MACON TELEGRAPH
MACON TELEGRAPH
Randy Kohrs Concert Review
Maggie Large on 6.25.05
Before I get to the meat of this review, I wanted to talk a little bit about the venue, the Douglass Theatre. How awesome is it that we have this well-preserved piece of local history here in Macon? It doesn’t hurt that it’s a great room acoustically. There’s no pesky cigarette smoke to get in your eyes. It’s a friendly, well-lit place, and if you want, you can buy beer and wine. That aside, I truly enjoyed Friday night’s bluegrass show. Local talent Redline Express, who hail from Jones County, proved adept at traditional bluegrass stylings from jaunty instrumentals to plaintive ballads. I especially liked their take on a Gillis Brothers tune, “Room at the Top of the Stairs.” The packed house was appreciative, whistling and clapping for every solo. But the true star of the evening was dobro player Randy Kohrs, who played with Monroe, Ga. band Lost Horizon. This Nashville player (I believe he’s originally from Iowa) has toured with Dolly Parton and played on his friend Dierks Bentley’s latest, Modern Day Drifter. He’s got a gorgeous, expressive tenor that easily handles a glissando. But his playing is more expressive than his singing by half, which is saying a lot. And this guy can write a great song. Triple threat alert!Lost Horizon is a talented group. Husband and wife team Brian and Maggie Stephens (on guitar and upright bass, respectively) effectively slid between traditional bluegrass tunes like “Nine Pound Hammer” and more contemporary ones, like songs by Flying Burrito Brothers and Jim Croce. Kohrs’s own songs like “Passion’s Price” and “I’m Torn” let him showcase his heartstring-tugging vocals. “The bitter, cynical bluegrass songs are probably my favorite,” Kohrs said at one point during the show. “They seem to hold the most heart, to me.”During Kohrs’ song “Hurry Back Jesus”, the woman next to me began to sob. It’s a funny thing about music. Sometimes it can make us forget our burdens, but other times it brings them home more powerfully.
