Old Crow Medicine Show are gearing up to release Jubilee on August 25 via ATO, and we’re now premiering new single “Belle Meade Cockfight.” It’s an energetic, old-timey, rollicking country/bluegrass song, and it finds Ketch Secor duetting and harmonizing with fellow old soul Sierra Ferrell. Ketch says:
My hometown is the self-proclaimed poultry capital of the world, smack in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. I love chickens, have raised ’em from under the lightbulb to the brooder box, and I see their grace and beauty. Poultry makes fantastic fodder for song, always has. I can’t admit to having regularly attended cockfights, only that chickens are in my blood. But songwriting lets you travel the seven seas without leaving your porch swing, or in this case the cockfight ring, so I composed this ditty after extensive research and hope I’ve done right by the scholars of the sport. I called up Sierra Ferrell and told her I had a ‘cockfight love song’ and needed a sparring partner. Not surprising, she was game. She’s from just over the line in West Virginia and knows a thing or two about the joys of chickens. We dedicate this one to Sarah Cannon, the opulent southern dame behind Minnie Pearl’s folksy persona. Sarah embodied class duality in Country music as only a Shakespearian actress-turned-hayseed-rib-tickler could. The only thing I can think of that better exemplifies Country music’s ability to be at once ‘highfalutin’ and ‘for the people’ would be if they started holding cockfights on Saturday nights in old Belle Meade.
The song comes with a campy music video directed and produced by band member Morgan Jahning, and you can check that out below.
Old Crow Medicine Show also have tour dates coming up, including shows with Hank Williams Jr, Pillbox Patti, Luke Combs, Brennen Leigh, and more. They play NJ’s XPoNential Music Festival on September 22, and they’ve got a two-night New Year’s Eve run at the Ryman in Nashville. All dates are listed below.
Old Crow Medicine Show — 2023 Tour Dates
July 19 – Tucson, AZ @ Fox Tucson Theatre %
July 20 – San Diego, CA @ Humphreys Concerts by the Bay %
July 21 – Irvine, CA @ FivePoint Amphitheater +
July 22 – Chandler, AZ @ Chandler Center for the Arts %
July 23 – Flagstaff, AZ @ Pepsi Amphitheater %
July 28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Lincoln Financial Field #
August 2 – Redmond, OR @ Deschutes County Fairgrounds
August 5 – Ninilchik, AK @ SalmonFest
August 12 – Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Folk Festival (Gallagher Park)
August 23 – S Deerfield, MA @ Tree House Brewing Company & SOLD OUT
August 24 – Shelburne, VT @ Concerts on the Green $ SOLD OUT
August 25 – Bangor, ME @ Maine Savings Amphitheater +
August 26 – Gilford, NH @ Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion +
August 27 – Hammondsport, NY @ Point of the Bluff Vineyards $
September 6 – Marietta, OH @ Peoples Bank Theatre
September 7 – Cleveland Heights, OH @ Evans Amphitheater – Cain Park ^
September 8 – Mount Vernon, KY @ Renfro Valley Entertainment Center ^
September 9 – Shipshewana, IN @ Blue Gate PAC
September 16 – Louisville, KY @ Bourbon & Beyond
September 22 – Camden, NJ @ XPoNential Music Festival
September 23 – Ithaca, NY @ State Theatre
September 25 – Morgantown, WV @ WVU Canady Creative Arts Center
October 6 – Monterey, CA @ Rebels & Renegades Music Festival
October 21 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
October 30 – London, UK @ Hammersmith
November 1 – Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland Ballroom
November 2 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
December 30 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
December 31 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
+ with Hank Williams Jr.
% with Pillbox Patti
# with Luke Combs
& The Red Clay Strays
$ Brennen Leigh
^ Harper O’Neill