Family fun and full of laughs
Billy and the hillbillies return to Yuma
Lovers of classical music, fans of bluegrass and people who enjoy comedy and corny antics – the upcoming Billy and the Hillbillies concert fills the bill for all three.
The group, making its fourth appearance in Yuma, pairs with the Yuma Civic Orchestra for a fun-loving but great musical experience. They will take to the stage Saturday, March 11, for a matinee show at 2 p.m. and an evening concert at 6:30 p.m. at Snider Auditorium, 400 S. 6th Ave.
Tickets are now on sale online for the popular show at a cost of $25 each. They can be purchased by scanning the bar code on the poster or going to www.yumaorchestra.org and clicking on tickets. Tickets also will be sold at the door.
“It’s family-friendly and full of laughter,” said Terri Irizarry, nonprofit coordinator for the Yuma Orchestra Association. Not to mention, some “Wow!” moments at the musical virtuosity of the band members.
By the way, come hungry. Good News BBQ, a relatively new business in town, will have its old-fashioned Texas barbecue specialties for sale starting at 1 p.m. before the first show and during the break after the first show and before the second one. Owner Don Burton said he became aware of the opportunity because his pastor and several members of his church are involved with the orchestra and it seemed like a good way to promote his business. Besides, he’s enjoyed previous orchestra concerts and is happy to be a part of the event.
He will serve his special blend of bacon, macaroni and cheese; pulled pork; beans with pulled pork cooked in; Texas potato salad; honey cornbread; and triple chocolate brownies for dessert as well as various beverages. He will have tables and chairs set up on the grass just outside the auditorium.
Over the last 20-plus years, the Billy and the Hillbillies band has performed for hundreds of thousands of audience members at symphony halls in major cities such as Buffalo, N.Y., and at performing arts centers, state and county fairs, bluegrass and folk music festivals and other venues.
The band includes founder John W. Marshall, who plays bass and fiddle; his brother, Evan Marshall, a virtuoso mandolist who serves as spokesman for the group; John Eaden, comedian and guitarist; and Arshag Chookoorian, percussionist, guitarist and singer. They are joined by drummer Steve Swartout and Ellery Marshall, John’s son, who plays banjo.
As for the appeal of the group, Evan Marshall said, “We love to have fun with bluegrass music. But we also like to have fun with classical music. We mix it up throughout the show … mix playing it straight with lots of fun. It’s for all ages. Adults who like symphonies will appreciate the classical elements of the concert and the kids will enjoy seeing Arshag drumming on pots and pans.”
Asked how it all started, Evan Marshall related that he and his brother were taking classical violin lessons in grade school. A highlight for the family was listening to the radio and TV broadcasts on Sundays of the Boston Pops Orchestra with Arthur Fiedler conducting. One time Chet Atkins, the country musician credited with inventing the “Nashville sound,” was brought on as a guest artist. He brought a band with him that included a fiddle player who played “Orange Blossom Special.”
“My brother and I were just floored,” Evan Marshall recalled. “Really, you can do that with a violin? All of a sudden, we were consumed by country fiddle music. Another favorite guest artist was pianist and comedian Victor Borge. All the family loved him … we learned the concept of mixing classical music with comedy from a young age.”
The previous summer he heard Jerry Reed singing “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot.” He said, “I had never heard anything so fun. So we started watching Hee Haw. A year later we got to see Chet. We made the connection with violin and country with the fiddle and got involved in bluegrass.”
At the time “Dueling Banjos,” theme song for Deliverance, was popular, resulting in a renaissance of bluegrass all over the country. He learned to play “Orange Blossom Special” for a high school talent show. Another boy played 5-string banjo. A faculty adviser told him: “This is your new best friend and band.”
Meanwhile, Evan Marshall became interested in the mandolin and that became his main instrument. In college, he majored in classical music but performed bluegrass, combining his love for both styles of music.
In 1988, the brothers’ band auditioned for a job at Disneyland. Only John was hired. Eventually, the band came back together under the name Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, offering bluegrass music and corny comedy modeled after Homer and Jethro, popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for parody versions of popular songs. The show closed in 2014.
In 1996, Evan Marshall was approached by Michael Krajewski, pops director of the Long Beach Symphony, about doing a summer program with the orchestra. Thus began Hillbillies at the Symphony, premiering in Buffalo in 1997 and performing the next summer with the Long Beach Symphony. For the program, the band dropped “Hill” from its name to become Billy and the Hillbillies.
“Over the years, we’ve done about 40 appearances with orchestras,” Evan Marshall said. “Our biggest year was 2001 with over a dozen concerts, including the Houston Symphony. At the time we were doing shows using all our vacation days with Disney.”
After Billy and the Hillbillies closed in 2014 at Disneyland, the brothers, while having classical musical careers, also wanted to keep the Hillbillies act going. So they reached out to various symphony orchestras. The only one to respond was the Yuma Civic Orchestra. Thus began a relationship between the orchestra and Billy and the Hillbillies that has resulted in shows here in 2016, 2017, 2019 and now this coming week.
“And here we are,” Evan Marshall said, adding that the band members are looking forward to their return to the Yuma stage and their reunion with the Yuma Civic Orchestra.
That, he concluded, is how the Marshall brothers put together bluegrass, classical and slapstick comedy for a good part of their lives since they were teenagers.
It’s a combination that Yuma audiences have thoroughly enjoyed in the past and are fortunate to once again experience.
And, yes, “Orange Blossom Special” will be part of the program, along with “Wipe-out,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “You Raise Me Up,” the finale to “William Tell Overture” known as the Long Rancher’s theme song, an Elvis medley, “God Bless the U.S.A.” and other selections.