49 Winchester makes the night count

49 Winchester may have been toiling for a good decade, but the pride of Castlewood, Va., population just north of 2,000, certainly has hit its stride.

The country, Outlaw Country and Americana sextet served up one muscular, taut fireball of a show. It all pretty much started – but didn't end – with lead singer Isaac Gibson. He looked and sounded about 20 years older than the late 20-something that he is (when he took off his cowboy hat late in the show, it was clear he wasn't that old). But he along with his band mates showed himself to be a seasoned singer and tight band with something to say from life on the road to life back home.

The small-town life theme popped up throughout the set including the mid-tempo "Leavin' This Holler," the title track of the just-released and excellent new release. Opener Maggie Antone helped out on backing vocals, giving a bit more color to the song. 49 Winchester didn't employ much by way of backing vocals for the rest of the show – well, unless you count the fans singing along.

This was a night that saw 49 Winchester get locked in more and more as the 85-minute show wore on and also varying the show sonically. They mainly rocked for a while before going straight ahead country at times and toning it down.

There's a lot more to the group, of course, than Gibson. Lead guitarist Bus Shelton provided a lot of teeth into the songs, while keyboardist Tim Hall was a musical anchor with his swirls time and again, while not overpowering the songs. Instead, underpinning it. And credit the country band for employing pedal steel (that would be Noah Patrick), something not heard so much these days in country.

The opening song of the night – "Make It Count" - may just have set the path for 49 Winchester. The rocking song contains the lines spit out by Gibson " And time flies by/And I ain't getting any younger/But I never let that hunger die down/Well, I gotta go/I gotta strike while the iron's hot/I might not get but one shot/Better make it count."

On this night anyway, a hungry, soaring 49 Winchester surely did make this a night worth counting.

Richmond, Va. singer Maggie Antone opened with a well-received solo acoustic set. Given ample time to display her talents – 45 minutes – Antone made the most of it. She has a good, elastic voice that sometimes directly recalled Megan Moroney, making you wonder what makes the difference between someone hopefully up-and-coming (Antone) vs. someone who has clearly broken out (Moroney).

Antone displayed a light touch on the smile-inducing "Mess With Texas," rattling off a bunch of states that didn't quite do it for her – until she got to Texas.

Antone seemed to have a few missteps with hitting notes on her guitar, but, otherwise, Antone proved herself to be an artist bearing watching.