American children today are especially attracted by the image of 'fame and fortune' conjured up by the popular television show, American Idol. Most kids would love to be on that show, or have the chance of performing before large audiences in a big musical production. A new Florida music group, ROCKABILLY.US, is giving a few young people that very opportunity, as they sing and dance and perform in various variety shows produced by that group. The resulting response from audiences has been extremely positive, and it is becoming evident with each show that people of all ages LOVE to be entertained by Oldies, Elvis, and Country music, even when some of the performers are KIDS!
(PRWEB) June 16, 2005 -- In this generation, growing up with the influences of the television show, American Idol, millions of kids all over America daydream about becoming a 'star' in today's music realm. Of course, the very nature of stardom prevents this from becoming a reality for most kids. Yet, in the small Florida town of Inverness, about 80 miles north of Tampa, a few young people are getting a taste of what most kids only dream about. They are part of a new, but very large showband, RockAbilly.US Music Shows, which has recently begun to perform for the public. For the past couple of years, they have been doing only private performances, and working hard to perfect all of their different shows for this 'debut'. Now the group, consisting of more than 40 performers, and another 40 plus trainers, choreographers, technicians, and audio-video people, has quickly begun to gain popularity, greatly impressing those who attend the shows. The audience response has been tremendous right from the start, and the accolades are literally pouring in!
One lady attending stated, "We have traveled all over, and have seen a lot of music shows, but this one is as good or better than any out there, from Broadway and Atlantic City, to Las Vegas and L.A.".
Is she alone in her estimation, or is this music show really something special? To get an answer to that question, we took notes of some of the comments being made after the recent show at the Sumter County Fairgrounds. The statements were emphatic from a great many in the audience, and were more than the typical remarks such as "fantastic show", etc., that one so often hears at big music shows. That statement WAS also made a number of times, but generally was only an introductory comment, followed by more emphasis upon various specific aspects of the show that were particularly appealing to that individual speaker.
"I loved every part of the show", one man attending remarked. "I loved the singing, the dancing, the costumes, the energy, the instrumentation, the kids, and little 'TINY' too".
"Tiny" is the stage name that the show has given to 11 year old Lauren, a young girl who sings the lead part on a few of the group's songs. She sings with a lot of power for such a little lady, but her style is distinctly influenced by listening to Divas of the past. Rockabilly.US Music Shows performs a wide variety of TOP HITS from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and a few from each decade following those. They range in genre from pop to rock to country, but tend to be a large percentage of songs performed by such people as Elvis, Roy Orbison, Rick Nelson, Conway Twitty, George Jones, Ronnie Milsap, Vince Gill, Buddy Holly, Tina Turner, Patsy Cline, Whitney Houston, Connie Francis, Beach Boys, Beatles, Everly Brothers, Bee Gees, George Strait, Buck Owens, Righteous Brothers, The Supremes, and many of the Doo Wop groups. Since the group does many different shows, they have to constantly keep learning new songs to keep the shows 'fresh' for those fans who attend every one (and there are a LOT of fans who do just that).
The shows are filled with a lot of variety, in styling, singing, dancing, skits, and a seemingly endless array of various styles of specialty show costumes. Just about the time you think you've seen all of the Rockabilly girl's costumes, they come out with new ones. That is because they have their own team of costume designers and seamstresses, that work nearly every day of the week, producing new 'eye-candy' for the upcoming shows. From what I have noticed, the photographs on the web site (www.rockabilly.us) simply do not give a true depiction of the very high quality of the custom costumes used by this showband.
Costumes are not by any means the only highlight of the shows! The harmonies of the many young ladies singing are truly special, and reminiscent of some of the better girl groups of the 50s and 60s era of music. The truly amazing feat however, is seeing those girls sing such beautiful harmonies, while doing high-impact, aerobic style choreographed dancing as they sing! To quote one man who was in attendance at the recent show, "It is unbelievable how those girls can dance like that, while they sing so beautifully".
I overheard many people make similar comments at the show, such as, "How did they get this group to perform in a little place like this?" Others were saying things like, "Why have I never heard of these people before... they are great!".
The key to all of this is that the producers of the shows purposely kept the group a secret, until it was ready to genuinely astonish audiences at the shows. The idea was to NOT become known to the public, until the show was perfected enough to greatly entertain and please those in attendance.
You might be wondering, "But what about those kids you mentioned earlier... what do they do in the shows?"
Almost half of the performers are kids... mostly in mid to late teens. They sing, dance, and help in the skits, and they all work very hard to put forth the very best show quality possible. Even the younger ones practice hard each week to keep their dancing skills polished, and to learn new parts for upcoming shows.
RockAbilly.US Music Shows is determined to put forth the very best possible performances, whether the audience is many thousands, or only a few hundred people. They will be continuing to work at that goal steadily, as they perform shows in coming weeks at the Austin Horse Park (www.austinhorsepark.org), the Citrus County Fair Auditorium, and the Sumter County Fair Auditorium (www.sumterfair.net). If you are vacationing in Florida, and want to add something very special to your plans, be sure and write for information at rockabilly.us@gmail.com.
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