September 18, 2013
The Whatley Center for the Performing Arts will host an evening of Texas Country on Tuesday, Sept. 24 with a double-feature concert including Whiskey Myers and Bri Bagwell.
The show begins at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $5 for students and $15 for adults. The show is general admission and reservations are recommended, but not required. Call 903-434-8181 to hold your tickets.
"Texas Country is a huge influence in this area. We are excited about bringing this unique brand of music to the stage of the Whatley Center," Carolyn Franks, Direct of the Whatley Center, said.
As their chemistry onstage and in the studio reflect, Whiskey Myers is a brotherhood. The five members cut their teeth together, honing their chops side-by-side from an early age. Hailing from the Palestine, Texas area, Cannon was given an acoustic guitar by his grandpa, and guitarist John Jeffers?s dad taught them both the rudiments of the instrument. A job at a sporting goods store introduced Cannon to future Whiskey Myers lead guitarist Cody Tate, forming the songwriting core of the band. Upon moving to Tyler, Texas, they picked up drummer Jeff Hogg and enlisted Cannon?s cousin Gary Brown on bass?even though he?d never played the instrument before.
In that tradition, Whiskey Myers are grand southern eclectics, pulling in an array of influences and seamlessly mingling them. Listeners can pick up traces of everything from grunge to rockabilly in the course of a set, united by Cannon?s soulfully heartfelt singing and Brown and Hogg?s solid, supple foundation. On top of it all, Tate and Jeffers intertwine their leads, soaring in harmony one moment, darting around one another in intricate improvisations the next. † Sure, they?re rousing?just cue up ?Bar, Guitar, and a Honky Tonk Crowd? or ?Turn It Up? for a dose of pile-driver intensity. But they?re range is wide and expanding to encompass touching pleas like ?Broken Window Serenade? and the acoustic stomp of ?Anna Marie.?
Bri Bagwell†launched†onto the national music scene as a competitor on CMT's Next Superstar in 2011. Bagwell came in fourth in the competition and developed a loyal fan following.†Bagwell grew up on a large animal farm in Las Cruces, N.M., with older twin brothers. Throughout her childhood, she performed alongside her musician brothers as part of the trio Bri Bagwell and the Band of Brothers in a specially-built music studio on the side of their farmhouse. Bagwell attended the University of Texas Austin and graduated from the McCombs†School of Business in 2009. †In 2010, she decided to put a career in marketing on hold in order to make her dream of being a singer/songwriter come true.
