By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
Deviating from its typical Thursday schedule, Price City Culture Connection – in conjunction with Carbon Events and Recreation – will host a Fourth of July extravaganza combining fireworks and music this Friday.
Ted Hinckley joined the KOAL newsroom to preview this special rendition of Culture Connection and to look ahead to what is coming up in July for the concert series.
“We’re breaking the Culture Connection norm. It’s not on Thursday this week. It’s on Friday the fourth. And it’s at the fairgrounds. And it’s a collaboration with Price City and the fairgrounds,” said Hinckley. “We have two bands and they’re a lot of fun. Kicking it off at 7 p.m. is the Groovonix. They’re out of the St. George, Mesquite area. They do a lot of 80s and 90s music, and they do it very well. And then we’ll have a little changeover and have the Brennan West Band. And Brennan West is the hardest-working guy in show business.”
Looking first at the Groovonix, Hinckley shared what makes the group stand out,” I hired them at an event in Kanab, and first off, they’re playing well. But all of a sudden, they played ‘Fame’ by David Bowie. No one covers ‘Fame’ by Bowie. And they do it, and they pull it off, and they kill it. So they got a great guitar player, a great rhythm section and a great keyboard player. He covers bass, but it works for their set list and they have a very flamboyant front singer. I mean, they are a fun group.”
Switching to the Brennan West Band, Hinckley shared what makes him believe they’re one of the hardest-working groups in the industry. “I’ve known Brennan for a long time, and he just keeps getting better, and he has worked so hard at being a working musician. And he’s done it by surrounding himself with really good musicians. And so his band’s always tight. And it’s all about the audience … if you know his show at all, one of the songs he plays is “Ring of Fire.” Brennan is a guitar player and singer. He’s also a trumpet player. And in the beginning of “Ring of Fire,” he doesn’t play one trumpet. He plays two trumpets.”
Looking ahead, Hinckley previewed the July 10 Culture Connection concert featuring Fleetwood Visions: A Fleetwood Mac tribute band. “Last year, we reached out and we brought in from Vegas, Waylon, Willie, and Cash, and that was a great show. And we did that between July 4 and July 24. You know, there’s kind of that hole. And so we designated that Thursday, as kind of our centerpiece show. And so we have Fleetwood Visions: A Fleetwood Mac tribute band. And these guys are as good as they come. They’re from the Wasatch Front. They play all over, playing this Fleetwood Mac book. And it’s a hard book to play.”
Closing our conversation, Hinckley stated,” We’re working hard to bring entertainment to Carbon County, and I think if people come, they’re going to be happy. We work hard on Culture Connections for it to be something for everybody. But, man, we have a lot of good stuff for these next couple of weeks.”
Price City’s Culture Connection Fourth of July spectacular will take place on Friday, July 4, starting at 7 p.m. at the Carbon County Fairgrounds. More information on this and other events is available on pricecityutah.com or the city’s Facebook page.