Oliver Anthony concert, Longwood University: Columnist shares experience, 30+ images

Have you heard about Virginia-born singer-songwriter Oliver Anthony? His song "Rich Men North of Richmond" rocketed him to stardom. I scored a ticket to his sold-out concert at Longwood University on October 28.

Anthony of Farmville and two local musicians Joey Davis of Hopewell and Caleb Dillard of Colonial Heights performed the first concert in the newly-opened, 3,000-seat Joan Perry Brock Center.

The legal name for the country-folk singing, ginger-bearded man who performed barefooted is Christopher Anthony Lunsford. His stage name honors his late grandfather Oliver Anthony Ingle who grew up in Appalachia in the 1930s. Anthony's three dogs and Bible accompanied him on stage. Before he sang, he recited a Bible verse, like he usually does.

Timothy Hatley of Chase City eagerly waited in line to see Anthony perform. He had a Sharpie ready to roll hoping it would be used by Anthony to autograph $1 bills and photos of the viral singing sensation.

'I was absolutely hooked when I heard Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond," Hatley said. "I knew that as soon as he was somewhere close, I was going to get a ticket."

Hatley had a tough time purchasing a ticket online. On his first attempt, he got knocked off at least three times, two times at checkout. After about 25-30 minutes in panic mode, he eventually got one.

"For someone to come out of nowhere and have a song hit number one on the Billboard, that's something Elvis didn't even do," Hatley said. "To me, this is kind of like 1955 or '56 when he was first starting out. If you could get a ticket to see Elvis, who wouldn't have wanted to have done that?"

How in the world was I able to purchase a ticket the night before Anthony's concert? Unfortunately, someone's agony became my blessing. Suzanne Hudgins, my friend Mike Hudgins's mom, ended up not being able to spend her birthday evening at the concert due to a bad back.

I didn't get to spend much time with Mike and his family since I fluttered around most of the time to capture scenes for our readers such as Anthony mingling with fans, paper airplanes made from lyric pages soaring in the pit area, and Dillard performing in a banana costume.

Anthony Valente of Harrisonburg, Va. yelled to Dillard, "Play 'Banana Man!'"

Oliver Anthony: Wears his heart on his sleeve

Anthony is an open book on Facebook at Oliver Anthony Music which has 1.4 million followers. His cover image is a dollar bill with his autograph and the words "Ain't Shit," which references his lyric "Cause your dollar ain't shit and it's taxed to no end" from the song which put him on the map.

The extremely humble man wears his heart on his sleeve. I like how he "says and sings" like he "sees and feels" it. Do yourself a favor and watch his "It's a pleasure to meet you" and "It's a pleasure to meet you - part 2" YouTube videos.

On YouTube, Anthony states his music-making goal, "I started getting messages from people saying things like how much the music was helping them, you know... with their struggles in their lives. It just gave me a purpose. It made me feel like I wasn't just wasting my time."

Anthony decided at all costs "no matter what" he was going to write, create and produce as much original, authentic music as he could to help people who need it.

"I meet a lot of people across the country and the universal thing I see is that. It's like no matter how hard they push and how much effort they put into whatever it is they're doing; they just can't seem to quite get ahead. The dollar is not worth enough, it's being over-taxed, People are just sick and tired of being sick and tired," Anthony shared on YouTube.

Anthony wants to be a voice for all humans and some of the struggles and the battles they go through. He stated he "sits pretty dead-center in politics and always has."

"It's very inspiring to see someone stay true to their word and speak or sing about how they actually feel, " Anthony Shoop of Richmond said.

How did I like the concert? I thought it was great! I'm a fan of country, folk and bluegrass music. I love the raspiness of Anthony's voice, and the sound of his resonator guitar. Honestly, I'm more into how a song sounds and not so much about the lyrics. Hey, what do you get when you play a country song backwards? You get your wife, dog and job back. Ha! The trio sounds wonderful together. Dillard's voice reminds me of the late Johnny Cash's.

Farmville: North Street Press Club

In the ladies room, I spotted a flier for the Oliver Anthony After Party at the North Street Press Club. Since I had been wanting to check out the "Press," I stopped by and had fun looking at all Halloween costumes while I snarfed down a Clarence Page burger made with brie, caramelized onion, fig jam, bacon, garlic aioli and arugula. That burger is on time! I had to drive over an hour to get home, so I left before Anthony arrived. He was probably autographing shirts, hats, cups, Little Debbie Fudge Round boxes and other keepsakes for his fans.

On Farmville's Main Street, I spotted a butterfly mural painted by Carley Fetty. Yes, I stopped; I couldn't resist. Former Gannett reporter Gabrielle Saulsbery of Travelers Rest, S.C. who just happened to walk by was more than happy to take my photo. It sure is a small world. She had just parked and was on her way to the After Party.

Be one of Anthony's millions of followers on TikTok @oliveranthonymusic. On Instagram, follow Anthony @Oliver_Anthony_Music_, Davis @joeydavis.music and Dillard @calebgraysondillard.

Visit oliveranthonymusic.com to learn more about the overnight celebrity and to purchase tickets to his "Out of the Woods" 2024 World Tour. As of November 20, the only Virginia stop out of 40-plus is Friday, May 17 at Meadow Event Park in Doswell. Good luck snagging one! Read this story online at Progress-Index.com to view my gallery with 30-plus images.

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— Kristi K. Higgins aka The Social Butterfly, an award-winning columnist, is the trending topics and food Q&A reporter at The Progress-Index voted the 2022 Tri-Cities Best of the Best Social Media Personality. Have a news tip on local trends or businesses? Contact Kristi (she, her) at khiggins@progress-index.com, follow @KHiggins_PI on Twitter @socialbutterflykristi on Instagram.

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This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Oliver Anthony concert: Columnist shares experience, 30+ images