ACL Music Fest Live Shots

Ryan Shaw

Ryan Shaw burst onstage with no introduction and launched into a soaring a cappella rendition of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come." The folks who had hunkered down in front of the AT&T stage eight hours early waiting for Bob Dylan were on notice – a revival was about to go down. Backed by a stripped-to-basics band, the Georgia native showcased his powerful vocals and the soulful stylings from his Sony debut, This Is Ryan Shaw. Having grown up singing in the church, Shaw's relatively new to the secular music world. The inexperience showed when the group left bassist Michael Turner alone for an extended solo, effectively killing the steam built up from the group's romping single, "Nobody." Things picked up again with a gospel-styled version of the Beatles' "Let It Be" that had aging hippies waving peace signs, a stirring cover of Wilson Pickett's "I Found a Love," and R&B stompers "Do the 45" and "Mish Mash Soul."