TROY — It’s not every day that a national act comes to town and performs live, but Troy Fair attendees had a blast on Thursday night.
Country music duo Thompson Square performed on stage at the Lower Meadow Pavilion during the 146th Troy Fair. Keifer and Shawna Thompson gave a passionate performance and demonstrated why they are one of country music’s most charming and endearing singers. The husband and wife combined ten singles on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, including No. 1 hits such as “Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not” and “If I Didn’t Have You”.
Stormy weather threatened the venue with heavy rain around 4:30 p.m., but the audience endured and were determined to wait to see the concert. Miraculously, the rain stopped around 5:30 p.m. just before the Thompsons took the stage to thunderous applause.
“I’m sorry we brought the rain,” Shawna joked. “It’s terrible, but I knew you needed it, so maybe it was a blessing.”
During the event, they performed favorites like “Glass” and new ones like “It’s Why We Pray.” The couple also had what Shawna called an “80s moment” when they covered a country rendition of Eurythmics’ 1983 hit song, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).”
“We always love doing acoustic shows because we love telling you how the songs came about,” Keifer said. “We love the songwriters and the songwriting process.”
The two have been married for 23 years and they discussed the start of their relationship and their musical partnership. Both moved to Nashville around 1996 with dreams of becoming professional musicians. They met at Nashville Nightlife while she was sitting at the bar and he walked in.
“I noticed it because he was just from Oklahoma, he had his cowboy hat on and starch wrangler jeans,” Shawna said.
He introduced himself to her and asked her if she wanted to play pool.
“I didn’t tell him my dad owned a pool hall when I was a kid,” Shawna said. “I beat him that night and we’ve been together ever since.”
They shared how they took a break from music for the past few years to start their family. Their son Cooper was born in 2016.
“It was super important to us and we wanted all of our attention to be on our awesome son who is here tonight,” Shawna said.
The couple performed “A Love Like This”, which has significant meaning for them.
“[Keifer] came home with this song and played it for me and I immediately started crying,” Shanwa said. “He used the heartbeat from my last sonogram of Cooper’s little heartbeat and put it in the song, so it’s always going to be super special for us.”
A funny moment happened when the song was interrupted by the announcement of Thursday night’s bull run. Keifer stopped playing and had a puzzled but pleasant expression that made the audience laugh.
He joked that he bet the fair didn’t do this to country singer Travis Tritt who performed the night before. Keifer went on to say that he loves Tritt, who is one of their favorite artists.
They loved interacting with the crowd and involving them in the musical act as well. Keifer would sing half a lyric and have the rest sung by the left side of the audience. When he joked that it wasn’t the best song he had heard, the audience burst into laughter. Shawna joked that she had the revelers on her side of the pavilion and made them sing as well. She said she wanted people to hear them from Woody’s Country Store.
The duo love to have fun and were all smiles throughout the concert. Their music is their bond and their passion, and it shows through their live performances.
Thompson Square is now on tour through October with their new single, “Country In My Soul.”
