JULY 27, 2010
BK LOUNGE

The heat seemed to be no deterrent for the faithful fans of the Stranger Creek Band tonight. As is the custom, the lounge was nearly full as the show began.

It was so good to see Sharon Miller back at her seat tonight after undergoing a hip replacement recently. Sharon reported that she is feeling really good and her hip is getting stronger all the time.

It is also good to see our friend, Roger Hawkins (MO-KAN OPRY) feeling better. He had a really busy weekend last week traveling around northwest Missouri to see the country music shows that he has been missing. WAY TO GO, ROGER!

The blog and photo below is reprinted from MO-KAN OPRY.com with the permission of Roger and Jean Hawkins. Thanks, guys!

A large crowd of dancers and listeners gathered at the BK tonight in spite of the scorching temperatures outside and as the magic hour of 6:30 arrived, Larry Dean stepped front and center to sing the familiar Johnny Cash "Folsom Prison Blues," "Old Time Rock & Roll" and Delbert McClinton's "Goin' Back To Louisiana." Gordon Riley, the group's great lead guitarist and the rest of the band, including John Malone on drums did just a super job on "Back Home Again In Indiana" and Gordon himself sounded great, singing Merle Haggard's "Big City." Gordon and the crew returned later with the "Bells Of St. Mary,' Chet Atkins' "The Old Spinning Wheel" and "Honky Tonk." "Marvelous" Marvin Bredemeier, who plays fiddle each and every Saturday night at Annie's Country Jubilee in Tonganoxie, KS was just awesome here tonight, playing "Fire On The Mountain," "Down Yonder," a medley of old fiddle tunes, "Arkansas Traveler/Ragtime Annie/Lop-eared Mule/8th of January" and "Devil's Dream."

The group's bass player and a super vocalist in her own right, Mary Bichelmeyer put her soft, sweet voice to good use, singing Pam Tillis' "Don't Tell Me What To Do," "Sentimental Old You" (our request- thanks Mary!), Patsy Cline's "Crazy Arms" and a great duet with husband Garry of Lacy J. Dalton's "Black Coffee." We had talked briefly with Dave Purcell a couple of weeks ago about an old George Jones number, "I Always Get Lucky With You" and darned if he and this great band didn't perform it perfectly here tonight and followed it closely with "Today I Started Loving You Again." Dave returned with Willie's "Help Me Make It Through The Night," "Northern Star" (a Garry Bichelmeyer tune) and a song written by Dave's father, "All The Boys You Ever Knew." And speaking of multi-talented Garry Bichelmeyer, he was in fine voice himself tonight and sang "Stand By Me" for the 50's crowd, followed by two self-penned numbers "I Don't Think I Could Take Losing You" and "Marie."

Scott Gilmore was on hand tonight to help close the first half out with "Johnny B. Goode" while Annie Little stepped forward a little later to entertain the crowd with another Garry Bichelmeyer creation, "I Must Have Been Out Of My Mind" and "Anne Murray's "Could I Have This Dance." It was a pleasant surprise to see Scott Lane drop in to visit tonight. A good friend of Gordon Riley's, Scott's band, The Brushhogs" play at various venues throughout the Metro area. Scott opened the second half and sounded just super singing Hank Jr.'s "Whiskey Bent & Hell Bound," Garth Brooks' "I'm Much Too Young (To Feel This Damned Old)" and Dwight Yoakam's "Fast As You." Larry Dean did a beautiful job picking his acoustical guitar and singing "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" to end tonight's festivities.

(Below) Scott Lane sings another crowd favorite


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