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Saturday night, July 21st at Austin’s Frank Erwin Center is set to be a musical night to remember for the Capitol City’s music fans.
The sweet and soulfully upbeat Grammy-nominated Country star Cam opens for Sam Smith on the North American leg of his The Thrill Of It All tour. (The tour makes three Texas stops this week: Houston, 7/18; Dallas, 7/20 and then Austin.)
Gearing up for the release of her sophomore album, Cam has gotten a lot of attention for the album’s lead single, “Diane.” Taking Cam to new heights of success, “Diane” is already named one of the Best Songs (all-genre) of 2017 by NPR and the top 25 Best Country Songs of 2017 by Rolling Stone Country. “Diane” has also been seen on the Top 10 Country songs of 2018 by Taste of Country. “I love that song. It means a lot to me,” explained Cam. “I wrote it for people in my life who needed an apology but didn’t get one.”
A song about a woman who had an affair with another woman’s husband, Cam says she’s gotten a lot of responses from both women and men who needed to hear the lyrics, and viewed it as a ‘healing.’
“There’s not a lot of women in country radio and to have a song where two women are singing to each other and choosing honesty, it’s just a good message,” said Cam, who also recently appeared on Good Morning America, with a special recorded message just for her – from Dolly Parton. “GMA was fun. I was talking about how ‘Diane’ is kind of the flip of Dolly’s ‘Jolene’ and they played a live message from Dolly, which was amazing and terrifying at the same time!”
Cam will play “Diane” along with several other songs – some co-written by Sam Smith, at the Frank Erwin Center concert. Smith helped write several of the songs on her album, including a song called “Palace,” which Cam says has a message in it that she needed to hear for herself—a message that “real love is never a waste of time.” She says opening for Sam Smith has been a blast, and unlike any show she’s ever seen. Set with a Broadway-style stage, she describes Smith’s show as “epic and intimate.”
“It’s really been inspiring to be around him,” says the California-born Cam. “He’s a great a musician and he’s got a great crew. He’s just a great person. My crew and I have been absorbing it all.”
A Grammy award-winning English singer-songwriter, Sam Smith started topping charts in October 2012. His breakthrough single “Latch” peaked at number 11 in the UK, with songs including “Stay with Me” and “I’m Not the Only One” soon becoming U.S. hits.
Expect a great variety at the show. Up and down – fast beats and slow beats, Cam promises both her performance and Sam Smith’s performance will be “all over the place.”
“You’ll just get moved. It’s literally all kinds of people – all just feeling really drawn in to this really genuine and heartfelt music. It’s one of the best shows you’ll see. If you get a chance, you really should see it.”
Tickets for Cam and Sam Smith’s July 21 concert are still available. Saturday night’s show begins at 7 p.m.
