The stage will be set with a barn-like scene, as the Missouri Hayride band from Branson will perform from 6-8 p.m. this coming Saturday at the Civic.
“Chris Freund (who graduated from Neosho) had mentioned that this was his hometown,” said Dennis Tinsman, co-owner of the Missouri Hayride. “I actually came over here to do a church venue with Chris and I was speaking at a church. We stopped by and I saw what a great town it was. I went and looked at the Civic and I said, ‘yeah this is a place that we could do a venue.’ We could have a good time and maybe have an outreach for the community as well.”
The band consists of Tinsman, who plays pedal steel guitar and lead guitar; Mike Bosurgi, who plays lead guitar, banjo, fiddle and sings; Joey Bowman, who plays drums; Freud, who plays keyboard/piano; and Jerry Thrasher, who plays bass.
“We play classic country, we do the old country from 1948-1978,” Tinsman said. “(Artists like) Ray Price, Marty Robbins, and everything in between — Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams.”
The band’s home base is the Branson Mall Music Theatre on Highway 76.
Tinsman noted their music is unique to the fact that “majority of the people that come to Branson say that they just don’t see that anymore.”
“They are surprised,” he said. “The type of music that we play, we just don’t throw a few songs in there. If you come to our show, and if you were at the Louisiana Hayride or at the Tennessee Hayride years ago, you walk into our show see the set and what we do. We like to take people back in time, to rekindle some old memories and make some new ones.”
This is the first time the band has performed in Neosho, but it will not be the last. In December, they are coming back to do a country Christmas show. Tickets for Saturday’s show will be $15 for adults, and children under 11 years of age are free. Tickets can be purchased by contacting Freund at 417-825-0100 or Dennis Tinsman at 870-847-5886 or the day of the show.
“I am playing with some of the best entertainers that I have ever been around in years,” Tinsman said.
