First look at Sunday: a review from Country Thunder

Bucky Covington at the Glass Cactus in Grapevine, Texas, 1/19; photo by the very generous AmaTexMom. Thanks so much! You can see more of her beautiful photos at her site, BuckyFanPics.

If you were with us early Saturday evening for that very pleasant surprise of an audio stream from Bucky Covington's Country Thunder set, you know how great the show was--and it sounds like Cathalena E. Burch of the Arizona Daily Star (annoying registration required to access site, but worth it) agrees. She singled Bucky out for some high praise in the wee hours of Sunday morning:

"It ain't me /It ain't me /I ain't no fortunate one, no," he wailed in a Southern-fried, rough-hewn baritone that has served him well since his Season 5 early exit from "American Idol."

The crowd loosely filling the reserved seating area and packing the lawn needed little coaxing to sing along, especially after having heard John Fogerty sing it the night before.

Fogerty, the pen and voice behind that song and most of Credence Clearwater Revival's hits, would have been pleased with Covington's take.

Pink Floyd also would have loved how Covington's voice cranked up an octave on "Another Brick in the Wall."

It was certainly an odd choice of a cover for a country concert, but don't tell those thousands of folks singing along.

Covington was at his best, though, when he played his own songs, steeped in Southern rock while wading thigh-high in country twang.

In one breath he sang with passion about hoping heaven is a lot like his hometown, then he turned misty on the painful "I'll Walk," about a girl who loses the use of her legs.

You don't settle on a mood with Covington; you go with the flow. The tender ballad was the launching pad for crunchy guitar riffs and a sonic assault on the honky-tonk ode of finding religion between "The Bible and the Belt."

Covington ended his show with his breakthrough single "It's Good to Be Us," which is surprisingly contemporary for a guy who comes off as walking outside Nashville's margins.

Covington boasted the biggest afternoon crowd of the four-day event.

Congratulations to all who were able to enjoy this amazing show, live and via the magic of technology! Radio stations KIIM, KMLE and KNIX were all on hand for the festival, and photos and other goodies should be popping up on their websites very soon.

(Edited to add a link to a few great photos from Bucky's performance, via the East Valley Tribune. We'll keep an eye out for more...)

Back with more news later this morning--see you then!--Winnie