Cohen Community Series presents
Scotty McCreery

It’s been a decade since Scotty McCreery burst onto the international stage with honest, relatable lyrics and smooth-as-velvet vocals. A down-to-earth demeanor that endears fans around the world, McCreery just released his highly anticipated fifth album, Same Truck, featuring 12 songs, with 10 co-written by him. The North Carolina native was catapulted into stardom when, at 17, he won season 10 of “American Idol” in 2011. He was both the first country artist and youngest male artist at the time to debut their first project at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart.

Since then, McCreery has earned a Platinum and two Gold albums, sang for a president, opened for Garth Brooks, toured with Old Dominion, Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts, wrote a book (Go Big or Go Home: The Journey Toward the Dream), and made Steve Harvey laugh on “Celebrity Family Feud.”

On Same Truck, his warm bass vocals resonate with an emotional depth as he tells stories that touch hearts and bring people together. The album’s first single, “You Time,” recently climbed to the top of the country radio charts and he has just released the second single, “Damn Strait.” Whether he’s singing about loss (“The Waiter”), love (“You Time”), passion (“That Kind of Fire”) or faith (“How Ya Doin’ Up There?”), he pulls audiences into every one of his songs with an openness that has them singing along, eager to see what’s next.

Tickets start at $25. A limited number of VIP tickets are available for $155. Get the best seats at the best price when you buy early. (VIPs will be notified closer to the concert date if COVID protocols cause a change in plans.) Get the best seats at the best price when you buy early.

The Cohen Community Series was inaugurated in 2008 through a gift from Jon Stewart, former vice chairman of the JCCC Board of Trustees, JCCC alumnus and former president of Metcalf Bank. It was established in honor of the late Barton P. Cohen, president of Metcalf Bancshares, vice chairman and general counsel of Metcalf Bank and an attorney with Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin LLP.

Previous Cohen Community Series presenters have included Phil Vassar, Josh Turner, Lonestar, Sawyer Brown, Tracy Lawrence, Diamond Rio, George Will, Marcus Buckingham and Vince Gill.

All proceeds for this event go to JCCC scholarships and educational programs. No discounts apply.

Same Truck

The North Carolina native’s newest album started as something much different than it turned out. “We recorded a bunch of songs pre-pandemic and thought we had the album just about ready… and then the world shut down,” says McCreery. “I wound up… creating almost a whole new album from the perspective of reflecting on my last decade, yet also keeping an eye towards where I want to go.”

McCreery’s wife, Gabi, is the inspiration for the album’s love songs, which celebrate a couple who met the first day of kindergarten, dated in high school and married in June 2018. The steel-drenched country weeper, “Damn Strait,” cannily honors country music icon George Strait even as the singer bemoans the loss of his lover, associating Strait’s songs with her. “Every country fan has a George Strait story, and everyone has a memory attached to their favorite songs,” McCreery says.

Continuing with a ’90s country theme, McCreery wrote “It Matters to Her” with Rhett Akins and Lee Thomas Anderson. “The ’90s is my favorite era of country music, so writing with Rhett was perfect for this song.” Cascading guitars and shimmering keys create an airy and transportive atmosphere in “The Waiter,” a story of loss and enduring love that may cause a few tears. 

“It’ll Grow on Ya,” one of two songs on the album not written by McCreery, celebrates living at a slower pace, appreciating nature’s beauty and knowing your neighbors. “Carolina to Me” reflects McCreery’s love for his home state. Same Truck closes with “How Ya Doin’ Up There?” which forms a fitting bookend to the title track with soaring gospel-inflected tones in the chorus.