NASHVILLE, TN. (Curb Records) - Always an act to lend a hand and give back to others - their infamous "6 Days On The Road" 1-800-Collect campaign generated in excess of $600,000 for Farm Aid alone - populist platinum country band
Sawyer Brown are barn-storming across the Atlantic for a very special concert: to entertain the troops. The 1st Armored Division Welcome Home Celebration at Germany's Rhein Main Air Base is set to be an emotional evening for everyone involved.
"When they called to ask if we'd do this," says frontman/cyclone/songwriter Mark Miller, "they told us these guys have had the longest tour of active duty IN Iraq - and they really wanted to do something special to celebrate their return. Even though it's in and out, one show and right home, how do you say 'No…' when someone's making that kind of sacrifice for our country? We were honored they'd ask - and thrilled to say 'Welcome Home' to these brave men and women."
While the itinerary for their whirlwind trip is fluctuating, the band - that also includes Greg "Hobie" Hubbard on keyboards, Jim Scholten on bass, Joe Smyth on drums and slow burn newcomer Shayne Hill on guitar - will go directly to the airfield where the troops reporting for active duty arrive on military transport C-17s and C-5s to go straight into active combat to have lunch. The guys will tour the facility and meet with the operational troops - and the next day following sound check, they will visit the soldiers in the Landstuhl Medical Facility, who've been injured in combat and are awaiting transfer back to a medical facility Stateside.
"The USO is always thrilled when celebrities take time out of their busy schedules to entertain the troops, because they don't have to do this," says USO Tour Producer Bernie Rone. "And this is a very special show because it was requested by (4 Star) General Bell, the base commander, to welcome back the division who's done 15 months and have lost a lot of friends… so he really wanted to do something special for these soldiers.
"We know the history of Sawyer Brown: they're a class act and we know they will tear the roof off the place, because this isn't only a concert for these men, it IS an event. It will go on all day with entertainment and military ceremonies - and the Sawyer Brown concert caps events over 4 days at 4 different locations across Germany. And aside from their tremendous energy, this is a band who really reflects who these soldiers are at their core, too."
"Any chance to let these guys know how much we appreciate what they're doing is great," says Hubbard, who co-wrote "Dirt Road" and "Outskirts of Town." "Getting to go where they are, to spend time letting them know how grateful we as Americans are is pretty powerful stuff."
Though this marks country's hardest working band's first USO trip to Europe, the 23 year music veterans are ready for the adventure. Back home, "Mission Temple Fireworks Stand" - featuring sacred steel sensation Robert Randall - is gearing up to bring Sawyer Brown back with a bang. With a big budget video shot in Lieper's Fork, with the Fisk Jubilee Singers and a whole lotta fireworks, the boys are back indeed.
