Blackberry Homecoming

Thanksgiving is upon Americans again. It was the only holiday I continued enjoying past childhood, up until moving to France. I liked Thanksgiving for the big turkey dinner, of course, and the four-day weekends, and the lack of expected decor about a place.

But I also liked it, at least in my experience, because it often meant having a few people over who would not have had a turkey dinner and a friendly evening with people otherwise. My mother was good about that kind of thing, and I kept up the same tradition with friends when not spending the holiday at home.

Now, living abroad with my own family, Thanksgiving does not exist. I will miss it for the seventeenth year in a row, and jet travel to eat turkey is a bad decision no matter how you slice the bird.

Which is why I have something else to say about Thanksgiving, at least while it lasts.

Blackberry Smoke’s annual Homecoming concert takes place every year around Thanksgiving at Atlanta’s Tabernacle Theater. But you don’t have to live or travel to Atlanta to enjoy it, thank goodness, because the shows are streamed.

If you are not familiar with the Smoke, check out their 2019 Homecoming show, or any of these popular hits (be patient as the proxy links load, they are preventing Google from tracking you):

• Ain’t Much Left of Me
• One Horse Town
• Let Me Down Easy
• Medicate My Mind
• You Got Lucky, an acoustic cover of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ hit from 1982.

Damn good music, isn’t it? I think so.

Blackberry Smoke is often categorized as southern rock and thus compared with Lynyrd Skynyrd. After listening to a couple of their albums, though, it is clear they are incomparable. In the Homecoming show linked above, you’ll pick up elements of folk, blues, and reggae, as well as the expected country and good ol’ rock-n-roll. Their reverence to Petty and other great songwriters and musicians is unmistakable. If you close your eyes while listening to the cover of You Got Lucky, you can almost hear Petty. Charlie Starr can sing.

No mistake, Blackberry Smoke are a unique and wonderful magic, and a perfect accompaniment to a Thanksgiving feast, no matter where you are.