HILTON COUNTRY MUSIC CLUB

GARY PERKINS – 20^th JUNE 2018

REPORT BY TEXAS TED

It was with great sadness that our compere, Ivor James, had to announce the passing of one of our regular members and staunchest supporters of our club, our dear friend Shirley Shipley. Our condolences go to Ken and all of Shirley’s family and friends. She will be badly missed by us all. 

But, it was then very nice to at last be able to welcome Gary to our club. He had originally been booked for our March meeting but had to cancel due to illness, so we re-booked him for tonight. 

Having now finally stopped coughing (it went on well into April!) he was in very fine voice indeed tonight. Gary is the recipient of many awards for his music, and we could easily see and hear why tonight. His fine voice, clever choice of material and excellent guitar technique were all in evidence as he handled his lovely Martin guitar with great aplomb. 

Gary covered the whole range of Country Music from the past up to the present day, keeping the dance floor full and the listeners happy. Gary is particularly good at delivering the songs of the late great John Denver, and tonight we had “Back Home Again”, “Grandma’s Feather Bed” and “Some Days Are Diamonds”, the latter written by Dick Feller but made famous by John. We also heard songs from George Strait, Merle Haggard and Randy Travis, including a superb version of “I Told You So”, to name just a few. 

The audience were very reluctant to let Gary go at the end of the evening. The compere, as usual, said that if enough people keep coming through the door, we will continue to book artists of the highest calibre, and if so, Gary will certainly be coming back! 

Many thanks once again to Zoe, Colin, Lesley and the staff for their friendly and efficient support. 

Thanks also to Sandra and Sheila, our two “door guards” and very busy helpers. They are also two vital members of our club. 

We would also like to thank those who were kind enough to donate raffle prizes. It all helps! 

Our next meeting is on Wednesday July 18th with the very popular Travis Logan.