Hi, Peeps! I’ll be returning to Olde Hickory Tap Room in Hickory on Thursday, 5/24 from 9:30 pm featuring “other brothers” Brian Burton (Cast Iron Filter notoriety), Scott McCloud (Hipshack), Jeremy Shaw (Full Grown) and Phillip Whack (Taken Back). Please come out and support these phenomenal musicians whenever and wherever you get the chance.
The Tap Room and other Hickory events have been hometown staples for me and my bands. I’ve been fortunate enough to maintain a healthy working relationship with the city of Hickory having performed such events as Hickory Alive, Oktoberfest, Hickory Arts Festival, Hickory Community Theatre’s Vacation Extravaganza, and Lenoir-Rhyne’s Walk to Cure Diabetes fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation with a variety of great backing musicians including Hickory’s own Rick Cline. I’m told we had the largest Hickory Alive draw for 2005! I mention this only because it’s a good feeling knowing you have that hometown support when you return from a long, lonely stint on the road. It’s the local and hometown performances that touch me the most.
The past year has been amazing. In 2006, my friends and I appeared with Steely Dan and Michael McDonald at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater and with Universal recording artist Natalie at Charlotte Bobcats Arena (something we still laugh about). Other notable ’06 appearances, mostly with Brian and Scott (Hipshack), include Carolina Panthers Bank of America Stadium, the J.E. Broyhill Civic Center Hometown/Homegrown Showcase, 107.9 FM The Link Live Music Lunch at Wachovia Plaza in Charlotte, the Biltmore Estate, Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Paramount’s Carowinds and the Charlotte Coliseum. The band also earned the honor of being acknowledged in Modern Bride Magazine as one of the 150 best bands for hire in the United States.
God, family, friends, and fans. In that order! I couldn’t do what I do without such a strong support system. Thank you. It’s difficult to make a career out of setting your experiences to music and selling it. It’s by God’s grace that I’ve been able to do it for so long, especially with the love and support of my wife.
Olde Hickory Tap Room makes you feel right at home with great food, great service, and a warm and friendly atmosphere. The Tap Room proudly presents the very best and freshest beers in North Carolina from Olde Hickory Brewery. Olde Hickory Tap Room is home to “Jazz on Tap,” presented by Rick Cline every Sunday evening from 8 pm.
Thursday, 5/24/2007 Olde Hickory Tap Room HICKORY, NC from 9:30 pm
222 Union Square
Downtown Hickory, NC 28601
828-322-1965
oldehickorybrewery.com
Brian Burton on drums is a graduate of Berklee College of Music; acting “Head of Drum Instruction” at RIT Music in Grand Rapids, MI; Studied with Dave DiCenso, Rod Morgenstein, and Kenwood Dennard; awarded the NHCMA Rising Star Instrumentalist of the Year for his work with Brooke Starr in 1999 brianburtondrummer.com
Jeff Hartman on keys/vox is an ASU alumnus. Jeff has worked professionally as a musician for over a decade in Hickory and surrounding areas, having appeared in recent years with Steely Dan and Michael McDonald at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. Hartman just wrapped production on the revival of “Streets of Hickory” on the heels of earning Best Actor in competition at the 2006 North Carolina Theatre Conference for his stage work in “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.” He is currently finishing his third solo studio album and reprising his 1997 Green Room role as Bill Sykes in “Oliver!” for director Cathy Stallings and Creative Arts Shoestring Theatre. jshartman.com
Scott McCloud on bass earned a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas in 1998, Bachelor of Music in Performance from Winthrop University in 1994; Down Beat Magazine Student Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Soloist in 1993 scottmccloud.net
Jeremy Shaw on guitar is a performing, recording, and songwriting artist based in Charlotte, NC having studied composition and performance at Berklee College of Music in Boston. jeremyshaw.com
Phillip Whack on saxophone completed jazz studies at Brevard College eventually touring with the Glenn Miller Orchestra throughout the continental United States and Japan. Whack returned to Columbia in 2004 then Charlotte in 2006 and has been performing regionally.
God bless you and thank you for supporting performing arts. I can’t say it enough.