THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 29, 1996 TAG: 9610290334
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: CONCERT REVIEW
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS
STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 54 lines
At his concert Monday night, Sammy Kershaw offered several songs from his current album, ``Politics, Religion and Her,'' including the title song, which seems to get him into a political mood.
He decided to poll the audience about their presidential preference. He knows his audience and he knew their preference - it was Dole by several hundred.
``I sang before 3,000 people in the last two weeks,'' Kershaw said. ``I polled them and only one stood up for Clinton.''
He is serious about the subject and has been quoted as saying that someday he intends to run for governor of his native Louisiana.
That done, it was back to the music, much of it in the George Jones mode. There is no mistaking Jones' inflection and influence in his singing, but it is certainly a good sound. Kershaw is not being imitative, it's just a natural sound for him.
He told his fans that he might put an old, lesser-known George Jones song on his next album.
He sang one of Jones' best-known songs, ``Today I Started Loving Her Again,'' which unfortunately lost the race in comparison to the original version.
The song that received the most applause was his current hit about ``Vidalia,'' his clever song about his onion girl.
The audience of about 800 people - not too shabby for a Monday - was a mixture of young and old. Some of them were dressed in Halloween costumes. Otherwise, there was mostly the cowboy look.
Kershaw, a 38-year-old father of five, hit the national scene in 1991. His debut album ``Don't Go Near the Water'' went platinum, as did his 1993 album ``Haunted Heart.''
His albums, like his stage show, mix the old and the new, the familiar and the unfamiliar.
Whatever - it usually sounds pretty good and works pretty well.
The short, husky singer has a powerful voice and it comes complete with a good old twang.
He sounds good and country, whether going up-tempo or punching a ballad.
He also punched home some opinions, noting at one time: ``We keep hearing education, education, education.''
``First we got to stop burning our kids' brains with all those drugs.''
The opening act, Last Call, can politely be described as mediocre.
One downer was the Cavalier Beach Club - nice and comfortable but very level - a difficult place to sit and enjoy a concert. ILLUSTRATION: CONCERT REVIEW
Sammy Kershaw and Last Call Monday night at the Cavalier Beach Club
in Virginia Beach. by CNB