they were last scheduled to play in Little Rock. That was when, while touring in support of their terrific 2017 album “A Long Way From Your Heart,” erratic performances from frontman Evan Felker forced the band to cancel multiple shows, including a September 2018 concert at Robinson Center. An indefinite hiatus for the band followed shortly after, and many fans feared the worst. With the release last August of their sixth studio album, “A Cat in the Rain,” it’s safe to say those fears were unfounded.
Felker’s songwriting has always been at its best when he blurs the line between poetry and narrative, like a sort of red dirt Rudyard Kipling, and the new album is no different. Whether he’s singing about longtime love in “Brought Me,” lamenting a breakup in “Lucille,” using deer hunting as a metaphor for life in “The Rut,” or talking about an old Gulf Coast relationship in the title track, “A Cat in the Rain” shows Felker can still write with the best of them. Charles Wesley Godwin and Tyler Halverson are set to open. Get tickets here.