Monday, August 30, 1082
Peg 12
Daily Nebraskan
Aits (is EBteff&aiiminiemt
Shootin 'from the Hip hits target with new song
By Bill Allen
,4Why ain't there no songs about Ne
braska?" used to be the question asked
by the country band, Shootin' from the
Hip.
But with the group's new song release
of that title, the question no longer is
needed.
Though far from the top 40, guitarist
Jon Hedges said the record is gaining
popularity in Lincoln and across the
state.
So is the band, if their summer sch
edule is any indication. Shootin' from
the Hip played in several central Nebra
ska towns this summer, Hedges said.
He said the group only had two weeks
off all summer.
That's quite a jump for five former
UNL band members who started playing
as a group two and a half years ago "just
for fun."
Hedges and fellow band members
Bruce Erickson, Jeff Wilson, Phil Young
and Bill Lovgren, are all former members
of the Nebraska marching band.
Hedges said Young and he would get
together at fraternity and band parties
to entertain. Eventually the others joined
the group, which at one time consisted
of seven members.
The group first began playing at The
Sidetrack, according to Ericksen, the
group's drummer. He said Joyce Durand
of The Sidetrack is responsible for giving
the band its start.
"The first time we played we sounded
pretty poor," Young, who plays banjo
and guitar, said. 'Then as we got into it,
we started to sound better. You see, at
first we didn't know how long we would
be playing, whether we would be able
to make payments on our equipment,
things like that."
"When we first started, our main
concern was to have a good time," Hedges
said. "I'd hate to think of this as a job."
Perhaps this is because the members
already have other jobs. All work in
Lincoin, except Lovgren, who teaches
in Shickley.
Concerned with fun
Having fun seems to be the band mem
bers' main concern at the present. Erickson
said they usually start their act by playing
crowd pleasers like "Redneck Mothers"
and "Pissin' in the Wind," and eventually
get into songs people can relate to.
He said the group tries to stay away
from the slow, sad type of country music.
And, of course, they play their own
songs too, including "Why Ain't There
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Staff Photo by Davt Bcnti
Shootin' from the Hip: (from left) Bill Lovgren, Jeff Wilson, Phil Young, Bruce Ericksen and Jon Hedges
No Songs About Nebraska," and the
flip side of their 45, "Some People Call
Him Cowboy."
"We also make our own arrangements
of other people's songs," Hedges said.
"Probably 90 percent of the material
we play is our own arrangement."
"Of people like Jerry Jeff Walker
and Bobby Bare," Ericksen added. "We
try to get people into music they've never
heard before."
According to Young, a major part of
the group's success is audience participa
tion. "We try to get the audience in as
much as possible," he said.
This participation includes sing along,
hand clapping, as well as putting audi
ence members on stage to sing with the
group, he said.
Originally, if it had been up to Hedges,
the group would have been entirely dif
ferent. He initially wanted the band to
be a rock group.
"I was outvoted," Hedges said. "I
wanted rock 'n' roll. The rest wanted
country. But the kind of music we play,
using audience participation, lends it
self to the country format. A lot of our
regular listeners are not country fans."
Another factor in the group's pop
ularity is their spontaneity, Young' said.
"We try to use a different song list
every night," he said. "A lot of what
we play depends on each particular audience."
A step at a time
As for the future, the group doesn't
seem to be rushing things. Hedges said
it's possible that someday the band's
members will give up their other jobs
to play full time, but for now, they are
taking things one step at a time.
Hedges said the next step probably
will be another 45.
"It all comes down to money," Young
said. "Whether we can live off of it. Right
now it's just for fun. We like the freedom
of playing when we want to."
Hedges said the band plays at frat
ernity, residence hall university functions,
in addition to engagements at local night
clubs. The band played at Little Bo's Sun
downer this weekend, and is planning a
reunion at The Sidetrack sometime this
fall, he said.
What was Shootin' from the Hip's
worst moment on stage?
"About a year and a half ago we played
for this 50th wedding anniversary," said
Hedges.
"The average age was 65," Young
said.
"We were playing in this big auditorium,
and about 12 people came in," Lovgren
said.
"The acoustics were terrible," Young
added.
Fortunately, said Hedges, such engage
ments happened only one or two times.
Bass player Lovgren has no trouble
recalling the band's best night on stage,
though.
'Tonight," he said.
On being young, restless, lonely on an early Friday evening
It was Friday, early evening, I was young, 1 was rest
less, 1 was a soap opera (not really), but it was Friday,
early evening.
I could stay home, unpack a couple more boxes, hang
some of my pictures on the wall, write my family, even
study some, but it was Friday, early evening, I was young,
I was restless, I was ...
I stepped out the front door . . .'white, free and fe
male (later that night I would return to that very door in
mi . i mi I ii i i i
rjf T. Marni Vos
the same tragic condition).
As I was walking toward my vehicle I heard honking
from a small foreign car. I looked down at the corner just
in time to see a bicyclist with a Walkman attached to his
ears, singing "another one bites the dust," crash into the
curb. I thought to myself how dangerous curbs are.
I had one ticket to the horse races. I knew I was on a
budget, but I felt lucky and, who knows, maybe I could
turn $12 into this semester's tuition, or at least a couple
of books for my linguistics class. I left the races at eight
o'clock wondering if it was too late to apply for a federal
loan. Just think two hours earlier I owned a car. Now I
was young, I was restless ... I was on foot.
I decided I would go to the Friday Afternoon Evening
Late Night Morning Club that I belonged to. Lacking a six
pack, I was not allowed to enter. I sold my shoes, borrow
ed a car and returned. There was a warm welcome with
smiles and open hands.
I visited with Geff for a bit. We talked about the races
and how they were probably all set up. He told me where
I could find a good cheap bike ... I asked him if I could
please borrow a pair of shoes.
I left to meet a friend, Barb. It was going to be her
birthday 10 days from last Saturday, but I had plans, so
we had decided to go to a movie Friday night instead. I
asked her if I could have a couple of slices of pizza and
maybe borrow some money ... we were off.
I had heard that "Beast Master" was worse than an
evening with Secretary of the Interior James Watt.
Finding this all hard to believe, I was tempted to go . . .
just to see how bad it was, just so I could be shocked and
grossed out . . . tell all my friends . . . wonder how a film
like that ever got made. Instead we went to "The Best
Little Whorehouse in Texas," with Dolly Parton. Barb and
I both wondered where she got her shirts ... we thought
we might like some shirts like that. I found some pop
corn on the floor. Burt Reynolds wore a bedspread . . .
the woman behind us whispered that Burt was the kind of
man that could make her acne flare up. I thought maybe
I'd like to make a musical someday.
I arrived home rather late. I stepped over some of the
still unemptied boxes. On the way to my room I noticed
that the cat had knocked one of my pictures over ... I
bit her ear and broke her tail.
The answering service was flashing . . . long distance. . .
my mother. She wanted to know if anyone knew of a T.
Marni Vos or if she wanted anything for Christmas.
I cleared my unused used books off the bed. 1 started
to drift. I remembered what Paul had written, 'For that
which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not
practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the
very thing t hate.