Organizers for the Brownwood Reunion Celebration announced the concert headliners for their 2012 event.
This year, Rick Springfield will be the highlight for the Friday night concerts while country music’s Wade Bowen will headline Saturday. Organizers said that plans for Sunday will be announced at a later date. Tickets will go on sale in July and are only $15 for a weekend pass
This year’s Brownwood Reunion Celebration will be held September 14, 15, and 16. The community-wide festival features a variety of contests, events, attractions, music, and food in addition to the main concerts. Watch for more info about this year’s event in the coming weeks.
About Rick Springfield
The son of an army officer, Australian rocker Rick Springfield (real name Richard Lewis Springthorpe) first picked up the guitar at the age of 13.
His interest in music began whilst living in England in the early 1960s and, upon returning to Australia, he began playing in bands.
Joining the band Zoot, he gave them several self-written hits, as well as a hit cover of ‘Eleanor Rigby’.
Going solo, he released a single ‘Speak To The Sky’, which reached number one in the Australian chart and, in 1972, his first solo album, ‘Beginnings’, was released. That same year, Springfield moved to the US, touted as a new teen sensation, and ‘Speak To The Sky’ made the US Top 20.
After a two-years break he released ‘Comic Book Heroes’, soon followed by the cartoon tie-in, ‘Mission Magic’. In 1976, ‘Wait for Night’ and ‘Take a Hand’ were promising, but Universal dropped him.
Beginning a new career as a TV actor, Springfield appeared in ‘The Rockford Files’ and ‘Wonder Woman’, before landing the lead, as Dr. Noah Drake, in ‘General Hospital’.
With this new fame, his 1980 album, ‘Working Class Dog’, became a smash hit in 1980. It spawned the number one hit ‘Jessie’s Girl’, for which he won a Grammy Award. The follow-ups, ‘I’ve Done Everything For You’ and ‘Don’t Talk To Strangers’ were also top 10 hits.
His 1982 album, ‘Success Hasn’t Spoiled Me Yet’, continued his success, as did the hit single ‘Love Somebody’ from his film ‘Hard to Hold’, in which Springfield played a rock singer. He married Barbara Porter in 1984. She was the receptionist at the studio where he recorded his album ‘Working Class Dog’. They now have two children.
His track ‘Bruce’, about being mistaken for Bruce Springsteen, was re-released the same year. However, he was injured in a serious ATV accident, and his world tour was cancelled.
In 1989, he starred in the film ‘Nick Knight’ about an 800-year-old vampire seeking a cure for his condition. He later reprised this role in the television series ‘Forever Knight’. Springfield then appeared in the TV series’ ‘Human Target’ (1992), ‘Robin’s Hoods’ in 1995, ‘High Tide’ (1994 to 1997) and in episodes of ‘Suddenly Susan’ (1999) and ‘Martial Law’ (1999).
In addition to roles in films and TV shows, he appeared on Broadway in the musical ‘Smokey Joe’s Cafe’ from 1995, which featured songs from rock n’ roll songwriters Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller.
In 1999, Springfield returned with the album ‘Karma’, his first album of new music in over 10 years.
He was last seen starring in the Vegas show ‘EFX Alive’, replacing Tommy Tune in the lead role between February 2002 and December 2002. In December 2005, he was asked to reprise his role as Dr Noah Drake in ‘General Hospital’ after a 23-year absence. He appeared in the recurring role as a guest star until 2008.
Springfield next played a “twisted version of himself” in several episodes of ‘Californication’ in 2009 and last appeared in one episode of ‘Hawaii Five-O’ in 2011
About Wade Bowen
Wade Bowen was born and raised in Waco. He graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, spent two years living in Austin and currently resides in New Braunfels with his wife and two sons. His Texas roots run deep so it was a natural progression to complete his current project, Live at Billy Bob’s Texas CD/DVD.
His self-released 2002 album Try Not To Listen consolidated his Texas success as its title tune went Top 10 on the Texas Music Chart. The statewide sensation generated by his live shows led the following year to The Blue Light Live, an in-concert album.
With Lost Hotel in 2006, the groundswell Bowen had stroked in the Lone Star State took his single “God Bless This Town” to the top of the Texas Music Chart while its video was a Top 20 debut on CMT and spent several weeks at #1 on CMT’s Pure Country 12 Pack countdown. The vibrant buzz he had started in Texas also spread further as he hit the national road on the Lee Ann Womack and Friends tour and expanded his fan base for his live appearances into the Midwest and Southeast.
In 2008, Bowen’s release, If We Ever Make It Home debuted at #2 on Billboard’s Top New Artist Chart, #29 on the Top Current Country Albums and #176 in the Top 200 Albums. It was the #3 most downloaded country album on ITunes in its first week. If We Ever Make It Home has produced four number one singles on the Texas Music Chart and Texas Regional Radio Charts. The Texas Music Chart deemed the title track and “Nobody’s Fool,” as two of the Top 30 songs of 2009. Bowen’s current music video, “Trouble” debuted at #1 and is presently aired on CMT’s Pure 12 Pack.
On the heels of the success of If We Ever Make It Home, Bowen will release the next installment of the Live at Billy Bob’s Texas music series in the spring of 2010. Bowen recorded his CD and DVD in November 2009 to a packed house at the legendary, honky tonk, Billy Bob’s Texas. This is a live album with only one take – raw emotion, passion and intensity captured for fans to relive again and again. The album consists of 20 tracks which include hits “Lay It All On You,” “You Had Me At My Best,” “One Step Closer,” and “Trouble.” As an added bonus, two NEW, unheard studio cuts produced by Frank Liddell (Miranda Lambert, Chris Knight) will be introduced on the CD. The DVD features 20 tracks with special footage caught the week leading up to the show, an interview section and a must-see confessional booth where fans poured their heart out to Wade and the band.
The path Wade Bowen is following continues to be well decorated with media acclaim, radio airplay, and an ever growing fan base that has attracted a ceaseless tour schedule totaling 200 plus dates a year. The essence of Wade Bowen has been perfectly captured on the Live at Billy Bob’s Texas CD/DVD as he solidifies his brand as a true, authentic artist.
