Heritage days offers weekend of entertainment

By Monica Wood, Fort Sill FMWRApril 24, 2014

FORT SILL, Okla. -- Country music superstars, Big & Rich, will perform a free concert April 25 on the Fort Sill Polo Field to kick off Western Heritage Days weekend.

Venue gates open at 6 p.m. and Ken Morrow and the Hired Guns, a local band, will take the stage at 7 p.m.

"Big & Rich have offered to do a free concert to show the service men and women appreciation for all they do to protect and defend our freedom and we are very excited to be able to offer the Fort Sill community a free concert of this caliber," said Brenda Spencer-Ragland, Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation director.

The concert is open to all ID card holders active duty, Reserve, National Guard, retirees, family and friends.

"No ticket will be issued, just come on out and enjoy the show," said Spencer-Ragland. "It will be a safe, fun and family-oriented concert for the military community."

Directions, parking

For all general admission concert-goers, parking will be on Conklin Field, located south of Polo Field. Drivers should enter post through Gate 2, off Rogers Lane. Gate 2 opens April 25 at 3 p.m. People are reminded, as with all Polo Field concerts, Key Gate will close April 25 at 4:30 p.m.

"There will be no entry or exit from the east or west Key Gate after that time. For preferred and handicapped parking, drivers can enter post from Scott Gate (Fort Sill Boulevard), Apache Gate or Bentley Gate on Sheridan Road. All traffic exiting the concert will go through Gate 2 or Scott Gate," said Lt. Chris Alverson, Fort Sill Police Department. "We will have a parking detail to direct traffic to the parking areas."

Alverson said all bags, backpacks, folding chairs and like items will be checked at event entry points.

There will be two holding areas at both the north and south gate entry points with a live radio remote at the south holding area which includes a cooling station and beverages. Concert-goers can start entering post and parking for the show after 3 p.m.

People may bring sunscreen and a blanket or folding chair to sit on.

No cameras or recording equipment, pets, glass or weapons, including small knives and leatherman tools, will be allowed in the venue. Coolers and similar containers are not allowed, but refreshments will be available fo purchase at concessions.

Public consumption of alcoholic beverages is restricted to the concert area only. Beer will be served only to patrons displaying an alcohol wristband.

Meet the band

Big & Rich feel strongly about honoring and recognizing the troops - especially the veterans.

Their song "8th of November," is about the 173rd Airborne Brigade, that on Nov. 8, 1965, was part of Operation Hump in War Zone D in Vietnam. Second Platoon was ambushed by 1,200 Viet Cong, and 48 American Soldiers were killed that day. The song is a tribute to all Soldiers and in particular Niles Harris, their friend, who told them his story about the ambush and also gave Big Kenny his top hat.

The country music duo is composed of Big Kenny Alphin and John Rich, both of whom are first-rate musicians, songwriters, vocalists, guitarists, producers and entertainers. Rich was a founding member of the country music band Lonestar and later a solo artist for BNA Records, while Big Kenny was formerly a solo artist on Hollywood Records.

Their first studio album, "Horse of a Different Color" was released in 2004. It produced four straight Top 40 country hits including the No. 11 "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)," plus collaborations with Cowboy Troy, Gretchen Wilson and Martina McBride. "Comin' to Your City," released in November 2005, added another top-20 single, the Vietnam War-inspired "8th of November," and two more top 40 hits. Joining the duo on this album were Cowboy Troy, Wilson and Kris Kristofferson. 2007's "Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace" produced the duo's first number-one single "Lost in This Moment."

After this album, both members released solo albums in 2009: Rich's "Son of a Preacher Man" and Big Kenny's "The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farmboy." These also produced the duo's first top 40 solo entries: Rich with "Shuttin' Detroit Down" and Big Kenny with "Long After I'm Gone."

In 2010, Kenny released his second solo album "Big Kenny's Love Everybody Traveling Musical Medicine Show Mix Tape , Vol. 1."

In 2011, Rich released the extended plays "For the Kids and Rich Rocks," the latter of which included the Top 40 country single "Country Done Come to Town."

