Kick in the New Year

Glenn Stewart

Still without a New Year’s Eve plan? Still haven’t carved up any of this fresh snow? Boom, problems solved. Hit the trails then catch Glenn Stewart in the Coppertop.

Stewart has become a Wachusett fave, playing both band shows and stripped-down acoustic sets. His brand of country music is so in line with the big guys_ think Eric Church and Jason Aldean_ that Stewart has been recording in Nashville at Fun House studio with producer  James “Bubba” Hudson. Stewart and Hudson return to Fun House in early January to continue work on what could be the singer’s next big professional step.

Stewart, who is from Auburn, has been at this for years, coming up through the local rock clubs and realizing that modern country is a lot like the classic rock and pop metal he liked performing in the first place. But the country setting let him update his writing and deliver songs that are mature without necessarily being grown up (this is a guy who can entertain a bar crowd, after all).

Stewart dug in, releasing a CD of his original country tunes a few years back just as the region’s country audience was growing at a crazy pace. He also honed a show that earned the title “Country That Kicks.”

Bridging traditional country and rock led to Stewart getting his first gig at Indian Ranch this summer, where he was called upon to open for Grand Funk Railroad, serving as an ambassador of sorts, welcoming classic rockers into the region’s preeminent country venue.

It’s pretty cool seeing Stewart sticking to his roots while he can, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find him having outgrown the intimate setting of the Coppertop by this time next year.  

Skiing and riding for NYE begins at 4 p.m. show time in the Coppertop is 9 p.m.