See Chris Stapleton’s Mesmerizing ‘Today Show’ Performances

While his mother watched from the audience, Chris Stapleton kicked off the morning with an appearance on the Today Show, playing three songs for a large, outdoor crowd in New York City.

It was arguably the biggest pre-9:00 a.m. gig of the songwriter’s career, with an audience that stretched across Rockefeller Plaza and a camera crew that documented his performances of “Broken Halos,” “Tennessee Whiskey” and “Second One to Know.” Even so, Stapleton kept his entourage small, taking the Today stage with a backing band featuring harmony singer Morgane Stapleton, bassist J.T. Cure and drummer Derek Mixon. Absent were all three of the lineup’s occasional sidemen: pedal steel wiz Robby Turner, harmonica player Mickey Raphael and guitar-playing producer Dave Cobb.

But who needs sidemen when your core lineup covers so much ground? With a voice that could’ve rumbled the taxi-cab roofs of Manhattan’s morning commuters, Stapleton delivered his three-song set – whose selections were weighted toward this year’s Gold-certified From A Room: Volume 1 – with fury and fire, prompting Today host Hoda Kotb to ask Stapleton’s mother, “What’s in the secret sauce?” According to Mrs. Stapleton: “Chris is simply a gift from God.”

Stapleton is currently on his All-American Road Show Tour. He’ll perform in Holmdel, New Jersey, Wantagh, New York, and Bristow, Virginia, this weekend.