Prestonsburg —
After decades on the road making fans happy with a style of music unlike any other, Goose Creek Symphony founder Charlie Gearhart says he takes each proposed tour one season at a time.
“I never know until the spring,” Gearhart said this week, reflecting on the number of times he has been asked if the next tour will be the band’s last.
Celebrating his 71st birthday in mid-August, Gearhart maintains it isn’t the music but the “music business” that makes him feel his age.
“My body will be 71, in my mind I’m only 21,” he said, laughing.
Gearhart said he and the rest of the band named for a rural road in Floyd County have been having a blast on their 2010 tour, although they have cut back on the number of club appearances they typically book during a summer tour.
“The shows have been great. We’ve been doing mostly outdoor festival-type stuff and it has been awesome,” Gearhart said, noting the recent annual Goose on the Lake festival in Allegre was an outstanding weekend for the musicians and fans alike.
“We’ve had big crowds. Goose on the Lake was really good this year,” he said, adding the band was recently recorded for the PBS show “Jammin at Hippie Jack’s,” although the program isn’t expected to be shown for several months because the editing process is not completed.
Goose Creek enthusiasts, a multigenerational fan base often known as Goose Heads, will have two chances to see the band perform this weekend — Friday evening at Cosmic Charlie’s in Lexington and Saturday evening at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg. Both shows will feature an opening act by the Deadstring Brothers, whose latest release “Sao Paulo” has been receiving critical acclaim and praise from fans.
Gearhart said fans should be familiar with everyone on the GCS stage.
“John Perry will not be with us. We will have Kevin Arrowsmith on fiddle. Otherwise, it is the same guys,” Gearhart said, noting many of the band’s members have been making music together since the group’s first days together.
The singer/songwriter and symphony founder, who had voiced his concern about a lack of new songs from his imagination a few years ago, said he is pleased to say he seems to have several new tunes in the works.
“I have about four new tunes, but I haven’t been able to finish them,” he said, adding there’s an “off the record” rendition of an audience-participation verse he hopes to include in one of the new melodies.
Performing in his home territory, Gearhart said he always feels a personal pressure to provide the best show possible.
“I wish it was as easy as sitting on the front porch,” he said. “Up there ... I just really want to sound good for the folks back home. I just love coming back home to play.”
Tickets for the show at the MAC are $19. A spokesman for the entertainment facility advised fans to visit macarts.com for their choice of seats, and added tickets will also be available at the box office. Saturday’s show starts at 8 p.m.
TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2651.
Lifestyles
Related Photos
-
Charlie Gearheart brings his Goose Creek Symphony to Lexington on Friday and to the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg Saturday. Photo by John Flavell John Flavell/The Independent
-
Charlie Gearheart, center, is bringing The Goose Creek Symphony back to the region with a Friday show in Lexington, and at The Mountain Arts Center Saturday night in Prestonsburg. John Flavell/The Independent
-
Bob "Willard" Henke joins the rest of Goose Creek Symphony this week for shows in Lexington and Prestonsburg. John Flavell/The Independent
Discussion
Symphony is unfinished
Goose Creek to play Mountain Arts Center in Floyd on Saturday
- Lifestyles
-
-
Come on in!
It’s time to grab a towel, some sunscreen and your shades — pools in the Tri-State are nearing their opening dates and are bound to provide some days of fun this summer.
-
Works of arf!
The Huntington Museum of Art is celebrating the city’s new dog park by offering the exhibit “Fine Arf,” which will open Saturday.
-
'Photo extravaganza'
At times, photographer Tom Worden can be hard pressed to find the words to describe his work.
-
Beau Smith
Beau Smith, 57, of Kenova, is a comic book writer for DC Comics, Image Comis, IDW Publishing and is vice president of marketing for Eclipse Comics.
-
Exploding interest!
Decades ago, reading comic books was a simple pastime for children.
That’s not so today. -
Watercolor classes planned this summer
Artists Bruce and Lillianne Bowersock will offer their first Watercolor Dreams Summer Art School on Fridays beginning June 4 and continuing through the last Friday in July.
-
In defense of women
A self-defense course for women attracted a good crowd last week at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
-
Remembering the past
Memory Days return to Grayson May 18 through 27.
-
Exhibit will focus on modern Mexico
The Huntington Museum of Art will present a new exhibit titled “Modern Mexico: Works from the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University” through Aug. 5.
-
Highway 23 Yard Sale upcoming
The Country Music Highway isn’t the only thing that winds its way through several counties in Kentucky.
- More Lifestyles Headlines
-
Come on in!
Raw Video: Hail Storm Batters Oklahoma City
California's Foie Gras Ban About to Begin
6-Year-Old Going to National Spelling Bee
Video Essay: Funky Winkerbean Comic Turns 40
On Thailand Trip, Suu Kyi Visits Migrants
Raw Video: Pink Diamond Auctioned for $17.4M
Hurricane Andrew Remembered, 20 Years Later
Sister Says She Reported Brother in Patz Killing
Patz Suspect's Sister: I Went to Police in 1980s
Diplomatic Expulsions Follow Fresh Syria Report
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
