Rhett Akins Live in Liberal Kansas 1997

[@Scott-hf3ht]

Nobody realizes country music missed a superstar here. Living proof that exposure matters in this business. Granted Rhett has been incredibly successful songwriting, he was the one that got away for country music.

[@shannonl.9360]

Agreed!

[@1970gerrard]

Daddy is still way better than his son period!

[@pamelabryant3395]

Best Mother's Day gift. Rhett in concert

[@franbrister8301]

2020 still loving this Man

[@jscountrygirl85_326]

What an amazing concert! Wish I could have seen him live back then.

[@ericjumpelfeaturingjohnnyj4135]

Rhett and TR are touring the globe together these days and I've seen some KZbin footage of that show. Rhett still sounds as good as ever. Go see them perform if you can. :)

[@shannonl.9360]

He was awesome back then! I had the pleasure of seeing him several times then!

[@lorebecc]

@@ericjumpelfeaturingjohnnyj4135 Oh man I so enjoyed this blast from the past. I may have met you at y’all’s shows in NC. He played several times in Raleigh at the Longbranch Saloon. Also played a county fair in Hickory. I was a member of the Rhettneck fan club lol! Still have all our pics together, autographs and even one of his guitar picks! So many great memories! Thank you for sharing!

[@nrp556]

Would love to have been there. Thanks for posting this!

[@rackem04]

Some of the best times to be alive back then. Saw him in Cherryville, NC that year

[@joeyirsik]

Man... I love these old video screen feeds! I used to go see a lot of the outdoor stuff in Western Kansas growing up, but I missed this one somehow. I did see Rhett in Dodge City, Kansas in 2005, though.

[@judithkessel4727]

Great 🎶🎶🎶🎶🤘🎉

[@ericjumpelfeaturingjohnnyj4135]

Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the comment!! 👍

[@Sassy78]

Adorable!

[@shannonl.9360]

Thank you for posting this! I’m a huge fan of Rhett and really enjoyed watching this!

[@ryanadamtexas]

Lol good ol rhett started playing George strait to fill in, what a performer

[@mattnelson5012]

Hello Eric did you work for Rhett Akins on the 1997 Tour video audio record this show

[@ericjumpelfeaturingjohnnyj4135]

Yes, from July of '97 to September of '99, I was Rhett's bass player and I'm featured in this video too. My first name is Johnny. Eric is my middle.

[@erichthompson3711]

I am the world's biggest Rhett Akins fan. Seen him about four times within a one or two year span here in Illinois. Is there any footage of Kenny's set? Curious to know why this show was filmed? Multiple camera angles leads me to believe it was going to be used somewhere? My band and I are playing with 90s country music legends Confederate Railroad this Friday night October 18th 2019. We've also shared the stage with Dierks Bentley and Jason Aldean. Erich Thompson (Stone Cold Cowboys)

[@ericjumpelfeaturingjohnnyj4135]

Hi Erich! This show was an outside venue in Liberal. I'm the bass player in this band lineup. I'm not sure why the production company recorded this show, but I'm sure glad they did and glad they handed us the video tape at the end of the performance. I'd say they also recorded Kenny's performance, but we were only handed a copy of ours. The whole reason for any cameras was so we could be featured on large screens for the venue and for no other reason. However, somebody sent the audio and video feeds to a VCR and here, twenty something years later, we can watch it :-D

[@erichthompson3711]

@@ericjumpelfeaturingjohnnyj4135 that is one tight band! I like the little touches you guys put into brake for brunettes. It's always nice to go and see a band play their heads and rock it up a little bit or a different time signatures throughout the song. There was just always something about Rhett's songs and his voice that Drew Me In.. saw you guys in Peoria Illinois at the heart of Illinois Fair, Lincoln Illinois at railsplitters days, Nashville North in Taylorville with Jeff Carson and Chad Brock as well as the Orpheum Theater in Galesburg. Don't know if you played bass for all of those shows. That would have been probably between 19 95 and 1998. I know the guitar player played guitar for all of them and I'm pretty sure the fiddle player was with him for all of those. Was there a guy named Rocky playing drums?

[@ericjumpelfeaturingjohnnyj4135]

@@erichthompson3711 Yes! Rocky and I grew up in western North Carolina and have known each other since we were 12/13 years old. I see and talk to him almost daily. My time with Rhett was July of '97 to Sep '99. Good chance I was the bass player for the show in Peoria. If it wasn't me, it was a guy named Dave Fowler (also another fellow western North Carolinian). I replaced Dave in '97. Dave and I still sometimes perform together on occasions with the Artimus Pyle Band. I've been a fill-in member for Artimus either on guitar or bass since 2011.

[@shannonl.9360]

@@ericjumpelfeaturingjohnnyj4135 I saw Rhett a couple of times in 1997 at Country 2000 in Dallas, Texas. Were you the bass player at those shows? I remember that he didn’t usually have I Brake for Brunettes in his set list, but we knew some key people, who got a message to him that it was a big hit there, so he played it. Awesome show!

[@ericjumpelfeaturingjohnnyj4135]

@@shannonl.9360 Shannon, I started playing with Rhett right in the middle of that year, so it possibly was me, if you saw us in the Summer months. We played that venue a few times throughout my run as his bass player.

[@GUITARTECHify]

If I was Kenny Id be kicking his ass off my tour..LOL

[@Redmallard]

Is that Rhett's bus at the last song?

[@ericjumpelfeaturingjohnnyj4135]

Yes, though they did change buses a lot back then.

[@trevorshurr7763]

Do you have the setlist from this show?

[@ericjumpelfeaturingjohnnyj4135]

I wish I did. Sadly, I don't. I think there's still a set list amongst my musical road gear somewhere for some show, but not for this show.

[@trevorshurr7763]

Eric Jumpel okay thank you! Do you think Rhett will ever get back to a headlining tour or no?

[@ericjumpelfeaturingjohnnyj4135]

Well, you really never know. I've heard him say in interviews that he's probably retired from such things, but people change their minds. So, maybe!