Philly Braves the Cold for Kashus Culpepper

“I’m a long way from home /
It must be something about the weather, babe/
That makes me feel so alone”
— Culpepper sings to start a set that now sits sandwiched between little snow flurries and snow squalls.

Alabama native Kashus Culpepper braved the classic Philadelphia winter to perform his brand new record, Act I, in Fishtown on Friday night. Culpepper’s new record came into the world just a couple weeks ago in January; he and his band brought their southern vibes to The Foundry to share the album with the packed crowd, leading off with “Southern Man” (track one off Act I).

Touring with Culpepper right now is the Virginia singer-songwriter, Sela Campbell. At 19 years old, Campbell took hold of the intimate room with just her strong country vocals and a guitar. 

She shared songs that could take the audience back to their young adult life and the relationships that come with being young. “Because what else does a 19-year-old have to write about,” Campbell joked while introducing her song “Blonde” as a song written about a past boyfriend. However, her songwriting is also inspired by the “angry country songs” she was raised on about keying cars and whatnot (even though she would never do that herself).

Campbell captivated the audience by mixing in covers of “The House of the Rising Sun” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man” with her original songs and short personal stories to help get to know her.

Then with the house pretty full, we travelled even further south (away from the frigid temps and ice) as Kashus Culpepper and band brought good energy to the small stage. That is, until the band took a mid-set break side-stage to let Culpepper go solo for “House on the Hill” before getting personal by performing “Who Hurt You” to the audience with only his vocals and guitar.

Early in the set, “Alabama Beauty Queen” immediately established itself as not only a crowd-favorite but also worthy of a crowd sing-a-long. Before sending us back into the cold northeast winter night, Culpepper finished the night off with an encore filled with more crowd favorites including “Cherry Rose” and had some fans reaching for a souvenir set list the moment he left the stage.