Small Town News

In concert - Red-Dirt in Flint Hills

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When a new music festival debuts next month in a pasture northwest of Alma, its bands will deposit a load of red-dirt music on the Flint Hills.

The September 18-19 Flint Hills Music Festival just north of Interstate 70 on Wabaunsee Road will feature 11 groups, including two Academy of Country Music Awards nominees as headliners: the Randy Rogers Band and the Eli Young Band.

Longhorns Saloon, the Manhattan nightclub that boasts it has the biggest dance floor in Aggieville, organized the festival, which features the same sort of bands that play the bar.

Longhorns specializes in red-dirt music, an alt-country genre that takes it name from the color of the iron-rich soil of Oklahoma. However, music has spread into a regional strain of country influenced by Southern rock and jam bands, and nearly all of the Flint Hills Music Festival lineup hail from Texas.

The two headlining acts have found success in Nashville, too.

Flint Hills Music Festival

When: Sept. 18-19

Where: 32750 Wabaunsee Road, Alma, in a pasture just north of Interstate 70 and Wabaunsee Road

How much: $45 for two-day pass until Sept. 6 then $55 or $30 for one-day pass until Sept. 6 then $35

Buy how: Go to www.flinthillsmusicfest.com

The Randy Rogers Band -Rogers on lead vocal and guitar, Brady Black on fiddle, Les Lawless on drums, Jon Riichardson on bass and Geoffrey Hill on guitar - developed a huge fan base in its native Texas and beyond before it was signed in 2006 by a major label, Mercury Nashville.

Named in 2007 by Rolling Stones magazine as one of the "must-see tours of the summer", alongside such better-known groups as U2 and the Rolling Stones, the Randy Rogers Band has developed into one of the label's hottest acts. Willie Nelson, the Eagles, Gary Allan and Dierks Bentley all picked RRB as opening acts for their concerts.

When Mercury released the band's self-titled album last October, it debuted as the most-downloaded country album on iTunes and as No. 3 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, where it remained 24 weeks. Playboy magazine readers voted "The Randy Rogers Band" as Country Album of the Year in its 2008 Music Poll.

The band recently made its Grand Ole Opry debut, as well as its first appearances on the "Late Show with David Letter-man" in January and the "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in March.

The group earned a nomination for the ACM Award for Top Vocal Group along with Lady Antebellum, Little Bit Town, The Lost Trailers and the category winner, Rascal Flatts. All of this was accomplished without one Top 40 single.

The Randy Rogers Band will headline the closing day of the Flint Hills Music Festival, preceded on stage by Jared "Pete" Gill, John D. Hale, the Kyle Bennett Band, Adam Hood and Bleau Edmondson.

Headlining opening night of the festival will be the Eh Young Band, which began as an acoustic duo by vocalist and guitarist Mike Eli and guitarist James Young when they shared a dorm room as freshmen at the University of North Texas.

When fellow students Jon Jones, bass and Chris Thompson, drums, joined the group, it began building a solid fan base in the Southwest, where it filled 2,000-seat venues as a headliner and spread its fame across the country as an opener for Pat Green, Cross Canadian Ragweed and Jack Ingram.

After three Carnival Records albums, the group made its major label debut last September on Universal South Records with the release of "Jet Black & Jealous", a No. 5 entry on the Billboard Country Albums chart where it remains listed after 48 weeks. The album has produced three Top 40 singles: "Always the Love Songs", "Radio Waves" and "When It Rains".

The group made its late-night television debut on April 2 on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and subsequently appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". The group's sound, which appeals to both country and pop audiences, landed them an opening act spot with both the Dave Matthews Band and Alan Jackson.

The Eli Young Band's extensive fan base is evidenced by its nomination for the ACM Award as Top New Vocal Group or Duo, which is based on the number of fan entries on the GAC website. The Zac Brown Band won category, which also included the Lost Trailers.

Preceding the Eli Young Band on the stage on opening night of the Flint Hills Music Festival will be the Charlie Lucas Band, 80 Proof Band, Brandon Jenkins and the Casey Donahew Band.

Bill Blankenstvp can be reached at (785) 295-1284 or bill.blankenshipdicionline.com.



Copyright 2009 The Wabaunsee County Signal-Enterprise, Alma, Kansas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2009 The Wabaunsee County Signal-Enterprise Alma, Kansas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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