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2023 continues to be a year of momentous firsts for country-folk prodigy, Oliver Anthony. This past weekend the Virginia native made his Nashville debut with a performance at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge.
Anthony serenaded the packed-out block party, which had gathered to celebrate Tootsie's 63rd anniversary, with his 2022 single, ‘Cobwebs and Cocaine’.
Prior to his solo performance, Oliver Anthony took the stage with Jamey Johnson and Randy Houser for a special rendition of Johnson's celebrated 2008 track, ‘In Color’.
Of course, the moment attendees were waiting for was a live performance of the budding singer-songwriter's break-out hit, ‘Rich Men North Of Richmond’, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 last month. It marked the first time an artist has reached the No. 1 spot on the prestigious all-genre ranking without any prior chart history.
Despite usually performing with nothing more than his trusty guitar, Anthony treated the Tootsie's audience to a full-band version of ‘Rich Men North Of Richmond alongside Jamey Johnson's instrumentalists, who had learned the track shortly before the set.
Nothing about Oliver Anthony's rise to prominence has been conventional, and unsurprisingly, his Tootsie's Orchid Lounge set maintained his burgeoning reputation for doing things his own way.
For instance, Oliver Anthony kicked off his performance by reading a passage from his Bible, Matthew 10:26-33, which references - among other topics - the importance of professing one's faith in public, something Anthony did in his introductory Facebook post in August.
Earlier in September, Oliver Anthony cancelled a show at Knoxville's Cotton Eyed Joe venue due to what he deemed to be exorbitant ticket prices. The artist promptly recorded a video and underlined, “My shows should never cost more than $40, ideally no more than $25”.
