Though the seats in Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium were empty on Friday, the stage was transformed into a club-like setting for Three Girls Rock Into A Bar.
About 50 people sat on the stage and watched Natalie Stovall, Kelleigh Bannen and Ruthie Collins — all backed up by Stovall’s band, The Drive — perform their personal hits, as well as cover songs from fellow country musicians.
Stovall started off the night with her song “Heartbreak,” but Collins and Bannen did not leave the stage — the singers sang backup for their friend and tourmate.
“I can’t tell you how fun this tour is for us,” Stovall said.
Stovall performed her songs “Mason Jar,” a soulful tune called “Girl Tonight” and “We Are.” The singer showed off her fiddle-playing capabilities by covering “The Devil Went Down To Georgia,” a song made famous by the Charlie Daniels Band.
Before Bannen sang her first song, “Smoke When I Drink,” she gave a shout-out to her mother- and father-in-law who were in the audience.
Bannen’s mother-in-law, Connie Grossman, graduated from Ohio University in 2002 with a master’s degree in higher education. Grossman said she took most of her classes through the Lancaster branch and had not been to Athens since graduation. Grossman now resides in Westerville, about an hour and a half away from Athens.
Friday’s performance was the first time Grossman had seen Bannen perform with Stovall and Collins, she said. She does not get to see her daughter-in-law perform very often, she added.
“I’ve probably seen about eight (of Bannen’s) shows,” Grossman said. “I was just tickled to see her.”
Bannen played her songs “Famous,” — which has been streamed over two million times on Spotify — “Landlocked” and “Cheap Sunglasses.”
After Collins performed her songs “Boys and Beaches” and “Trainwreckin,” the band left the stage. Collins strapped on her acoustic guitar and performed a stripped-down, acoustic song titled “Dear Dolly.”
Collins said she and a couple other songwriters — including Stovall — sat down and wrote the song in the midst of highs and lows in their lives. For Collins, it was a low point. She had just turned in an album to her label, which had said the record was good, but it would not produce it because “girls are just too hard to break” into the country music industry, Collins said.
Searching for inspiration, they wrote a letter to Dolly Parton — whom they had never met but admired — and turned it into a song.
When Collins ended the ballad, Bannen and Stovall rejoined her on the stage for a cover of Parton’s “Jolene.” A smooth transition from that song led them into “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town, which Bannen took the lead vocal on.
The three artists also performed a '90s country medley with songs by Shania Twain, Jo Dee Messina, Trisha Yearwood and Pam Tillis.
However, they were not restricted to the stage. The women walked off the stage and huddled around one microphone to sing “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” which was originally sang by John Denver.
The artists ended with a cover by another trio — Pistol Annies — titled “Hell on Heels.”
Andrew Holzaepfel, the senior associate director of student activities, said he liked the setup of the show and the performances, but wished more people had attended.
“I think from a musical standpoint it was amazing,” Holzaepfel said. “I would have liked to see a little more people.”
