The Doo-Wah Riders from Southern California are returning to Fountain Park in Van Wert this Friday night.\u00a0\u00a0The first time they were here was in 2012.\u00a0I heard them again last year in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when they were showcasing at the Arts Midwest Conference.\u00a0It was there that I was reminded why I liked these guys so much.\u00a0They not only are talented and entertaining, but they are real game performers and gentlemanly cowboys.<\/p>\n
During their showcase in Milwaukee last September, the power went out on the sound system.\u00a0They were left with no amplification and a crowd of people waiting to hear them.\u00a0They had 20 minutes to play for those waiting to hear their music.<\/p>\n
A decision had to be made quickly on their part.\u00a0I am sure some performers would have stomped off the stage with rage and disappointment.\u00a0Not the Doo-Wah Riders, though!\u00a0They brought their guitar, bass, drums, accordion, and fiddle down to the audience and said, \u201cLet\u2019s make the best of this.\u00a0We hope you enjoy!\u201d\u00a0And away they went making music the best they could, making lemonade out of lemons.\u00a0The audience loved them, not only for their music, but for their gamesmanship.<\/p>\n
The Doo-Wah Riders gained even more respect in my eyes.\u00a0I knew they were respectful and talented musicians, but they just grew in stature because of how they handled a very difficult situation.<\/p>\n
They have been defined as \u201chigh-energy country with a Cajun twist.\u201d\u00a0Founder and band leader Kenny Lee Benson plays mostly accordion, but also doubles on keyboards when needed.\u00a0The accordion lends the Cajun twist into the country music.\u00a0You will hear many cover songs you will recognize, along with some really cool original tunes they have written.<\/p>\n
The Doo-Wah Riders have actually been making music for over 35 years and have performed with a list of country music stars from Garth Brooks to Loretta Lynn and just about anyone else you can imagine.\u00a0They appeared in the movie Basic Instinct,<\/em> starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone, where they were featured doing one of their songs, \u201cGlowing in the Ashes.\u201d\u00a0In addition to their seven albums, they have also recorded with Byron Berline on his Grammy-nominated CD, Fiddle and a Song<\/em>.<\/p>\n We will have seven Friday nights in a row with concerts in Fountain Park before taking a week off and finishing on August 11.\u00a0Check out the Van Wert County Foundation, the Van Wert City Parks & Recreation, or the Niswonger Performing Arts Center websites for more information.\u00a0We also have fliers at each of these locations and throughout the city at various locations.<\/p>\n Kingsley United Methodist Church will be serving food in the park this Friday night.\u00a0Plan on supporting their efforts beginning at 5:30 p.m. and be ready for The Doo-Wah Riders to take the stage at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n Today (Wednesday, June 14) is a big day at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center.\u00a0We will be announcing our complete 2017-18 season at noon in the First Federal Lecture Hall at the Niswonger.\u00a0News releases will be sent out and the media will be covering our unveiling, so you can find out quickly.\u00a0We will also be mailing season catalogs to all on our mailing list.\u00a0We invite you to join us at noon in the Lecture Hall for all the exciting information.\u00a0It\u2019s a very special day each year when we release our season.<\/p>\n I am sure you will find some outstanding concerts, shows and events this season.\u00a0\u00a0Each year just seems to get better and better.\u00a0I think we have outdone ourselves once more.\u00a0\u00a0I wish I could tell you now, but you will find out very soon.\u00a0We will also announce when you can start getting tickets for your favorite events \u2026 or all of them!\u00a0It\u2019s like a buffet line of tasty delights.<\/p>\n Until then and until Friday night, I look forward to seeing you soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Doo-Wah Riders from Southern California are returning to Fountain Park in Van Wert this Friday night.\u00a0\u00a0The first time they were here was in 2012.\u00a0I heard them again last year in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when they were showcasing at the Arts Midwest Conference.\u00a0It was there that I was reminded why I liked these guys so much.\u00a0They […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-02 19:15:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89055\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}