ERNEST gives a colourful tour of his slice of the American South on this seven-pack of tunes, whose title has more to do with Southern living than it does a live performance. Just check out the title track, which sets the scene for a different kind of sonic experience, one led by “crickets in the trees and the birds and the bees”, situated “on the south side of that Mason-Dixon line”. Such imagery abounds on Live from the South, which lets the Nashville-born singer-songwriter dig into his roots and celebrate the fertile creative soil that nurtured his hit-making artistry. “Blessed” pays tribute to ERNEST’s grandfather and the “little piece of the promised land” he bought his family. You can hear the pride and gratitude in his voice as he sings of one day passing that same land down to his own children. An in-demand pen-for-hire turned solo artist, ERNEST is a great vocalist, too, turning in deceptively easeful performances on tracks like “Hate a Small Town”, on which he channels the slick soulfulness of Thomas Rhett, and “I’ll Be Around”, an old-fashioned joint that recalls John Prine.