The Red and Black

Members of drivin' n' cryin' will play Friday at Georgia Theatre as one of a couple of shows this month. (Special - The Red & Black) [Click to enlarge]

Fans of drivin' n' cryin' should be flattered that the band's first concert of the year is in Athens.

The original members of drivin' n' cryin' - Kevn Kinney, Jeff Sullivan and Tim Nielsen - will only play one to two shows a month together this year.

For January, one includes Friday's show at Georgia Theatre.

"These concerts are kind of a limited, special thing, since we don't tour much," said Kinney, the lead singer/guitarist.

The band took a break after its last album in 1996.

The group now plays the occasional show, but the members still are involved with other projects, which gives them the excuse to not play around town as much as in the '80s.

But members of drivin' n' cryin' still know how to draw in a crowd, no matter how long of a break they take.

Even though the band has been around since 1985, Kinney said the members are able to keep the occasional concerts fresh, since the group plays two to three songs from one of its nine albums at its concerts.

"We play different versions of the songs - some longer, shorter, faster or acoustic," Kinney said. "We play mostly older songs that people know. We want to give people what they want to hear - it's fun."

Wilmot Greene, owner of Georgia Theatre, said at past shows there has been a mix of the fan base in the audience and the band does a good job of playing songs people want to hear.

"There are older fans too but mostly students when we play in college towns," Kinney said.

The band said it wants to make sure it's entertaining the audience Friday night.

"We don't want to bum anyone out," Kinney said. "The crowd will be able to reminisce about the old songs they hear. We are a rock band, and we are here to entertain. These concerts are just for fun."

Christian Greenwood, an employee at School kids Records, said not many tickets have been sold so far.

But Greenwood said not selling many advance tickets is normal for a drivin' n' cryin' show.

He said he thought Georgia Theatre would probably sell a lot at the door since there isn't really a new audience.

Greene said the venue typically sells a third of the tickets in advance online or at Junkman's Daughter's Brother or Schoolkids Records and the rest of the tickets at the door.

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