Raise The Roof Show to benefit Brookport Tornado Victims

Thursday, December 5th, Harrah's Metropolis will host a special show to benefit the Brookport, Illinois tornado victims.  The show starts at 7pm and runs until ? and admission in the Grand Event Center is simply a donation to the relief fund.  The show will also be broadcast live 7-9pm on The Heartland CW, channel 49, and on radio on Willie 102.1FM. Come on out, listen to some great music, and help us "Raise The Roof" to help the tornado victims!

Four bands have been slated for the event. First off, Darling Parade, an up and coming alternative rock band out of Nashville, but with strong Southern Illinois ties.  They're fantastic! Have a look.


My band, 61 South and I will also perform!

One of Paducah's hottest alternative rock bands, Oh Yeah Dakota.

And the acoustic act, Skylyne Drive. It should be a great night of music for a great cause, so come on out and help us "Raise the Roof" to help victims of the devastating Brookport tornado. 100% of ALL proceeds will go to the victims!

Telethon Night Memories

Saturday night/Sunday morning, we're honored to be taking part in our 24th Telethon of Stars on WPSD-TV.  For us, it's part charity and part family reunion as we see so many friends.  For some of them, it's the only time we see them all year, so there's lots of catching up to do.

I was trying to think of my favorite telethon memories over the years and there are many:

Several years ago, I was playing next to the "big stars" and really smoked a song. The show went to a break before country singer Michelle Wright was to sing.  She motioned me over and whispered in my ear, "I don't want to follow you anymore!"  She was really sweet.

My favorite "soap star" ever was Robin Mattson! She was a real hoot and even donated a big chunk of her talent fee back to the telethon!  Before her years on the soaps, she was a B-movie actress.  I think my favorite B-Movie of hers was "Return to Macon County."  One weird thing I noticed over the years while working the telethon is that a lot of times, the "bitch" or "evil" characters on the soaps turn out to the nicest in person.

One of my favorite bands ever on the telethon was Hank Flamingo.  They were about the time that BR-549 was burning it up with the retro county sound too,  and they were great.  I especially loved "Gooseneck Trailer."  Too bad Hank Flamingo was so short lived.  I think they only put out that one album before disbanding.

I'm not really big on Bluegrass, but I really do like Rhonda Vincent and the Rage.  We had a great time swapping out songs with them and one of her band members donated a $20 to the telethon after he yelled to us during a spot break to request an Albert King song!  The other cool part was and now is again, that my local music buddy Josh Williams was playing in her band.  Josh is a MONSTER player.

It might have been my very first telethon in 1989 when we wandered into the old Time Out Lounge at the Executive Inn to kill some time before our slot when we went to see an obscure singer performing there.  He said he was going to play his upcoming single.  We thought it was so goofy, we were giggling and laughing!   Well to show you how much I know.....the singer was Billy Ray Cyrus and the song was "Achy Breaky Heart" which only made umpteen million dollars for him when it became a hit months later.

If you'd like to see us this year, you'll need to stay up late, or set your DVR!  We're scheduled to play at 2:26AM and 3;35AM Sunday morning!  It'll be so much fun, just like it always is!  This will be the last time the full band plays this year, although I'm probably going to play some accoustic duo shows of Christmas music for the assisted living centers which I do each year!