Big & Rich reunited in May 2011 to release "Fake ID," a cut from the soundtrack to the 2011 film "Footloose." A year later, the duo released their fourth album "Hillbilly Jedi," which produced the Top 20 hit "That's Why I Pray." In July 2013, Rich announced that the duo had begun work on their fifth studio album.

Opening act

"It has always been a lifelong dream of mine to play on the Fort Sill Polo Field," said Ken Morrow. "We've played for large crowds in Texas before and we've played every stage in Medicine Park but playing on the Polo Field is just something I never expected to happen."

Members of the band are Morrow, the lead singer and guitar player, Staff Sgt. John Jarrett, B Battery, 3rd Battalion. 6th Air Defense Artillery, who plays lead guitar, Brad Wolf on bass guitar and drummer Robert Comes Jumping From His Horse a.k.a. Comanche Drummer, who is a descendent of Quanah Parker. The band is working on their third CD and have sold over 600,000 downloads of their music.

"I have often fantasized about being one of those guys up on that big old stage rockin' out. God has led me down a path that I never thought was remotely possible. I will be playing my songs, my guitar and rocking that stage right along with my best friends and the greatest band mates a guy could ever have, and for the best audience a guy could play for, which includes our military men and women who will fight, have fought, and sacrificed all they have for yours and my freedom," said Morrow.

Morrow, a native Oklahoman who has been writing songs since the age of 16, said "it means so much to me that a trailer park small town kid like me has such an awesome opportunity. I feel completely blessed, and if I never play another show after this one I have accomplished a dream."

Jarrett joined the band in 2012 after moving into a house in Medicine Park and hearing the band practicing nearby.

Jarrett said he worked the Trace Adkins concert with a detail of trainees last year on the Polo Field. "I remember being on the field that night I was impressed with the show," he said. "So when Ken texted me and asked about us opening for the Big & Rich concert I didn't know what to think."

To Jarrett, it's not just about performing in concert but performing for the troops. "It's about playing for some guys we need to recognize and honor. Those Soldiers coming up who joined the Army after knowing how tough the job is...it requires so much physically and mentally. They deserve our respect and so do the veterans and the Soldiers who have served and deployed for our country."

Western Heritage events

Revisit the Old West, when Fort Sill hosts Western Heritage Days, April 26 and 27 at Rucker Park. Saturday's events begin with a Western Heritage Parade with the Buffalo Soldiers and Lawton Rangers from the Old Post Corral Museum to Rucker Park at 1 p.m. followed by a Chuck Wagon Camp, food vendors and displays.

There will be events for the whole family including a marble competition, hayrides, nature trail, knucklebones (jacks) competition, horseshoe pitch and a poetry contest. At 5 p.m. Marty Tipton, trick roper will perform followed by the chuck wagon awards, and the history of the chuck wagon with Vance Johnson, Cowboy storytelling with Jim Garling follows and the evening ends with a concert by Les Gilliam and the Silver Lake Band.

"We want to celebrate the rich history of Fort Sill and all that have played a part in our history including the Buffalo Soldiers, the local Native American tribes, and the Lawton Rangers rodeo," said Spencer-Ragland. "Their involvement will ensure representation of all that made it such a rich history."

Sunday events begin with the Cowboy Church from 10 a.m. to noon outdoors at Rucker Park. Then Nye Library will host an old fashioned community picnic from noon to 3 p.m. Gather up the whole family and your favorite picnic foods and make a day of it.

"This weekend will be a mixture of new and old beginning with the relatively new music of Big & Rich and then celebrate more than 100 years of history here at Fort Sill with displays and events so attendees can celebrate our western heritage days. The events will highlight the rich and diverse culture we celebrate each and every day at Fort Sill and in the Army," she said.

The Western Heritage Days concert is supported by a number of corporate sponsors some are local to the Lawton-Fort Sill Community, and some are on a national level.

"With the tremendous support provided from these sponsoring companies, Fort Sill Family and MWR is greatly assisted in producing a quality-of-life event for the Soldiers, families and community guests," said Spencer-Ragland.

For more information about the events or to view the corporate sponsors, see www.sillmwr.com.