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June 11, 2005
OLD TIME COUNTRY MUSIC
Saturday Night Jamboree Kicks Off Tonight in Ritter Park
by Adam Brown
Huntington News Network Writer
Huntington (HNN) — As early as fifty years ago, families still gathered at the courthouse and the church on the weekend and sat around the radio listening to country music at night.
Although family entertainment is more complex these days, Scott King is trying to bring back some of the past with the Saturday Night Jamboree.
Held monthly, the Jamboree will play its first outdoor venue since the show was revived in January. It will be held Saturday, June 11, 2005 at the Ritter Park amphitheater with the pre-show from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and the Jamboree from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Admission is $5.
King said older members of the Tri-State should remember the old Saturday Night Jamboree, which was held in Huntington and aired on WSAZ during the 50's and 60's.
"There's nothing around here for families to do these days," King said. "Especially working class people. A lot of kids have heard country music today but have never heard hillbilly music."
King said the show will focus on songs from the golden age of country music. Jamboree members will sing a Hank Williams song in honor of what would have been Senior's fiftieth anniversary of the first time he played the Grand Ole Opry. The show will also feature a song originally performed by former Huntington native and Grand Ole Opry member Hawkshaw Hawkins, who died in the plane crash that killed Patsy Cline in 1963.
Prichard native Traci Stanley, who will be singing the Cline songs "Back in My Baby's Arms" and "Walkin' After Midnight" said she hopes the weather brings a good crowd.
"I hope it'll be nice outside so a lot of people will come out," Stanley said. "This is our fifth show, everyone is used to each other so it should be pretty good."
King said he hopes people don't underestimate the quality of the show.
"We have a remarkable family atmosphere. It's $5 to get in and the show is as good as any concert you'd pay sixty or seventy bucks to go see."
The next Saturday Night Jamboree will be held on July 2, 2005 at Harris Riverfront Park. Jamboree members will also be opening for country recording artist Ty Herndon at the Coal Mining Festival, which will be held in Boone County later in the summer.
