The talented Reverend Hylton finished up his winter tour this past Sunday with a set at Atlanta’s Red Light Cafe. One totalled 4-Runner and a rental car later I had the opportunity to see him play. The snow banks in Colorado did their best to put this Georgia native on the sidelines, but they weren’t able to hold him back. A confident demeanor and friendly face made me like him immediately. The same could be said for his stage presence. He’s as comfortable up there as I am on my couch. From hilarious anecdotes about being dumped on the day that Johnny Cash died to sad songs about broken love and addiction to one of my favorite quotes from the set:
“Most of y’all know this story, but I hopped into the back of a cop car one night thinkin’ it was a cab. Woke up the next morning in jail. 5 years sobriety.”
It’s this type of honesty and comfort in his own skin that Justin manages to translate into his music. I’m very glad we got to make it to this show. He’ll be spending quite a bit of time on the road in the coming months and if you have the chance to see him I highly recommend it.
Opening up for The Rev. was Brian Revels from the Atlanta-based band City Mouse. One part of a trio, Brian did a solo set to warm up the crowd before Justin came on. With a tied on mouth harp and a grasp on the 6 string, he delivered. We love City Mouse and even when we can’t get the whole band it’s nice to know that individually they still put on a damn good show.
