Mark Chesnutt at The Concerts on the Slopes Series in Park City, Utah

90’s country star Mark Chesnutt brought the good times to Park City last week kicking off the Country Music Weekend for the Concerts on the Slopes music series.

 

Nestled in the heart of the mountains in Park City, The Amphitheater at Canyons Village was the perfect venue for the country weekend.  There’s just something about country music and mountain air that goes together in a perfect pairing.

 

Long before country started going pop country and crossover appeal, Chesnutt was building his career with honky-tonk hits, feel good juke box songs and heart breaking 90’s country staples that still resonate just as hard today if not more so. 

 

Mark Chesnutt's concerts are built around his music.  Instead of a flashy big production show, Chesnutt’s music takes center stage and carries the night.  In an era where fiddles, steel guitar and honky-tonk ruled the airwaves, Chesnutt’s concerts remind us that he was one of the defining voices of those times.    

 

There was something refreshing about watching a concert where the artist takes the stage and the music carries the show.  With a career that spans decades there were plenty of songs for Chesnutt to pull from and the night featured some of his biggest hits and well-known songs including seven number one country hits.  Chesnutt wasted no time in getting things going opening the show with “It’s a Little Too Late” getting fans on their feet and dancing right out of the gates. 

 

The rest of the show was unapologetically country.  Songs about heartbreak, drinking, and everyday life that people can relate to, had the crowd celebrating the opening night of country music weekend in a way that only 90’s country could.  Reminiscing, dancing and being transported back to the bar where these songs came across the juke box and had everyone dancing.  

 

More than 30 years after his biggest run on country radio, Mark Chesnutt doesn't need to chase trends. He can simply step onstage, sing the songs that helped define a generation of country music and let them speak for themselves.

 

On this night, the pairing couldn't have been much better, a Utah mountain evening, a crowd ready for some classic country and one of the genre's most recognizable voices providing the soundtrack.  In Park City, that was more than enough.