Bob Wills, generally known as the King of Western Swing – the Official State Music of Texas, can have his birthday celebrated in a particular occasion happening at 6 p.m. Monday, March 6 for $35 per ticket at The Texan in Athens.
This dinner occasion with a silent public sale is a partial fundraiser for the Bob Wills Heritage Foundation and can embody a live performance that includes Jody Nix & the Texas Cowboys and The Western Flyers.
March 6 is Bob Wills Day in Oklahoma, the place Wills is from, and so they host a gala on the state capitol. The native committee organizing the Athens birthday bash “felt it was only fitting to celebrate his birthday in Texas” and Will’s daughter Carolyn is thrilled it will likely be began right here.
Wills was born on March 6, 1905 and thru the years fashioned a number of bands and performed radio stations across the South and West till he fashioned the Texas Playboys in 1934 who recorded with a number of publishers and firms.
The Texas State Legislature has honored Wills for his contribution to American music and in 1972, Wills accepted a quotation from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in Nashville.
Wills is certainly one of 11 folks within the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. His daughter, Carolyn, began the Bob Wills Heritage Foundation after she went to the Grammy awards where her father was posthumously awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award, as Wills was a huge, influential force among musicians, as well as the first person to have drums on the Grand Ole Opry.
The two bands that will be playing the Bob Wills Birthday Bash are no strangers to his musical influence.
Jody Nix grew up playing drums in his father’s band, started enjoying fiddle at age 11, and commenced singing at 16. In 1973, Nix recorded with Wills as a visitor artist on 3 songs for Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys’ “For The Last Time” album.
Nix has 11 albums of his own to his credit, plays over 100 dates a year with his band, and has played the Bob Wills Day Celebration in Turkey, Texas for 47 years. Gene Autry presented Nix with the Western Heritage Wrangler Award for his outstanding contribution to western music.
The Western Flyers, dubbed “The Biggest Little Band in the Land,” is a powerhouse Western swing & country trio who serve up an irresistible, unmistakable Texas-style sound popularized by Bob Wills with an electrifying energy all their own.
“Along with my Flyers bandmates Ridge and Matthew, we strive to capture the spirit and authentic detail that Bob Wills and the great Western swing musicians before us had, but with our own fresh take on the music,” says rhythm guitar and vocalist Joey McKenzie. “I like to think if Bob Wills could walk in the room and hear us play, he’d say ‘I like what you boys have done with my music.”
Featuring Western swing master Joey McKenzie on rhythm guitar & vocals, champion fiddler Ridge Roberts, and upright jazz bassist Matthew Mefford, the award-winning Flyers are guaranteed to have you swinging on the dance floor.
Those who have attended the Old Fiddlers Reunion will also recognize Ridge Roberts as he has won the contest as both a child and an adult. The Flyers were also selected by the United States State Department to represent the U.S. and American music at the 2021 World’s Fair in Dubai 2021.
More information about the event can be found at www.TheTexanAthens.com/Shows.
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