Boots & Hearts 2013 Spotlight: Country Music Legend, Joe Diffie

Picture this: The sun is shining, there are thousands of people sitting and standing within sight and ear shot of the Boots & Hearts Main Stage and the opening notes of 3rd Rock From The Sun come over the speakers through live instruments.

If you’ve been a country music fan for as long as I have (and really, 20 years isn’t that long) you were probably transported back in time. That’s what Joe Diffie did this weekend. He took country music fans back to his heyday and it was an awesome ride to be on.

When Pickup Man (it’s about trucks, not pick-up artists) came on the 12 year old inside of me smiled while the 31 year old sang along with reckless abandon. And I wasn’t alone. It was amazing to see and hear so many voices singing along to country hits that aren’t less than 3 years old.

There were 2 great moments in the middle of the set that I want to write down so I remember them.

1) Joe Diffie and his band cover the chorus of Jason Aldean’s hit 1994 which goes like this: 1994, Joe Diffie comin’ out my radio, I’m just a country boy with a farmer’s tan, So help me girl I’ll be your Pickup Man, How ’bout a night to remember and a fifth of Goose, ‘Bout to bust out my honky-tonk attitude, A little feel good you ain’t never felt before, I’m talkin’ 1994, Hey Joe, Joe, Joe Diffie – Joe, Joe, Joe Diffie – Joe, Joe, Joe Diffie 

The crowd loved it, they sang along as loud as they could and it was a really fun moment.

2) Diffie pays tribute the great and now gone, George Jones with a cover of He Stopped Loving Her Today. The crowd was into it. The cheer when he finished singing was fantastic and felt like more than just applause for the performance, Jones was getting some love in Bowmanville.

The set ended with what I consider to be the greatest hick love song of all time, John Deere Green. If you don’t know the song I’ll wrap it up for you, a boy (Billy Bob) falls in love with a girl (Charlene) and decides to declare his feelings in graffiti. However, rather than use a typical red like the whole town suggested, Billy Bob used John Deere Green to write Billy Bob Loves Charlene in letters 3 feet high and she loved it. Bonus, it always showed through no matter how it was painted over and works as a metaphor for everlasting love!

I love that damn song and the rest of the Diffie setlist too. It was a great show from a country legend. I can’t wait to see who they bring in next year to give us that same feeling.

Work Hard, Play Harder, Be Awesome.