Events
Corey Smith, Shooter Jennings,
and the Benjy Davis Project to ‘crank up’ The Amp

Although the fun never ends on Lake Martin,
Labor Day is the unofficial end to summer. The Amp has a high-powered, high-energy end of summer concert planned for Sunday, September 5th.

Summer on Lake Martin is almost over, and the kids are back in school, but it can’t end until after Labor Day. It is exciting that our gorgeous lake is still full, the water is blue and we will have perfect lake weather for days to come. To add to the excitement, the Labor Day Concert  at The Amp will feature Corey Smith, Shooter Jennings, and the Benjy Davis Project on one stage Sunday, September 5th.

Corey Smith
For Corey Smith, one of the best things about making music has always been getting the chance to hang out and have a good time with his friends. And it’s still that way, nearly 10 years after his early days of playing the bars around Athens, Georgia. The big difference now? Well, it seems these days Corey just has a lot more friends to hang with. The crowds at his sold-out live performances number in the thousands. “To me success is a matter of staying focused on songwriting and continuing to mature artistically,” says Corey. “I try not to think about the popularity.”

Be thankful for what you have and make the most of it, a lesson Corey learned growing up in the same modest, rural Georgia community that he and his family live in today. And it’s also the theme behind the title track to his typically outstanding new album Keeping Up with the Joneses, which he co-produced with Russ-T Cobb (Butch Walker, Avril Lavigne). The album, which features his road-tested rhythm section of bassist Rob Henson and drummer Marcus Petruska, houses several new additions to Corey’s catalogue of festive sing-a-longs; the suggestive “Dirtier by the Year,” the tell-tale “$8 Bottle of Wine,” and the last-call anthem “Sweet Sorrow.”

What are Corey’s fans saying?

"Corey's music always has a meaningful, heartfelt message. I really love his music and his support for the troops overseas." - April B.

"Corey's music captures college in a nutshell: friends, late nights, and lasting memories." - Blake A. Piedmont College c/o '09

"Corey's music tells OUR story. Just getting through life with some good friends, a few drinks, and a lot of help from the Man upstairs." - Mitch H.

"It's like listening to your friend talk about what you did last night."
- Deigo G.

An ever-exploding fan base and a stunning new collection of songs? It all means one thing: Corey Smith is about to make a few thousand more friends.

Shooter Jennings
Shooter Jennings has country music in his blood. The only child of the famed country music "Outlaw" and mother Jessi Colter, Shooter’s early years were spent on his parents tour bus. By age five, he was playing drums. He picked up his guitar at fourteen and at sixteen he discovered rock & roll.

Driven by a sound he heard coming together in his head - something like Lynyrd Skynyrd mutating into Guns N' Roses - Shooter left to seek his fortunes in L.A. where he assembled a band and named it Stargunn. Shooter dissolved Stargunn and went to New York to sort out what he wanted to do next. It took just a few weeks for fate to show up in the form of an invitation to play at the House of Blues. Shooter returned to L.A. and put together a second band, this time with solid country roots, which he named the 357s. Jennings and the band holed up in the studio, eventually emerging with a rambunctious country album called Put the "O" Back in Country, which was released in 2005. With this debut, Shooter drew on his great legacy and wealth of talent, yet managed to put his own stamp on his sound.

Shooter recently played the role of his father in the Oscar winning Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line. On his new album Electric Rodeo, Shooter continues to assert his blend of rocked up country roots, keeping one foot firmly in the past his father was so instrumental in creating, the other stepping out boldly into new territory.

Shooter Jennings & Hierophant kick off their fall tour at The Amp on September 5th.

The Benjy Davis Project
From Baton Rouge, Louisiana, The Benjy Davis Project has toured extensively in the South, including seven performances at New Orleans' annual Jazz Fest, Voodoo Fest, as well as jaunts with Sister Hazel, Robert Randolph, Buckwheat Zydeco, plus countless college performances where the Benjy Davis Project has thrilled college audiences all across the country, with party anthems like "Louisiana Saturday Night," "Do It With The Lights On," and "Cajun Crawfish Boil," which Davis penned when he was 15 years old.

The band has been criticized at times for this type of spirit, which Davis addresses on the album Lost Souls Like Us. On the track "Get High," Davis sings, "People say I only write about drinking and tying one on, I write songs about living and this is one of them songs!" Davis has a reputation for telling it like it is, an idea he develops well in the jangly "Bite My Tongue." On this tune, Davis calls out everyone from the elderly to his teachers to New Orleans funk legends The Radiators.

To see all events, view the Russell Lands On Lake Martin interactive events calendar >