Chris Stapleton makes good on a landmark year at the Tabernacle

It’s probably a testament to how much country music’s audience has widened in the last few years to listen to the audience at a Chris Stapleton show and realize how few people realize when he’s playing a cover. Well, it’s a testament to something — maybe it’s the fact that his renditions of other peoples’ songs, whether by Tom Petty, George Jones, or whoever, sound like they’re all his. And his originals sound classic enough that you almost wonder if you’ve been singing them for years.

In any case, Stapleton’s show at The Tabernacle last night (Jan. 7) brought a packed house. By 7:30 p.m., the line snaked around the block, and twisting around three street corners. By 8:30, it hadn’t waned. Inside, people were excited to see the bearded country music spectacle, playing a smaller venue than they’re likely to ever see him play again.

Stapleton’s kicked-off the show with “Nobody to Blame,” the song that’s inched its way onto country radio in the aftermath of his sweep at the CMAs in November. Jamming through the opening notes as he and wife Morgane took the stage, the whoops and hollers from the crowd on this first number was an indicator as to how the rest of the night would go. When the pair launched into their album’s title track “Traveller,” Morgane took the last chorus to invite the crowd to sing the words, and the way she clutched her heart as three stories of fans belted every lyric gave gravity to the windfall of success this artist has seen in the last few months. It was almost unfair of them to follow up with “Fire Away,” a high point in any set and a lyrically emotive showcase for their on-stage chemistry and powerful harmonies.

They were halfway through Tom Petty’s “Get to the Point” before half the crowd realized the duo was covering a classic, but once the glimmer of recognition washed over the audience, it was all the more spectacular to witness the way the two performers used Southern rock tendencies and their own powerful harmonies to make the track their own. Next was another cover — this time, “Was It 26,” a Charlie Daniels Band song he recorded for Traveler — followed by yet another in “You Are My Sunshine,” a song in which Morgane takes lead and proves in each and every set that there’s more than one leading vocalist in this ensemble.

Chris barreled back into his originals with songs such as “Might as Well Get Stoned” (from the smell of it, the audience agreed) and “Devil Named Music.” He closed out with “Tennessee Whiskey,” the George Jones cover that propelled his album to no. 1 on the country charts after his CMA performance with Justin Timberlake, and while a few scattered fans left the show, there was more soul to be had in the encore. He returned to the stage for “Whiskey and You,” a gutting original that was first recorded by Tim McGraw, and closed things out with a rousing rendition of “Outlaw State of Mind.” It was an unpretentious show that didn’t feel the need to brag on the extensive writing credits of its headliner or get too bogged down in the album or the single he may be pushing. Rather, the emphasis was on singing the songs he liked best in the best way he could sing them, and it’s satisfying, if not surprising, to see Stapleton soar to such heights.

Chris Stapleton plays the Tabernacle tonight (Fri., Jan. 8) with Sam Lewis. $30. 7:30 p.m. 152 Luckie St. N.W. Atlanta 404-659-9022. www.tabernacleatl.com.

View a gallery of more images from the show.

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