The Turnpike Troubadours performed at City Limits in Stephenville on Saturday, Jan. 28, and the crowd was there in full force for the show.

The band from Oklahoma is a hybrid of folk, bluegrass, country and rock. It consists of Evan Felker on harmonica, acoustic guitar and lead vocals, Kyle Nix on fiddle, acoustic guitar and backup vocals, R.C. Edwards on bass guitar, Ryan Engleman on lead guitar, and Gabriel Pearson on drums.

In 2011, the band had “Best Album” at the Gruene With Envy with their sophomore album titled “Diamonds and Gasoline.” Their first, titled “Bossier City,” came out in 2007.

The band came on at 11 p.m. to greet shouting fans who were clapping and hoisting beer bottles in the air after opening band Shane Smith was done. The Turnpike Troubadours came on and played one of their newer songs called “Gin Smoke and Lies.” While they were playing this song, front man, Felker, looked timid, almost like a deer caught in headlights though his voice and guitar playing were both steady.

The look in his eyes changed to show people that he knew what he was doing when the band broke into their third song of the night, which was one of their first radio cuts called “Every Girl.” The crowd instantly recognized the song from the first line “Well, she was born in the morning” and sang along word for word with the band. From there, the alternative folk band had the crowd in their hands with every song they played.

The fifth song they played was also a radio cut off of their “Diamonds and Gasoline” album called “7 & 7.” Once again, the rowdy crowd was yelling, screaming and singing from the beginning guitar until the very end.

Then, it came time for the band to show their bluegrass chops with a song called “Dorreen.” Felker admitted the song was fast. He warned the two-steppers about how fast the song was, and if they wanted to dance to it, they had better be good. A few songs later, Felker left the stage to give the band some spotlight and let fiddler Nix have the reins on vocals. After that song, Felker returned the favor and let the band have a break while he acoustically played the title cut from the latest album “Diamonds and Gasoline.” Though it is a slow song about not knowing what to do when it comes to a cross road in a relationship the crowd was still into it just as much as they were when the full band was on stage.

A few songs later, the band started to play “Kansas City Southern” (also from “Diamonds and Gasoline”) but was interrupted when a fight broke out in the crowd. The band stopped playing and told security about the fight. Once it was over, the band showed extreme talent when they jumped right back into the song, just as if it were rehearsed to be like that. The next song played was a crowd favorite written by John Hartford. Felker set down his Gibson acoustic guitar and broke out his harmonica and started to jam on it while Nix fiddled the introduction to the Troubadours huge hit “Long Hot Summer Days.” Once again, the crowd sang along with the band throughout the entire song. When it came time for the chorus, the band stepped back and let the crowd sing, and just as if the crowd had taken lessons from the band themselves, the crowd yelled and sang the lyrics. As the night wore down, the band played the title track off of their first album called “Bossier City” and the crowd was just as into it as every other song the band played. After the song, the band thanked the crowd for coming out, and walked off the stage. They didn’t even make it off of the stage before the crowd pleaded and begged for one more song. The band obliged to the party-like crowd’s request and came back on stage to play the song called “Louisiana Saturday Night” made famous by the band Alabama.

After the show, the band returned the favor and hung out with the crowd, took pictures, signed autographs, and personally thanked the fans for coming out.

Even though this was the fifth time I’ve seen the Turnpike Troubadours, I was not let down at all. Every show that I’ve seen of them has been different than the previous one. The young band is very talented and at the end of the night, left me wanting more of their music. I cannot recommend seeing this band enough. It was one of the best concerts I’ve attended in quite some time.

The band plans on releasing their next album sometime in May according to their Facebook page.