What Festiva saw at Sammy Kershaw's concert

Sammy Kershaw is like an old pair of cowboy boots - a bit worn, comfortable, but no worse for the wear. And maybe you haven't slipped them on in a while, but when you do you realize you sure did miss them.

• CLICK HERE TO READ FESTIVA'S INTERVIEW WITH SAMMY KERSHAW

The veteran country singer rolled into McAllen on Saturday to play a show at Flesh downtown on the start of a five-month long tour.

Flesh, known more for their rock and hip hop shows, hosted their first honky tonk show Saturday night. A medium-sized crowd of old country fans in cowboy hats and jeans sat and sipped beer, vodka and Jack and Coke.

The crooner with his own cajun seasoning (which by my research seems to only be available at the merch table of one of his shows for $5) walked on stage only a few minutes late, greeted the crowd and slid right into the first song of the night, "Louisiana Hot Sauce."

He seemed to have a little trouble with the monitors at first, often adjusting his ear piece, but managed to find his voice as he belted out his No. 1 hit, "She Don't Know She's Beautiful".

Kershaw took a moment to touch on his feelings about country music today: "I can't tell any of them apart from each other."

Then, as if to prove he's old school, he talked about his time in the honky tonks when he was 14, playing covers of George Jones songs. The song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", which Kershaw covered on a tribute album, nabbed several cheers from the audience.

Covers and old hits kept Kershaw's crowd happy. And though Kershaw performs in smaller venues today, he's a class act who never forgets his country and cajun roots or his fans.

Amy Nichol Smith covers live music for Festiva. You can reach her at (956) 683-4420 or at asmith@themonitor.com.