Whey Jennings, grandson of Waylon Jennings, will perform as the headliner of an afternoon and evening of country music at the Sullivan County Fairgrounds in Forksville on May 22.
Whey Jennings, grandson of the legendary Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, will perform in concert at the Sullivan County Fairgrounds in Forksville on Friday, May 22. Gates will open at 3 pm for an afternoon and evening of country music, food trucks, and community spirit. The event is the biggest annual fundraiser for the Sullivan County Kiwanis.
Whey Jennings is cited as a country-traditionalist by both music critics and his many fans. He pays homage to his famous family with a sound that takes audiences back to the 1970s, while making each original song and cover his own with “a booming baritone voice as big as Texas.” As a composer for Dirt Rock Empire, he had already written and recorded three EP releases from 2020 to 2023 before releasing his first full-length album, Jekyll & Hyde” in the summer of 2024.
Whey cites “faith, family and country music” as the building blocks that gave the man he has become his backbone and resolve. Even though he was often on the road as a child with his his family, which includes his uncle Shooter Jennings, Whey figured he’d settle into rural life as a cotton farmer in Texas and maybe play a gig now and then with his friends’ bands. When his mother passed away in 2012, he couldn’t ignore her lingering voice prodding him to extend his family’s legacy.
“She was telling me to go and pursue a musical career,” he recalled. “So, I did it the only way I knew how as a Jennings – the wrong way!”
Whey admits to years of too much partying and a drug-fueled lifestyle that led to addiction that he finally overcame seven years ago by finding renewed faith in God and with the unflagging love of family and friends who supported his success over his struggles. And his starkly honest songwriting and storytelling reflects those battles while also sharing the sense of rebounding joy he has discovered through recovery.
“My album Jekyll & Hyde is all about the battles we face with Good and Evil, dark and light,” he stated. “Both live within all of us. I wanted to share my perspectives of these ups and downs with y’all.”
Years of musical development coupled with turmoil and new-found sobriety that he doesn’t take for granted has brought Whey to a point in time where he feels comfortable in his own skin and with his fans. He feels that he speaks their language and is received by them as genuine. Nonetheless, he says that he has learned that music is the universal language.
“Sometimes when you say something important to people, they don’t get the message or hear the story,” Whey said. “But when you sing it to them, then tend to hear it more loudly and clearly.” That said, he loves to kick it up a notch with a high-energy approach to his own “outlaw” sound that blends his honest demeanor with unpolished grit.
On May 22, Nashville recording artist Sam Lowe (above) will help get the crowd in the mood for some boot scootin’ with a show beginning at 6 pm. As a personal friend of Whey’s, Sam has opened for him on numerous occasions, also warming up audiences for country artists like Billy Dean. Jennings will take the stage after a meet & greet at 7:30 pm.
Tickets for the Whey Jennings/Sam Lowe concert can be purchased by calling 570-209-1849 or through Eventbrite.com. No tickets are needed to enjoy the offerings of the on-site vendors.
A young Whey Jennings, seen here on stage with his famous grandfather, Waylon, grew to hone his own talents among a family widely known for pushing the “outlaw” country sound of the 1970s.