McDowell in concert at Colonnade
ENGLEWOOD, TENN., NATIVE COLE SITZLAR OPENS FOR COUNTRY STAR
Country music singer Ronnie McDowell will perform at the Colonnade with special guest Cole Sitzlar tonight, April 13, at 7:30 p.m.
McDowell has had an amazing string of hit songs since 1977, when he burst into the spotlight with his heartfelt tribute “The King Is Gone,” following the death of Elvis Presley. The record took off immediately, gaining airplay on country and pop stations. “The King Is Gone” has sold more than 5 million copies to date.
Suddenly, the young Vietnam veteran from Portland, Tenn., was a star. He quickly proved he wasn’t a one-trick pony with a second hit for the Scorpion label, “I Love You, I Love You, I Love You,” before being signed by CBS Records’ Epic label in 1979.
Between 1979 and 1986, every release, with the exception of one, became a Top 10 hit for McDowell, including the chart toppers “Older Women” and “You’re Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation.” Other hits during his Epic years included “Watchin’ Girls Go By,” “Personally,” “You Made a Wanted Man of Me” and “In a New York Minute.”
McDowell sought the advice of artists such as Conway Twitty, who became a mentor, as well as his friend. Twitty gave the young singer advice about touring, recording and entertaining the fans.
Moving to Curb Records in 1986, his current label to date, McDowell scored a Top 10 hit with “It’s Only Make Believe,” a duet with Conway Twitty on what had been Twitty’s breakthrough hit from 1958. McDowell teamed up with Jerry Lee Lewis two years later for a rocking duet that McDowell wrote, “You’re Never Too Old To Rock n’ Roll.”
Two of McDowell’s most recent projects on Curb Records are an album of beach music with Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bill Pinkney’s Original Drifters and a new country album, “Ronnie McDowell Country,” a collection of six new McDowell-penned songs with a few country standards by Buck Owens, Harlan Howard and Dallas Frazier.
McDowell often tours with Elvis Presley’s original sideman, D.J. Fontana, along with Ray Walker, a longtime member of The Jordanaires, staging a tribute to Presley’s music.
McDowell sang 36 songs on the soundtrack “Elvis,” the Dick Clark-produced television movie that featured Kurt Russell as the performer. He was the singing voice for the television movie “Elvis and Me,” for the ABC television series about the early years of The King’s career titled simply “Elvis” and the 1997 Showtime special “Elvis Meets Nixon.”
Opening for McDowell tonight will be country artist Cole Sitzlar from Englewood, Tenn.
All seats are reserved and on sale at the Colonnade box office.