#eliyoung

“I keep it country

            Wherever I’m at”

              Lenny Cooper’s lyrics explain it best: clad in a black t-shirt, blue jeans and cowboy boots, he embodies the laidback country boy image; but don’t expect his show to be that way. You would never have known this was his first Nashville concert with the way he dominated the stage. Intense and certainly entertaining, Cooper and his band played for the modest 350-capacity venue as if they were the headliners at Bonnaroo. A mixture of various genres creates a whole new musical realm that is almost undefined. Combining rap and rock (and at times a hint of electronica), he sings about songs with country-raised content: “Big Tires,” “Mud Digger,” and “Backwood Tailgating” are just a few examples. The backwoods-born artist and his band (comprised of a guitarist, drummer and a back-up vocalist) are certainly helping to redefine what one would consider the typical country boy. His confidence is absolutely to be admired. Lenny Cooper knows where he came from and that is evident in the way he carries himself across the stage - he paced across the flooring as if he was an agitated tiger in his cage. With this kind of intensity in a show, there’s no knowing when he’ll break the lock and escape into the wild.