Everyone loves a success story where the local guy takes the national stage. “Hometown boy makes good!” is even better when it’s more than one hometown boy.
Take Fred Myers, for instance.
Almost exactly three years ago, I wrote in this column about how my fellow Mountie from the Philipsburg-Osceola class of 1989 was going to Nashville to record a CD with, oh yeah, one of Garth Brooks’ producers. A longtime presence on the local country music scene, Myers turned down a six-year contract back in 1999 because he didn’t believe the timing was right for his family. Many might call that crazy. How many times does opportunity like that knock?
Apparently, at least twice. And this time, Fred’s answering with friends.
Myers and his band, The Redneck Majority, which comprises guitarists Nathan Jones, of Philipsburg, and Doug Beveridge, of Osceola Mills, drummer Mark Panek, of Altoona, and bassist Andy Krager, of Clearfield, recently signed with Tate Music Group, of Mustang, Okla., a division of Tate Publishing. An independent record label, Tate works with artists like Lee Greenwood and Kenny Rogers, and has signed new talent like YouTube charter and iTunes hitmaker Tiffany Alvord. A small label? Yes, but so was Big Machine Records before a little girl from Reading named Taylor Swift signed on with them.
I’d love to see Fred and his Majority become the next Tim McGraw and his Dancehall Doctors. If you want to see just what they have to offer, they’re making sure you have the chance on Saturday from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., when they’ll play for the hometown crowd at the Wagon Wheel Amphitheater in Philipsburg. Admission is $5.
Keep on trucking
If you see a lot of firetrucks and ambulances in Philipsburg today from 6 to 7 p.m., don’t be alarmed. (Although, to be fair, they will be parked at the site of the great Front Street fire of 2005.) It will actually be the Holt Memorial Library’s Touch a Truck event, an opportunity for kids and their parents to explore emergency vehicles, tow trucks, the Centre County Bookmobile and more.
Organized by the library as a family affair, the event will be a chance for kids to get up close and personal with vehicles that are usually off limits but always magnets for children. Parents, however, must be on hand for their kids’ safety. And hey, if families stop into the library and sign up for the summer reading program that started last week, or pick up some new books to add to their lists, it’s keeping everybody engaged in fun, activities and learning, all at the same time. Win, win, win.
Lori Falce writes weekly about the Rush Township/Philipsburg area. Send comments to lorifalce@gmail.com.
