By Kathy L. Collins
The United Methodist Church of Sun City Center is pleased to present the Crabgrass Cowboys on Friday, July 3 at 7 p.m. in the church sanctuary. The United Methodist Church of Sun City Center is located at 1210 Del Webb Blvd. W. Hapi McKenzie is the lead singer and guitarist for the Crabgrass Cowboys. He is joined by Patty on the violin and Jeff on the bass.
Their sound is a little bit of country, rockabilly, bluegrass, folk and swing from the 1930s to the 1950s. McKenzie said, “We just like to dress up like cowboys, hence the name of the band.”
Jeff Jordan, director of worship arts for the United Methodist Church of Sun City Center, explained, “The origins of the band may be traced to July 4, 1988 to a smoke filled, sweltering hot little blues dive in Tampa called Sweet Baby Jane’s. Hapi was playing with one of those bands where everybody wanted to go in a different musical direction, so nobody wanted to talk to each other. There was a break in the music and Miss Patty walked up to the stage and told Hapi, ‘I play violin, live around the corner and heard there was live music here.’ Patty sat in with the band that night and they’ve been together for nearly 27 years.”
The Crabgrass Cowboys have performed all over the United States and have toured in Europe. They were also featured on a recent Metro PCS commercial.
Concert-goers are encouraged to arrive early for a good seat. A donation of just $5 is requested at the door on the evening of the concert.
According to Jordan, “This concert is part of our 40 plus concert series that we call Thank God Its Variety. The concert series exists to offer affordable, family-friendly entertainment right here in South Hillsborough County. The series is quite diverse.” Jordan added, “It is also an opportunity for us to introduce people to our church.”
The next concert in the series will be Larry Ford from Gaither Homecoming on Friday, July 24 at 7 p.m.
To learn more about this and other concerts and recitals at the United Methodist Church of Sun City Center, contact 362-0956. To learn more about the United Methodist Church of Sun City center, visit the website at www.umcscc.org.
