Morgan received a special Army honor during a DC-area show

Craig Morgan ran onstage right on time at 9 o’clock Saturday night (Sept 23rd) at Capital One Hall in Tysons, VA for a stop on his God, Family, Country Tour. Opening with “Raise the Bar,” that’s exactly what Morgan and company did for 90 minutes.

The night of country music was punctuated with Morgan’s down-to-earth demeanor and sense of humor. In between songs, he’d take time to talk with the crowd and joke about his friends in country music.

“I spent years in the military so you learn things. That’s why I make my band wear black. Looks good, doesn’t it? Ever seen Mark Wills’ band? They look like crap.” joked the singer. It was just one of several zingers across the set.

Musically, his six-piece band worked hard to be album-faithful in a live setting. Craig Morgan is the rare early-oughts artist who continued the neotraditional 90s sound in his music, though with a harder edge that signifies the new millennium. He told the crowd, (tongue-in-cheek, of course) “I’m country. But not like Florida-Georgia Line country. More like Merle Haggard country.” It was clear by their response that the audience in Tysons preferred this flavor the crowd on their feet. Ballads including “That’s What I Love About Sunday” and “Almost Home” moved people to stand and sway as the music spoke to them.

If “blue collar” could be an adjective to describe a voice, that descriptor would certainly fit Morgan’s tone. Finding commercial success in his mid-30s, you can hear the wisdom life has given him on gut-wrenching numbers “This Ain’t Nothin’” and “Almost Home.”

Morgan proved himself—as so many country artists do—to be a classy guy. After “Sunday,” Morgan shouted out his radio rep, who took that song to the top of the chart as his first No. 1 song. Morgan also covered “You Are So Beautiful” to the production manager for Capital One Hall as a thank-you for her hard work.

But the loudest reception was for Jeff Elm, a dear friend of Morgan’s who served with him in Panama in the ‘80s. Elms received a rousing round of applause and many, many personal “thank yous” from the crowd during and after the show. That preceded “Soldier,” which saw Morgan wave the huge American flag that had been behind him the whole time, causing the crowd to rise in a moment of patriotic togetherness.

At the end of the night, a representative from the Army Museum came out and presented Morgan with a special piece of granite that represents a brick that will be unveiled on the museum’s grounds at a later date. Morgan recently re-enlisted in the US Army Reserves.

A highlight from the night is from the deluxe edition of his latest album, God, Family, Country. It’s called “I May Drink a Little,” and is a song of faith inspired by—of all things—a funny guest called Gladys on the Ellen Show.

By the time the end of the night had come, Morgan had the crowd on its feet with his flag wavin’, God Lovin’, hard workin’ country music. As we all climbed aboard Morgan’s “International Harvester,” the crowd rolled a little more patriotic and a lot more country.

He also shared from the stage that an album of re-recordings featuring Blake Shelton, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, and others is on deck for sometime in October. Further details are expected soon.