American Dream concert honors hometown heroes
Some veterans of the local music scene will combine their talent to benefit military veterans in the Tennessee Valley when the American Dream concert is held Friday night, April 27, at Engel Stadium.
Gates will open at 5 p.m. Music will kickoff at 6 p.m. with Roger Alan Wade followed by The Power Players at 7. Jimmy Tawater will take the stage at 8 p.m. and Overland Express closes the show at 9.
Wade is a singer-songwriter who hosts a radio show on Sirius XM Outlaw Country channel with his cousin, Johnny Knoxville. His songs have been cut by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, George Jones as well as Hank Williams Jr., who took Wade’s song “Country State of Mind” to No. 1 in 1986. However, Wade’s humorous song “Fryin’ Bacon Nekkid” is arguably his biggest fan favorite.
Power Players are a show band that plays funk, rock and R&B. Members are Michael Andrews, Johnny Smith, Vincent Canion, Gerald Massengale and Jordan Adams.
Tawater has become almost a local music icon over the 40 years he’s spent in Chattanooga’s music progression. Baby boomers will remember him playing the old Castaways Club and The Playlate Club.
Overland Express is a Southern and California rock band whose members are Randy Clark, Rick Williams, Michael Welch, Tommy Lifsey, Kris Phillips and Bob Courter.
This concert benefits the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s College of Business Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, which supports hometown heroes. The UTC program is one of just four such programs in the nation to provide veterans the opportunity to put their past military knowledge and skills into entrepreneurial skills.
Tickets are $20 — a great deal for four acts. They can be purchased online at www.riverbendfestival.com or at the gate.
For more information: 423-756-2211.