Familiar and fun are words that come to mind when talking about two acts set to headline the special Saturday Evening Jam Revisited show at the 2010 Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International.
Two of the most popular acts in Saturday Evening Jam history return to the stage to help celebrate the 30th Expo: Sawyer Brown (2003 and 2004), and Phil Vassar (2005). The show begins at 5 p.m., and the night of music is included in the registration price of $30 per person (early registration until Jan. 22) or $60 at the door.
Sawyer Brown
Marking 29 years together, touring legends Sawyer Brown are often called the Rolling Stones of country music. Over the years, they’ve logged more than 3,500 live shows while churning out dozens of chart singles. Formed in Apopka, Fla., in 1981, they entered and won the 1983 Star Search competition.
A few years later, they produced a flurry of singles, then really hit their stride in the early 1990s, with increasing country radio airplay and large crowds that enjoyed their energetic stage presence. Major hits for the group, named for a street near their early rehearsal studio, include “Some Girls Do,” “The Dirt Road,” “Hard To Say,” “Step That Step,” “This Time,” “The Boys & Me,” “Thank God For You,” and “The Walk.”
Sawyer Brown has put more than 50 songs on the Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, songs that many Expo fans can sing along to. They add their take to country classics as well, with popular versions of George Jones’ “The Race Is On” and Dave Dudley’s “Six Days On The Road.” As much as their music, the band is known for its hard-charging stage show, which features frontman Mark Miller.
“We came out of the notion we were there to entertain people, to make sure everybody had a good time,” Miller says. “You’re looking at a bunch of blue-collar people here, who were raised to put the work in, to make sure the people are satisfied, and who really love being on that stage and seeing the people letting it all go. Somebody once told me, ‘If you can’t have fun at a Sawyer Brown show, you can’t have fun.’”
Phil Vassar
Well before country piano man Phil Vassar wowed the Expo crowd five years ago, he made his name as a songwriter in Nashville with hits including “Right On The Money” for Alan Jackson, “For A Little While” and “My Next Thirty Years” for Tim McGraw, and “I’m All Right” and “Bye Bye” for Jo Dee Messina.
“Bye Bye” helped Vassar win the Songwriter of the Year Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
Vassar then turned toward performing, recording numerous hits over five albums including “Carlene,” “Six-Pack Summer,” “Love is a Beautiful Thing,” and the No. 1 hit, “Just Another Day In Paradise.” A Virginia native, Vassar is known for connecting with his audience, especially on themes of family and an American work ethic. He is often called “the hardest working man in country music.”
“People ask me why I still do so many shows, but you work your whole life just to get to the point where people want you to come play,” he says. “Even today I still have that work ethic where you feel like if you don’t work hard, you’re not going to eat. That’s something my dad instilled in me and my sisters.”
For more information on the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International, visit www. pumpershow.com or call 800/257-7222.
