By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

DARKE COUNTY – Lonestar’s guitarist and vocalist, Michael Britt, is excited to announce the groups new album and give Darke County fans a sneak peak during their performance on March 4.

Lonestar is an American country music group from Nashville, TN. The award-winning group is celebrating their 30-year milestone by announcing their new album, Ten to 1, that will be released on June 2.

Britt says the best part about performing is watching the audience and seeing their faces. The fans’ support and reactions are what have kept him performing for all those years.

“There is no better feeling than playing songs people love and then reacting to it. I think it is just awesome to see how happy we can make people,” Britt said.

The band has had 22 top 10 singles, and 10 of the 22 singles went to number one since the band’s formation in 1992. Their soon to be released album is a blend of “fresh and familiar”, as the band reworked their top ten number one singles to match their current sound.

“It had been so long since we recorded them, and songs age over time. We just wanted to make sure we were keeping things fresh, and we have done that on the road for years,” Britt said.

Britt said the band had reworked the songs for years having reworked the set lists every year and changing arrangements. Over time, as the band had changed so had the songs, and those songs that had not steadily morphed were adapted to hold true to the growing group.

“We just wanted to change them up a little bit to make them more interesting for us to play,” Britt said. “Also having Drew Womack in the band now, we really wanted to highlight his voice, so it was a combination of a bunch of things.”

Keeping the same melody and phrasing ensured fans would be able to sing along and still enjoy the 10 classic tunes they had grown the know and love over the years. Britt said the hardest part about changing the original arrangements was “walking the tightrope of making music that didn’t confuse people or make them say ‘oh that doesn’t sound right.’”

“It was hard walking that tightrope while also making them sound unique and a little different, so some songs we played with a little more and others were kept a lot more true to the originals,” Britt said.

Britt said the album was made with the fans in mind. They were able to record the songs and give them a live feel without having to go to a concert. He explained the group has always been a live band and will always be a live band, and the album was their way of having a record of who they are.

“We started our career playing in bars and playing live. When we started recording, we were relying on producers to do what they do, and they have a way of cranking things out -which is fine. It sounds great,” Britt said “but when we’ve played these songs live for some many years, we know what we sound like doing them and we wanted to capture that.”

Britt credits band member Dean Sams saying “it is one of the cool things having a member of the band who is a producer because he knows what the group sounds like live.” Sams was able to capture the band’s sound in a way that feels live and relaxed.

Britt said he looks forward to continuing their National Headlining “Ten to 1” tour in Versailles. He hopes the fans can just have fun, as it is something he sees over again. The songs during the show are ones everyone knows and loves, but Britt also advised there is some mystery left to be had.

“We always try to throw in a few things people are not expecting. We have a rock medley at the end of our show for all the guys who were dragged there by their partners that are suffering through our country music, so we give them some rock at the end to allow them to enjoy themselves too,” Britt said.

Britt said they have something for everybody, and fans should expect an upbeat show, as they try to keep things moving and never boring for the fans. He thanked the fans for allowing the group the opportunity to continue performing for 30 years.

“We’ve been so fortunate. We’ve had more success than we ever dreamed of, and the fact we can still keep doing this and going to play for happy people is just -it makes our lives,” Britt said.

Britt said Lonestar is at a spot in their career where they feel like they are not trying to one up their last single. He feels they are at a place where they can enjoy working, going out to see all the fans, and playing music.

“Everybody on the stage is on the same page. It is so nice, as nobody is trying to go off and do something else. It is really a nice tight unit we have right now,” Britt said.

Darke County native Paul Rosewood will be opening the show for Lonestar.

Fans will be able to hear Lonestar’s live sound and Rosewood at the BMI Event Center at 791 E. Main Street, Versailles, on March 4. Tickets are on sale at www.bmieventcenter.com/lonestar-mar-4/#TICKETS. For more regarding the BMI Event Center visit www.bmieventcenter.com.

To contact Daily Advocate Reporter Meladi Brewer, email [email protected].