Why You Should Catch the Black Crowes Live This Summer

The Black Crowes are serving up Southern hospitality in more ways than one on this summer’s aptly named outing, which features Whiskey Myers sharing the bill. But it’s also been a tour that’s allowed the band to demonstrate how they’ve grown since their initial reunion kicked off properly in the summer of 2021.

The Southern Hospitality trek launched May 17 at the Moody Center in Austin, foreshadowing that the run as a whole, would be eventful in all of the best possible ways. On that opening night, they welcomed area luminaries John Doe of X and guitar legend Charlie Sexton to the stage.

As shows have stacked up since then, friends continue to walk out to guest with the Atlanta-bred group. Keyboardist Ivan Neville jammed with the Crowes in Alabama on “Jealous Again,” while the band’s former guitarist Audley Freed popped out in Nashville for “Remedy.”

An Atlanta area appearance featured Drivin’ n’ Cryin’s Kevn Kinney, an early mentor for Chris and Rich Robinson, both as music fans and as fellow musicians when they were coming up in the local scene.

The set lists have been something else too. Doe sat in for a version of X’s own “The New World,” while Sexton played on a raucous run through “Feelin’ Alright?” for the encore in Austin. There’ve been plenty of Rolling Stones covers sprinkled in occasionally at certain shows, including deeper grabs like “You Got the Silver.”

Watch the Black Crowes Perform ‘Thorn in My Pride’ (via Chuck Jones)

READ MORE: The Black Crowes Soar at ‘Southern Hospitality’ Tour Kickoff

The Guest Appearances Have Been Meaningful

Checking in on a recent day off prior to their next show (June 4) in Augusta, Georgia, Chris Robinson confirmed that not even a month into the tour, there have been numerous special milestones.

“I mean, yeah, things like that are super important to us,” he says. “Number one, you know, like X, John knows [what their music means to us]. We’ve bothered him with it every time we see him, just how important that band is to us. [They were original] ’77 L.A. punk, but a punk band with all the teeth and all the fire.”

“They are a band that is basically channeling that through roots music, as well,” he adds. “You know, John lives in Austin and our drummer, Cully [Symington], has played with John a bunch when he was living in Austin. So, yeah, we just threw it out there and you know, to be able to do that, [was so cool].

“I’ve been friends with Charlie for years and years and it’s the same thing with Ivan, you know what I mean? Audley, like you said, coming out, you know, that was a real full circle moment, and it felt really good,” he continues. “Not just, I think, for us, but I know Audley felt good.”

The collaborations with the various special guests during recent concerts, in Robinson’s eyes, tell an even bigger story. He notes that they haven’t done a lot of things like that in recent years, in part, because it takes time to arrange those moments — and rehearsal in certain cases. But he sees this latest development as a positive milestone that demonstrates how far this reconstituted edition of the Black Crowes has come.

“We hit the ground running when we put the band back together after COVID, and  I’ve felt, since we were teenagers, it’s always a work in progress,” he admits. “I mean, it’s never the same thing, you know? Every year [there’s been progress and forward momentum] Cully’s feeling his [place in this group], you know, it’s been a couple years now.”

“I think putting [Mark] Muddy [Dutton] on bass [replacing Sven Pipien, starting with the 2026 tours] has been a big change for us, musically. And the dynamic, between the rhythm section, like, okay, so now here’s a piece that we felt needed some overhaul,” he says. “[It’s been really helpful], just everyone, getting more comfortable and letting [keyboardist] Erik [Deutsch] sort of find his place too.”

‘Everything is Kind of Clicking Musically the Way it’s Supposed to Go’

The results, in his telling, find the 2026 version of the Black Crowes feeling more like it should, the culmination of a lot of hard work by all involved. Robinson says that with the comfort levels properly elevated between the members, it’s led to the fluid and flexible set lists that fans are enjoying.

For this writer, it’s felt similar to the experience of watching set lists of shows unfold from Bruce Springsteen, with a feeling that anything is possible song-wise. Occasionally, some really wild things creep into the song selection as a result.

At the Augusta concert the night after our conversation with Robinson, they put in “On That Hallow Night,” an extremely rare instrumental that was given new life on last year’s Amorica box set, but it hadn’t seen a slot in a Crowes set list in nearly 35 years. The Charlotte performance two nights later brought out the members of Whiskey Myers for an airing of the Stones’ “Star Star,” which the two groups had recorded together leading into the start of the Southern Hospitality trek.

They’ve also been sharing a healthy sampling of songs from their newest album, A Pound of Feathers, which came out earlier this year.

Watch the Black Crowes and Whiskey Myers Play ‘Star Star’

“It’s funny because the Black Crowes have always been me and Rich. We wrote all the songs and it was our band when we were kids. But I think, like anything else, it just takes time, you know what I mean? And I think this year, this tour, we just feel like, oh, okay, everything is kind of clicking musically the way it’s supposed to go,” Chris shares. “And I think that gives us the opportunity to not just play the songs everyone knows. I mean, we played ‘Share the Ride’ last night. I have no idea the last time we played that and it was great.”

He admits that the constant variety in the set list also helps to keep things loose and fun for them as a band as well. Robinson sees it as being an important element for fans who have seen more than just a few concerts. In that way, they’re catering not just to the casual enthusiasts, but also the hardcore aficionados of live music.

“Yeah, I mean, I think we’ve always felt that, you know, I get it, man. Rock and roll is long in the tooth. Everyone has seen a lot of bands and a lot of shows,” he explains. “We’re aware of our [place in all of this]. It’s show biz, you know what I mean? But I also think that we can still be what we’ve always been.”

“When we were playing in Atlanta in the ’80s, if Rich played something at soundcheck that was cool, I would say, just play that s–t, I’ll make something up! You’re always looking for something in the sequence, or whatever, that just tells a story and is a feeling and it can’t be forced,” he points out. “It can’t be contrived. So I think we’re lucky and especially after this amount of time, you know, that those things [are still happening].”

“As I said, now that I think the band is comfortable and everyone’s in on the same conversation every day, it’s great,” he says. “It gives us the freedom [to do whatever we want].

When you come out to a Black Crowes show this summer however, Robinson says you’ll also get what you want, whatever that might be. That’s how Southern hospitality works, ya know?

“We realize our audience is diverse, there’s some people who are the hit people,” he details. “They want to hear ‘Twice as Hard,’ ‘Jealous Again,’ ‘She Talks to Angels,’Hard to Handle,’ ‘Remedy,’ you know, they want to hear those songs. We also know that there’s a certain level of the audience, the weirdos that are like, oh my god, they’re playing [that song], you know what I mean? So I think we’re in a great place that we can do both.”

Watch the Black Crowes’ ‘Profane Prophecy’ Video