Texas Tenors ‘bless’ Darke County and beyond

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GREENVILLE —The Texas Tenors concert attracted people from all walks of life and even some out-of-staters Saturday night at Memorial Hall with their distinctive voices.

The trio and its band enthusiastically entertained the audience at the sold-out show.

The Texas Tenors — made up of JC Fisher, Marcus Collins and John Hagen — were able to conduct a pre-show, answering questions from an audience getting in with free tickets prior to the concert. The pre-show was made possible through a grant from Arts Midwest, according to Keith Rawlins, artistic director for the Darke County Center for the Arts (DCCA), who noted that DCCA Executive Director Andrea Jordan obtained the grant.

The tenors have been together for seven years but have known each other longer than that, according to Collins. They had competed on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” and placed fourth.

“We didn’t win but now we have control of ourselves,” said Hagen, who noted that the group performs country, classical, gospel, Broadway, current pop and rock music. “It’s better for us what happened. We chartered our own course. It’s an honest presentation we give everybody. We’re control freaks and we like to control everything. Everything done on stage is done by the three of us.”

“We run the business ourselves,” said Collins. “Eleven folks total travel with us.”

Hagen, it was stated during the concert, does all of the vocal arrangements.

They talked about their family life; Fisher with his wife and three children; Hagen with his wife and grown children; and Collins and his three female bulldogs.

Hagen announced that The Texas Tenors are getting ready to make a film in September.

“It should be ready to air in June 2017,” he said.

Their next CD may be released in the fall.

Hagen estimated they do 165 shows a year and that they are on the road 250-260 days a year.

In the program, it was reported that they have accumulated a lot list of awards and performed more than 1,000 concerts around the world. They were recently named the top ten classic artists in the world, according to Billboard magazine.

“A lot of our shows are in Branson [Missouri],” he went on. “Branson is a very big part of our future. We do lots of symphony concerts and corporate work.”

“We feel we have a powerful uplifting show,” said Collins, which was proved later on in the concert.

Then, when the concert started at 8 p.m., The Texas Tenors started off with “Mountain Music” and ended with “My Way,” with lots of other country, gospel, rock and classical tunes in between.

Among the songs they sang were “‘Ol Sole Mio,” “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” “Amazing Grace,” “When a Man Loves a Woman,” “Only You,” “Galveston,” “God Bless the U.S.A.,” their own song “What Am I Gonna Dream About,” “Unchained Melody,” “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” “Rocky Top,” Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are” and “Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms.”

During “God Bless the U.S.A.,” several people in the audience waved flags they brought along to the show.

During intermission, concert-goers had the opportunity to visit the Anna Bier Gallery, where Marcia Weidner, who has been director there for 17 years, had 33 of her paintings displayed.

“I’ve been painting for 23 years, but recently kicked it up a notch, now that my children are grown,” she said.

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By Linda Moody

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This writer may be reached at 937-569-4315. Follow her on Facebook and join the conversation and get updates on Facebook by searching Darke County Sports or Advocate 360. For more features online go to dailyadvocate.com.

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