Rudy Grant WOWs 'em in England
After reading a number of articles from the "Country Comment", Glouchester, England, Rudy Grant was welcomed with open arms at the Station Hotel, Swindon Silver Dollar, the Stagecoach Country Music Club, the Nostalgia Country Music Club, the El Paso Club and the Barton St. Fayre. Touring with his English friend, Dusty Rhodes, Rudy played and sang his way through the Glouchester countryside in early September of this year. Rudy was so well received that he will be returning there to hold one of his CD release parties in May of 2003. Rudy sat in with a number of English country bands singing and playing his own style of country music. After appearing at one or two clubs, he had formed a following which made their way to the rest of his gigs. With these appearences and his on stage performances in Las Vegas, Rudy Grant is really becoming an international presence in Country Music.
This article was published in the November 2002 edition of the Colorado Country Connection
Colorado Performers Strike Gold In Nebraska
During the week of October 14th, the town of Hastings Nebraska hosted the Nebraska Country Music Festival. This highly attended festival is an opportunity for country music performers from all over the United States to compete and/or just entertain. There was a gospel group from Chicago, an Indian troupe from Ohio, a George Jones impersonator, and singers from all age groups from six to seventy. Four performers from Colorado: Kay Clark, Glen Brookins, Karen Osburn, and Clip Cookson, drove to Hastings on September 16th and were proud to represent Denver as part of Rudy Grant's Country Music Showcase.
Starting on the morning of the 17th, they joined up with Rudy and he put them through a grinder of musical events. These included restaurants, senior center complexes, shopping malls, and the Adams County Fairgrounds in Hastings. Early in the morning, Karen, Kay and Glen were interviewed at local radio station KRGI, and Karen's songs from her CD "A Man I Love" were placed on the stations playlist and are now part of their daily show. At the fairgrounds show on Thursday night, the complete Rudy Grant Showcase consisted of Rudy as lead vocal and guitar, Kay Clark as vocalist, Danny Barnes as vocalist and guitar, Karen Osburn on bass and vocals and Clip Cookson on steel guitar. Kay Clark, who is now a perennial favorite at the festival, knocked over a packed house with her South Wales accent and fine vocal renditions.
The ever-popular Rudy Grant wowed the room with songs from his almost completed but highly secret CD. Danny Barnes not only sang and played guitar, but also provided dance demonstrations with a number of different partners. On the steel, Clip proved that Nebraska folks appreciated some authentic country sounds. Glen sold Karen's CD and carefully video taped the shows. Karen Osburn was the featured vocalist of the showcase, and took Nebraska by storm, but more about that later! After the Thursday show, Rudy used his personal popularity and prestige to persuade a local Italian restaurant to open after hours and provide a four-star meal for just the members of the showcase and a few friends. Way too much food was consumed. On Friday, the day of the competition, there were no seats available after 5:00 p.m., even though events didn't start until 7:00.
This smoothly operated contest would last until 2:00 a.m. and included a professional band and soundman to aid the participants. This was a night for Karen Osburn. She added Cookson's steel guitar to the regular back-up band, sang and played both the drums and bass. Later in the evening, she was asked to play with the gospel band from Chicago. It cooked! The enthusiastic crowd responded by giving her an armfull of trophies for songwriter of the year, best female vocalist, and top professional instrumentalist of the year. The evenings events were crowned by Rudy Grant's winning a huge trophy for Male Vocalist of the Year in a field of incredible competition. After the events concluded, Glen Brookins held one of his "no expenses spared" parties at his hotel room. They also found out that Glen had recorded 2 shows with no tape in the camera.
This article was published in the November 2002 edition of the Colorado Country Connection |
|
