by ALLISON CASEY
Lifestyles Editor

It’s rare an audience has as much fun as they do at an Old Crow Medicine Show concert.

The quintet, who once lived in Beech Mountain, returned to the town where they were discovered last night for an energetic live show at Legends.

“It was great, Boone is a like a second home,” vocalist and guitarist Willie Watson said. “It’s really familiar.”

Their latest album “Tennessee Pusher,” released late September, is currently number one on the U.S. Bluegrass charts, despite their genre-bending style.

The band sold out Legends last night with a crowd of about 1,200 people, each one having more fun than the next.

With traditional string instruments and traditional elements, Old Crow Medicine Show is anything but.

Audience members were seen both flat-footing and rocking out, enjoying the band’s unique heavily bluegrass influenced sound.

Bluegrass is in the blood of the people who live in these mountains and Old Crow provides the perfect balance of rock, soul, blues and bluegrass.

“We’re not really bluegrass, but I don’t know what else to call it,” Watson said.

Old Crow stands part of the new bluegrass coming heavily out the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Bands like The Avett Brothers, The Steep Canyon Rangers and The Everbodyfields have all found success locally and nationally with a blending of rock and bluegrass.

Bluegrass elements have even found their way into some indie rock albums.

The show was fantastic, as song was performed impeccably and the audience seemed to know every word to every song.

Legends provides an opportunity for performers to interact with the audience, and it’s an opportunity Old Crow welcomed with open arms.

“This one’s for the ladies,” Watson announced as the violin intro to the single “Wagon Wheel” began.

Belting out the lyrics to the song with glasses raised, the 1,200 member audience drowned out the band.

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