Parmalee brings smash hit to Hillsboro July 5 for Festival of the Bells

The Highland County Press

Festival of the Bells committee member and entertainment chairman Rick Williams has announced another exciting lineup of rising stars who will take center stage at the 2014 festival, July 3-5 in uptown Hillsboro.

Included in this year’s lineup are Eric Paslay, Frankie Ballard, Zach Paxson, and the popular band Parmalee.

Paslay will perform on Friday, July 4. Ballard will sing on July 4.

Paxson and Parmalee will entertain festival-goers on Saturday, July 5.

“We are very excited about this year’s entertainment lineup,” Williams told The Highland County Press in making the announcement.

Williams encouraged everyone to attend the popular July Fourth weekend celebration which is held in the center of Hillsboro each year.

Festival of the Bells Committee Chairman Michael Bradford also welcomed everyone to this summer’s event.

“We’re very excited about the Festival of the Bells for 2014,” Bradford said. “It’s our 30th year, and we’re looking forward to a big celebration with lots of outstanding entertainment and lots of activities for everyone to do.”

* * *

ERIC PASLAY

“Honesty is a powerful magnet that always draws an eager audience and it has proven to be a potent tool in Eric Paslay’s creative arsenal,” according to his website, http://win.ericpaslay.com.

“Sometimes playful, often poignant and always thoroughly entertaining, the 6’ 4” singer/songwriter with the fiery red hair and easy smile has quickly earned a reputation as an artist that knows how to capture the attention of an audience and hold them in the palm of his hands.”

Paslay has opened for Little Big Town, The Eli Young Band, Jake Owen and others. He has performed at the Grand Ole Opry as well as this year’s lively Country Throwdown Tour.

Currently, Paslay has a top single with his new hit “If the Fish Don’t Bite.”

“When country music fans see Paslay perform, they want to take his music home and make his songs the soundtrack of their lives,” a news release from his website stated. “His music has substance and depth, but his debut album is every bit as entertaining and accessible as it is meaningful, and therein lies Paslay’s charm.”

“It’s hopeful music,” Paslay says, describing his style. “There’s only one sad song on the whole record and that’s ‘Amarillo Rain,’ but there’s still a beauty behind it that makes people feel alive somehow.”

According to his site, off stage, Paslay has a “gentle, everyman quality that endears him to all who meet him. He loves performing, but is just as comfortable remodeling a bathroom or getting in the kitchen with his mom, Donna, and making kolaches, a pastry that is a favorite among Texans. Most of all, Eric Paslay loves forging that special connection with people that can only be made with a song.”

Paslay will perform Friday night, July 4.

* * *

PARMALEE

Parmalee includes brothers Matt and Scott Thomas, cousin Barry Knox and longtime friend Josh McSwain.

“Parmalee’s country rock sound has its roots in the bluegrass, traditional country, southern rock and blues covers the guys grew up hearing their families play,” according to their website at www.parmalee.com.

“Matt and Scott Thomas grew up near Greenville, N.C., watching their father, Jerry, front a popular local southern rock blues band. The boys watched and learned, picking up their own instruments and jamming along with their dad’s band. From this, they learned how to integrate their own style into the songs they were playing. Barry Knox, who played drums for the church choir, loved what his cousins were doing and soon joined them.”

Country fans voted the band’s debut single, “Musta Had A Good Time,” No. 1 for four consecutive weeks on SiriusXM’s The Highway “Hot 30 LIVE” countdown and the song became a Top 40 hit on mainstream country radio.

“The fun-loving party anthem has been featured in national sporting event broadcasts from the PGA to Major League Baseball,” their website states. “MTV networks also hand-picked Parmalee to perform as part of its 2013 O Music Awards and the foursome recently appeared on the 4th Annual American Country Awards.

Parmalee recently made history when its multi-week No. 1 smash “Carolina” became the longest climbing single by a duo or group in the 24-year history of the Billboard Country Airplay Chart.

Parmalee is also the first multi-member country act to garner a No. 1 single on both the Billboard Country Airplay and Mediabase/ Country Aircheck charts since Florida Georgia Line.

“Carolina” was recently certified gold (for over 500,000 in sales) by the RIAA.

Parmalee’s debut country album, “Feels Like Carolina,” has earned praise from People, The New York Times, USA Today, Newsday, Billboard and more.

Parmalee will perform Saturday night, July 5.

* * *

FRANKIE BALLARD

“The best music is about connection, that place where words and music allow an artist’s reality to fire real emotion in listeners. And it’s just that connection that has been at the heart of Frankie Ballard’s rise as an artist,” Rob Simbeck writes at www.frankieballard.com.

Ballard’s first stop recording has been “Helluva Life,” which is the lead song from his album, “Sunshine & Whiskey.”

Simbeck (http://www.robsimbeck.com) writes of Ballard: “(The album) is a mixture of influences, from country classics to blues legends, from Southern rock to contemporary sounds, all held together by the force of his artistic personality.”

“Like heroes including Willie Nelson and Hank Jr., he makes everything he touches his own, a result, more than anything, of a decade of honing his craft on stages all over the country.”

Ballard also recorded two songs which previously reached the Top 30: “Tell Me You Get Lonely” and “A Buncha Girls.”

He has appeared on the Grand Ole Opry and has opened for Kenny Chesney and former Festival of the Bells entertainer Taylor Swift.

Once they hear his music, Buckeye fans will forgive Ballard for being “From That State Up North.”

The product of Battle Creek, Mich., played baseball at Western Michigan University, while studying guitarists, including blues great Buddy Guy, Simbeck writes.

“By the time he was out of college, he was leading his own band, playing 200+ nights a year within a 300-mile radius and taking trips to Nashville once-a-month. Through it all, he has never lost his love for doing what he does best – taking his music to the people.”

Ballard will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, July 4.

* * *

ZACH PAXSON

Zach Paxson is described as a “blue-collar, hard-working American just like the majority of people in this country.”

According to his website www.zachpaxson.com, the country singer/songwriter from Northeast Ohio literally slept in a guitar case growing up.

His father, a bluegrass musician, has fronted the band Get Out and Push for Zach’s entire life and used to take the family to festivals all over the countryside.

Paxson’s hits include “Honky Donkey” and “OH-IO,” which he has proposed as Ohio’s country song.

The state Legislature has considered his proposal.

In 2011, Paxson recorded his first CD in Nashville titled “Good Luck With That.”

Later, he recorded his second album titled “Simple Life,” a collection of songs that stay true to the values and experiences he holds dear.

The 2014 Festival of the Bells will be July 3-5 in uptown Hillsboro. In addition to great music, the annual event includes food, rides, arts and crafts, games and family fun for everyone. There is no admission charge.

For more information, go to www.festivalofthebells.com or:

http://parmalee.com
http://www.frankieballard.com
http://win.ericpaslay.com
www.zachpaxson.com.