The battle for Johnny Wild’s musical soul started on his 11th birthday.
Andy Matchett (Johnny Wild) received two albums as gifts when he turned 11: “Nevermind” by Nirvana and Patsy Cline’s greatest hits.
Before he blew out the candles, the kid got hooked on grunge and country.
“I always loved rock and roll,” Matchett said Wednesday before two sold out shows in Savannah Center. “But for me, country music just feels like home.”
Matchett now leads what may be the hottest act in The Villages – Johnny Wild and the Delights. They regularly pack the Town Squares, Savannah and Katie Belle’s.
Country music was the main attraction Wednesday in a concert billed as: “A Night at the Opry.” This was a glorious journey through country music history, starring country’s Patron Saint — Hank Williams (Matchett). Also on the bill was Patsy Cline (Whitney Abell-Couch) and Kitty Wells (Amanda Warren).
Adding to the rich, authentic Nashville sound was Sarah Patrick on fiddle; Tommy Cooper, steel guitar, and Grand Ole Opry pioneer announcer George D. Hay, played by a burly ball of energy named Thom Mesrobian.
Put these youthful, talented and energetic performers together and you just know that the music is hot and country is cool.
Matchett, wearing a light brown suit and beige cowboy hat, at times bore a ghostly resemblance to Hank Williams.
Matchett covered most of Hank’s songs, including “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Setting the Woods on Fire,” “Hey Good Lookin’” and “Jambalaya (On the Bayou).
But the real highlight came on a masterful and spiritual-like cover of Williams’ all-time classic, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”
This was nearly a transcendent moment for Matchett. He is a trained actor who has a wide vocal range and unique talent on the guitar. On this song, Matchett revealed the meaning of Hank Williams’ broken heart and dark despair.
Matchett was equally powerful on a couple of other numbers. He yodeled and wailed through Eddie Arnold’s “Cattle Call.” Then Matchett took a Willie Nelson standard, “Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain” – with a gorgeous steel guitar riff by Cooper — and made it his own.
Amada Warren teamed with Matchett on a rocking Johnny and June Cash number “Jackson.” Warren was in a feisty mood, and let loose with a nasty Kitty Wells’ tune: “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels.”
Whitney Abell-Couch, wearing a classy red dress, was a bit more refined. She set a Patsy Cline mood with “Walking After Midnight” and slowed things with a melancholy “I Fall to Pieces” and “Crazy.”
Big Thom Mesrobian was a having a ball, jumping on jiving on stage all night long, wearing a dark pinstripe suit, black hat and waving a white hanky.
Mesrobian did a country jig as he sang “White Lightning.” Later, he covered Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue” and paid tribute Roy Acuff on “Wabash Cannonball.”
The rest of the Johnny Wild band got in the act. Abraham Couch put down his stand-up bass and sang “Mama Tried.” Drum man Randy Coole kept the beat going while singing Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” and “Folsom Prison Blues.” Lead guitarist Simon Palombi offered hot licks going all night long.
That set the stage for a rousing, revival-meeting finale on Hank Williams’ “I Saw the Light.”
Wild and company practically healed the sick and raised the dead, as the Savannah Center crowd was on its feet, screaming, clapping and waving hands in the air while singing along.
It was a fitting climax to a dynamic show.
“I was amazed to see this rock and roll band play this kind of music so well,” said Villager Jonathan Hole, who attended with his wife, Gail. “I’ve seen them play at the Squares, but never like this. This was real, authentic, great country music.”
Gail Hole agreed.
“They don’t just sing, they bring the songs to life,” she said. “We go to a lot of country shows, and this is as good a show as I’ve seen. This band is something else.”
So is country music.
