Get ready to raise your Bic lighters and look out, Neil Young — Southern rock stalwart Lynyrd Skynyrd is coming to Edmonton Sept. 11 in the second of ten just-announced Canadian shows.
Although the band is practically the flagship of “no original band members left alive,” such Guitar Hero hits as Free Bird, Sweet Home Alabama and Dazed and Confused soundtrack highlight Tuesday’s Gone have kept the Jacksonvill, Florida, act’s music reverberating through the country fairs and retro AM radio playlists decades.
Going back to the early ’70s, former drummer Rickey Medlocke has the longest history with the band, playing guitar since 1996, while Johnny Van Zant has been the lead vocalist since ’87. And, pretty decent run, drummer Michael Cartellone has been at it since 1999.
Anyone who’s ever spent time at Big Valley Jamboree will be well familiar with the fact you really can’t walk around the grounds for more than an hour without hearing Sweet Home Alabama somewhere.