Fans in the Battlefords will have their opportunity to hear the Oak Ridge Boys live in concert next week.
The country and gospel quartet, known for hits like Elvira, American Made, Y'all Come Back Saloon, Fancy Free, Bobbie Sue and others, are slated to perform at Gold Eagle Casino in North Battleford Aug. 4. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 8 p.m.
It is part of four days in Canada that also includes performances at Casino Regina as well as the Big Valley Jamboree in Canmore, Alberta.
Richard Sterban, bass singer for the group, spoke with the Regional Optimist while on tour with the band in Monroe, Mich. earlier this week. He said the Oak Ridge Boys "don't get to Canada that often, so we're looking forward to getting up there."
The group, which includes Duane Allen, Joe Bonsall and William Lee Golden, has performed in Saskatchewan from time to time, though not that often, Sterban said.
One of those times was 2013 at the Craven Country Jamboree. Those were difficult circumstances, however, as the group was a last-minute replacement for Randy Travis who had suffered a massive stroke that same week.
"We were certainly honored to fill in for him, but at the same time it was a very sad occasion," said Sterban.
Much happier circumstances bring the Boys to Saskatchewan this time, as their latest tour comes on the heels of the well-received release of their latest album.
It is titled Boys Night Out and it is a departure for the group as it is their first "live" album ever.
"It's 14 of our hit songs," said Sterban, and "it's live and in concert". The album was released on the independent Cleopatra label this spring.
It was recorded while the four were performing live on stage in Laughlin, Nevada at the Riverside Resort and Casino. According to Sterban, they had done 11 shows in seven days, which "makes for a busy week."
Those shows were all recorded live, and the group picked out the best songs they wanted for the project. Some of the hits selected for the album were obvious choices.
"Elvira had to be on there, you know, Thank God for Kids, that had to be on there," Sterban said. But the group also wanted "to make sure each Oak Ridge Boy was featured prominently."
"I think we came up with a great example of 14 songs of what the Oak Ridge Boys sound like live and in concert."
Their Gold Eagle Casino performance in North Battleford will be along the same lines as their album, as the group is on their "Boys Night Out Tour" across North America.
"A big percentage of our show will be our hits," said Sterban, "because that's what we're doing this year."
You are likely to hear the familiar hit songs that have defined the Boys' career in country music. "We'll probably throw in a gospel song or two, to pay tribute to our roots, which is gospel," said Sterban.
In general, the audience can expect "a good night of country music" and family entertainment, said Sterban.
"There's something for every member of the family from Grandma, Grandpa, all the way down to young kids."
That focus has been a hallmark of the Oak Ridge Boys throughout their career.
"We've always been very careful in selecting the material that we record," said Sterban.
"Throughout the course of our career we've tried to shy away from songs that talk about negative things. We stay away from 'getting drunk' and 'getting divorced' and 'cheating on your wife,' songs like that. We try to concentrate on the good, wholesome, positive things in life."
The group dates back all the way to the 1940s when a group initially known as Wally Fowler and the Georgia Clodhoppers performed for families and staff at the nuclear research plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee during the Second World War.
The group later became known as the Oak Ridge Quartet and went through a number of changes over the years. It was reorganized as the Oak Ridge Boys in the early sixties.
All the current members of the Oak Ridge Boys, Sterban said, were fans of the group long before they became members. William Lee Golden joined in 1965, Duane Allen in 1966 and Joe Bonsall in 1973.
Before he joined, Sterban was part of J.D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet, and toured and performed backup for Elvis Presley with them for a year and a half in the early seventies.
He said it was Golden who called him up and offered him an available spot with the Oak Ridge Boys in 1972. Still, it was a major decision to leave the Elvis tour, which was the biggest tour in the music business back then, Sterban said.
People initially second-guessed the decision to join the Oak Ridge Boys, he said, but "I thought the group had a great deal of potential.
"I don't think I realized how much we would eventually go on and accomplish in our career, but I think I made a wise decision."
Apart from a few years in the late eighties and early nineties, when Golden departed the group to record as a solo artist, the four have been together performing since 1973.
"If you had asked any one of the four of us 41 years ago that we'd all be here 41 years later and we'd still be here and still be doing this, I don't know if any one of us would have believed it," Sterban said.
"Yet here we are, still going strong, still having a great time doing what we do. And I think that's a key factor to our longevity, the fact that we still love what we do. We're still having fun, and I think when we come to town it'll be evident on stage."
Looking long-term, the group has no intention of slowing down anytime soon.
"We're all still feeling pretty good and as long as the good Lord above keeps blessing the four of us with good health, you're going to see us out here doing it because this is really what we enjoy doing."
