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 Feb. 27.
Two of the most popular acts in Saturday Evening Jam history return to the stage to help celebrate the Expo’s 30th anniversary: Sawyer Brown (who performed in 2003 and 2004), and Phil Vassar (2005). The show begins at 5 p.m. and the night of music is included in the Expo full registration price.
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, all while churning out dozens of chart singles. Formed in Apopka, Fla., in 1981, they entered and won the 1983 Star Search competition, the precursor to phenomenally popular American Idol.
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 continues to entertain, boasting more than 50 songs that made 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 the 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.’”
