Silke Jasso
If you haven’t heard of rising country star Drake White before now, you won’t forget him after watching this performance.
Videos by Rare
Rare Country is giving you an exclusive look at Drake warming up with his bandmates before their recent, sold-out show at New York City’s Gramercy Theatre. Before they took the stage for this stop on Drake’s Spark Tour, the guys lit into an a cappella version of Bill Wither’s ’70s classic “Lean on Me.”
RELATED: his country star enlists his wife for the sexiest video we’ve seen in some time
If that doesn’t give you chills, you better check your pulse.
As you can tell from their tight harmonies, these guys have been singing together for quite a while. Most of the guys in the band have been with Drake for at least five years. That’s why they’re able to really lock in and make those magical moments happen.
Rest assured, that bond between Drake and his band shows up onstage, too. From the moment Drake’s show starts, he’s giving every last bit of himself to the crowd. You can see that approach play out in another one of Drake’s cover songs from this tour — a spine-tinging take on Joe Cocker’s classic cover of the Beatles’ “With a Little Help from My Friends.” The late Joe Cocker is a big influence on Drake’s overall performance style.
RELATED: Watch as a country star sings at the firehouse that lost 19 men on 9/11
Drake tells Rare Country, “The Joe Cocker video at Woodstock where he’s convulsing onstage like he’s on seven types of acid — I remember seeing that at a very early age, and I fell in love with that type of freedom. You can tell he’s up there doing his thing. That’s how I perform that song. That’s ultimately how I got my performance style is just that carelessness of ‘I’m going to let it take over.'”
While Drake allows himself to just cut loose onstage, there’s nothing haphazard about his performances. This live show is the product of a lot of hard work and thoughtful planning. He knows exactly what he wants his fans to experience at his concerts, and he’s finally been able to carry out that vision on the Spark Tour.
Drake says, “It’s just little things from the incense we light onstage to the type of covers we choose. We want people to feel like they’re gathered around a fire. I want you to feel like you’re sitting around an orange flame, you’re drinking a nice drink and hearing stories and you’re listening to music that’s folky. It’s story time. I want it to feel like a church revival — everybody coming together and having a good time.”
Drake’s Spark Tour comes to a close on June 2 in California, but you’ve got plenty of chances to catch one of his shows. Drake is playing festival dates all summer long. Keep up with his schedule at DrakeWhite.com.
