Glen Miller Orchestra in Colby

 Spend an evening with the Glenn Miller Orchestra Oct. 7

One of the greatest Big Bands of all time, the World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, is coming to Colby on Saturday, Oct. 7, 7:30 p.m. CDT, at the Colby Community College Cultural Arts Center. 

The Western Plains Arts Association is sponsor of the special evening performance. Admission is by WPAA season ticket or at the door: adults, $20 and students $10. 

Major contributors for the Glenn Miller Orchestra include: The Dane Hansen Foundation, Logan, Kan., the Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation —Dane Hansen Community Grant for Thomas County, Bird City. A large number of businesses and individuals across the area make these live programs possible.

The Glenn Miller Orchestra has been swinging in his memory ever since 1954. Miller started his orchestra in March 1938. After touring with Benny Goodman, the Dorseys, and other greats, Miller began recording under his own name for Columbia records in 1935. During his professional career, the Glenn Miller Orchestra produced an average of more than ten Top 10 hits every year from 1939 through 1944.

Just a few of his career hits include: Moonlight Serenade, Tuxedo Junction, Pennsylvania 6-5000, In the Mood, A String of Pearls, Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree, Chattanooga Choo-Choo and That Old Black Magic.

R.J. Vandygriff in Sharon Springs

 R.J. Vandygriff is an award winning singer/songwriter, playwright and actor not to mention a pretty darn good cowboy. Sponsored by the Western Plains Arts Association, Vandygriff will appear at 2 p.m. MDT (3 p.m. CDT), Sunday, Sept. 24 at Wallace County High School in Sharon Springs.
Admission is by WPAA season ticket or $10 adults, $5 students at the door.
This program is made possible through the generous support of area businesses and individual sponsors including a major gift by the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, Logan, Kan.
He’s at home on stage, in front of a camera or horseback in the big pasture.  Vandygriff grew up ridin’ horses and strumming an ol’ guitar, competed in saddlebronc and bareback as well as working as a rodeo clown and bullfighter. Whether he’s performing as a solo artist or starring in the highly acclaimed musical "The
Cowboy Ain’t Dead Yet!" he has the talent to walk on a stage in front of any audience and connect with them.
Vandygriff worked or appeared in more than 100 episodes of the television series "Walker, Texas Ranger." He has appeared on stage with George Strait, Garth Brooks, Alabama, The Judds, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Moe Bandy. Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Andy Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Sons of the Pioneers, Red Steagall, and Michael Martin Murphy.

Rockland Road in Oakley

Western Plains Arts Association opens their 54th season Sunday, Sept. 17 at 3 p.m. CDT with Rockland Road, six musicians of the Martin family representing four generations of musical heritage. All members of this Nashville family sing and play a combined 23 different instruments. Oakley High School auditorium will be the venue for the first program. 

Admission is by WPAA season ticket or single program tickets, adults $20, students $10 at the door. Season tickets may be purchased from any board member or at the venue. This program is made possible by generous business and individual sponsors, including major grants from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, Logan, and the Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation- community Grant for Logan County and Thomas County, Bird City.
Rockland Road is a street just outside Nashville. It’s a studio where countless hit records have been recorded. It’s a crossroads where country, gospel, pop, R&B and Americana music has coexisted and thrived for years. It is also a vocal- driven, melodic band with a signature sound as rich and authentic as its namesake.
 
Rockland Road is a powerhouse group featuring soulful vocals imbued with a pure, exuberant joy worthy of the talented blood that flows through this family’s veins. As they prepared to enter the studio, the Martin family was pitched songs from some of the top writers in Nashville. One song in particular, "Mountains Up
Ahead," was brought to them by their producer Greg Bieck, and they felt an immediate connection and knew they had to record it.