Tuesday, July 1, 2008 9:03 PM CDT
Music is a family affair for festival performers
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — Country music runs in the family for the Sawyer Brothers Band.
Siblings Harold and John Sawyer are carrying on the tradition started by their father, local country music legend Marion “Buzz” Sawyer, and his Sawyer Brothers Band.
“We called our band Sawyer Brothers Band as a legacy to them,” Harold Sawyer said.
The two brothers were previously part of the Hot Set-Up band when they made their last appearance at Red, White & Blue Days.
Their current country rock band will perform at 6 p.m. Thursday as an opening act for country star Bucky Covington’s 8 p.m. show at Red, White & Blue Days in Morton Park. Entry is free and parking is available nearby at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Field.
“We used to play at Red, White & Blue Days quite often,” Sawyer said. “We are excited about coming back and playing Red, White & Blue Days again.”
The Sawyer Brothers Band is made up of Harold Sawyer, who plays drums; John Sawyer, pedal steel and lead guitar; Sonny Swisher, bass guitar; Dean “Mr. Whiskey” Walden, keyboard; and Andy Foster, lead guitar. Walden is from Homer, and the rest are Lerna natives.
Sawyer said he has been playing music with his brother and Swisher since the 1970s. They and Walden were all part of the Hot Set-Up band, which formed in the 1980s.
“We have been doing this a long time. We are just old guys having fun,” said Sawyer, joking that he played many classic songs when they were still new hits.
Each band member sings. They put their musicianship and vocal skills to work on a set list that includes original and classic songs, and country and rocks songs.
Their song list includes tunes from Merle Haggard, Blake Shelton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ray Vaughan, Charlie Daniels, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and much more.
Sawyer said he and his fellow musicians are “no strangers to being the opening act.” They have opened for the likes of Conway Twitty, Glen Campbell, Lee Greenwood, Leroy Parnell, and Mel McDaniel, who will perform at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Morton Park.
“We try to have fun when we are up there playing and hope people have fun along with us,” Sawyer said.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 348-5734.
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Billie Brant wrote on Jul 1, 2008 10:02 PM:
Great musicians! Great guys too!
I'm so glad to see them back at Red White and Blue Days. They can hold their own and then some with ANYONE!! "