Weekend Entertainment | With Sara Evans in Town, Packard Hall Will Be a Real Fine Place

Country music star Sara Evans will make her first Mahoning Valley appearance tonight when she comes to Packard Music Hall in Warren for a 7:30 p.m. concert.

The Missouri native is known for her strong and honest voice. It’s on the lower end of the range and works perfectly for country, pop or just accompanied by a guitar and fiddle. If she has any accent at all, it’s a Midwestern one.

Evans hit it big in 2000 with her album “Born to Fly,” and followed it with a stream of radio hits that included “Suds in the Bucket,” “A Real Fine Place to Start” and “A Little Bit Stronger.”

She became a member of the Grand Ole Opry last summer.

In her most recent release, “Copy That” (2020), she put her stamp on the songs that inspired her career. She also released her memoir that year. Like the album, it’s titled “Born to Fly” – which is also a summarization of her life.

Evans reintroduced herself last week on a new episode of CMT’s “Campfire Sessions” – which was great timing for her fans in this area.

Those who have seen the show before know that “Campfire Sessions” is a descriptive title. The artists and accompanists sit in a semicircle and perform songs like they’re hanging out in the backyard. It’s a faux campfire setting in a sound studio, but you get the intimate vibe.

On the show, Evans was accompanied by her band, which includes her son, Avery, on guitar, and oldest daughter, Olivia, on backup vocals.

They’ve been touring together for at least 20 years, as Evans brought her kids with her on the tour bus when they were little tikes.

Her youngest, Audrey, also dropped in to exchange some good-natured barbs with the fam. Audrey is not a musician, but she inherited her mother’s looks and drive.

The set list for “Campfire Sessions” naturally included the songs mentioned above, as well as “Otis Redding” and “Back Seat of a Greyhound Bus.”

Tonight’s show will surely include them as well. Tickets range from $75 to $29.50 and will be available at the box office.

For a complete look at everything going on in the Mahoning Valley, check out The List.

Pictured at top: Sara Evans will play Packard Music Hall tonight.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.