Joy filled the room in Vienna, Virginia, at The Barns at Wolf Trap concert performance of “Black Opry Revue” on Friday, as five talented artists performed their compositions in front of an enthusiastic sold-out audience.
Country music artists Sug Daniels, Roberta Lea, Tylar Bryant, Rachel Maxann and Grace Givertz took the stage and sat on stools with their instruments, allowing the audience to get to know them.
The evening began with acknowledging the “elephant in the room” when the performers shouted a hearty “welcome to the party” to Beyoncé on releasing her country-tinged album earlier that day. The audience responded with thunderous applause.
We heard from each artist individually through three rounds of songs.
The first round allowed the artists to introduce themselves and then sing one of their compositions.
Givertz started on banjo, but we experienced her guitar and harmonica playing by the concert’s end.
Lea, Maxann, and Bryant also accompanied themselves on guitar.
Daniels, who recently did an interview on the Informer’s WIN-TV, played the ukulele, an instrument she picked up during the height of the pandemic.
Original Songs We Can All Feel
Good storytelling is at the heart of how a song reaches an audience.
These five artists had a lot of stories to tell, primarily based on relationships. Audiences heard about finding true love, breakups, and relationship payback. Those themes were mixed in with songs about support with self-awareness, and staying true to the country genre, a few about drinking.
But the most beautiful aspect of being in The Barn with Givertz, Lea, Maxann, Bryant, and Daniels was seeing how they interacted with each other. They like each other and freely joke about themselves in between the songs.
Bryant was the only male on this leg of the Revue, and he was happy to be on the tour.
“Fortunately, I’ve played with each before, but not all together like this,” said Bryant in a conversation after the show. “It’s all like family. We’ll return to where we are staying, be up late talking, sharing stories, and singing songs.”
Before leaving the stage, the singers declared it was “Beyoncé Day,” and closed with their rendition of the barrier-breaking Grammy-winner’s song “Texas Hold ‘Em,” from her new album.
After the show, a considerable chattering crowd rushed to the lobby merchandise table, eager to meet the five artists. It was the ultimate sign of the audience’s appreciation.
Love for Black Opry
Tria Coleman and her friend Jada Henderson drove three hours from Smithfield, Virginia, for the show.
“This my second Black Opry show,” said Coleman. “I told Jada, ‘You gotta do this!’”
Henderson continued by saying, “It was beautiful. It’s so nice to see Black talent in an atmosphere where you don’t usually see them.”
A production of Black Opry, the revue features Black country music artists performing in different locations around the country.
Corey Petree has followed Daniels and Black Opry for a few years, but this was his first time seeing the artist or show in person.
“I learned about this when it started during the pandemic,” said Petree about “Black Opry Revue.” “I never thought it would come around here for me to be able to see it.”
For more information, go to blackopry.com.