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Future bright for local band |
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Friday, 28 August 2009 |
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 HILLBILLY VEGAS — Pictured are: from left, front row, Angie Brown and Kerry Plummer; back row, Robb Edwards, Steve Harris, Troy Hollinger, Travis Tritt, Bryce Hammon and Johnny Reed.
By Glenda Wise
The local band Hillbilly Vegas started the first weekend in August with quite a show. They traveled to Quincy, Ill., and opened for Travis Tritt. What an amazing experience and I am glad to say I was a part of it. I have never been backstage during such a show and I had no idea how much work and how many people it takes to put together a gig like this. Although, I must say, Hillbilly Vegas handled it like the professionals they are.
Most of the band arrived in the wee hours of Friday morning and caught a couple of hours of sleep. Then it was off to do sound checks, radio interviews, autograph sessions, and the list goes on for days. They came to town to do one thing and that’s what they did. They put on a great show for their future fans of Illinois.
Hillbilly Vegas had a new opportunity in their career to prove what superstars we all know they are, but the people in Illinois had no idea. Most had never heard any of their songs and didn’t know who they were, but they gave it their best.
Steve Harris and Angie Brown, lead singers, burst onto the stage and never let up. They know how to work a crowd and by the end of the first song, the crowd was theirs. The people loved them and quickly became fans, buying t-shirts and wanting to know more about these musicians from Oklahoma.
After the concert, I was fortunate enough to sit in on some debriefing sessions with Jack Manis, the President of Sozo Productions, and Hillbilly Vegas. This was the first live show Jack has ever seen of Hillbilly Vegas and he was thoroughly impressed. He said the key ingredient he was looking for in the band was how they finished.
He said, “Not one person had a clue who you were or what you sang before you went on stage, but they knew who you were when you finished and that is what makes a great band.”
Jack said, “Sometimes it’s just an ‘it,’ that people have, and you have ‘it’.”
Look for more of Hillbilly Vegas to come, their future is bright. And, look for their new CD release soon.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 31 August 2009 )
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