It had been a snowy weekend. I had barely been out of the house. All the K-12 public schools in the area had already announced they would be closed on Monday, so I had assumed the Will Kimbrough show at Roanoke’s Kirk Avenue Music Hall Sunday, Jan. 31, had been canceled due to weather.

At almost 6 p.m., my wife (and New River Voice Managing Editor) Taryn Chase checked out the Facebook page for Kirk Ave. and saw that the show was still on. It was a long trip on a cold, Sunday night in which road conditions were less than ideal, but I had a Subaru and thought, “Why not?”

Great decision! Once out of Radford, the roads were fine. And current Nashville resident Will Kimbrough put on a fantastic show.

The crowd was modest, as many likely stayed home due cold conditions and fear of slippery roads. The folks sitting next to me, for instance, said they were supposed to meet friends from Charlottesville at the show, but the friends bailed due to weather.

But for those who braved the cold and snow, they experienced an evening filled with great stories and great songs.

For those who don’t know, Kimbrough has been a solo artist—a singer-songwriter—for a number of years, but he’s also a studio musician (award-winning guitarist), he’s played on the road for other performers, he’s produced records, and he has written songs for other folks as well. And he’s one of the better artists in Nashville that few in the mainstream have heard of.

Kimbrough is considered an Americana artists, but he considers lots of genres to fall under that category heading, such as blues, jazz, R&B, country, and gospel. Kimbrough was raised on rock roots and on Sunday night he told about seeing legendary bands such as The Clash and Led Zeppelin in his youth. And being from Mobile, Alabama, he has always had a penchant for Southern rock.

All those influences swirl around inside Kimbrough and came out in a concert that lasted nearly three hours with an intermission of probably less than 30 minutes (in which he took time out to sell and autograph CDs; find Kimbrough CDs for sale here.)

Despite having a new CD out in a few weeks, Kimbrough played almost exclusively older material. He did offer up the title track for the new Wings record, but otherwise played songs from past records, including several from his most recent EP (called EP) and his Americanitis disc from a few years ago. A few of the songs performed from those two albums included “Horseshoe Lake,” “Hill Country Girl,” Yellow Mama,” “Godsend,” “Piece of Work,” “Eden Prairie,” and “Interstate” all from EP, and “Life,”"Grown Up Now,” “Brand New Song,” and “Another Train” from Americanitis.

Kimbrough also played even earlier songs, including “Goodnight Moon,” which may be his most-known song, a handful of songs from two discs with the band Daddy, with whom he is occasionally a part, and even the song “Like Laughing,” from way back in the days of his first band, Will & the Bushmen. In all, Kimbrough probably played 20 songs or more, told lots of stories, and amazed the audience with his guitar prowess and some nice harmonica playing.

The audience was appreciative, and Kimbrough seemed to appreciate the audience as well. Overall, it was a treat to say a splendid musician and quality songwriter up close for a long show.

Tim W. Jackson, who is Editor of the New River Voice, enjoyed seeing Will Kimbrough again in a live show. It had been nearly 20 years since the last time.