Saturday Shoes to play this week's Parkfest

The members of Saturday Shoes (from left) Rick Barcus, Jeremy Hayes, Dennis Furr and Anthony Mullis will bring their alt-country sounds to Parkfest at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

This summer's Parkfest series will continue at 7 p.m. Tuesday with a slightly different sound for Putnam County music fans. Saturday Shoes will be playing their alt-country selections for the fourth installment of this year's series, sponsored by the Greencastle Civic League and Greencastle Parks and Recreation.

Saturday shoes is an alt-country cover band comprised of local musicians Rick Barcus of Greencastle on guitar and vocals, Jeremy Hayes of Greencastle on drums, Anthony Mullis of Bainbridge on guitar and vocals and Dennis Furr of Cloverdale on bass guitar. Bands they cover include as Ryan Adams and the Cardinals (as well as Whiskeytown), Lucinda Williams, The Jayhawks, My Morning Jacket and James McMurtry, to name a few.

The band is extremely passionate about its brand of music and hopes to pass that passion along to its Putnam County listeners.

"Our musical mission, as it were, is to introduce these mostly fringe sounds to the very mainstream-focused Putnam County community," Barcus said.

"It is a challenge at times. We often have a hard time convincing local audiences to give the music a chance because they seem to be so focused on the familiar that they have trouble accepting or experimenting with the unfamiliar," he added. "In short, we want our listeners to try something new; to entertain the notion that just because something is popular in music does not necessarily make it the best music, or even good for that matter."

The band also plays selections from the catalogues of country-influenced rock acts like the Band, the Grateful Dead and Gram Parsons. Saturday Shoes also offers a sound that should be pleasing to the ears of some classic country fans.

"If you like George Jones and Merle Haggard (who we occassionally cover) you will probably like Saturday Shoes if you give it a try. On the other hand, if you like Tom Petty or Jackson Browne, you will probably like us as well," Barcus said.

"Audiences are starting to come around and our vamped-up summer gigging schedule has helped that. Despite the noted challenges, there is a small, and growing, following for the band, mostly by people who are already familiar with the acts we cover. But we are always looking for new converts," he added.

Besides trying to push the local musical envelope, though, Saturday Shoes remembers what being in a band is all about -- showing people a good time.

"Our goals are simply to have fun, get the audience having fun, and provide a good quality of cover music," Barcus said. "We're all local guys, so we feel that we have a stake in the local music scene. We're simply trying to make our contribution the best way we know how and we promise that listeners will enjoy themselves even if they only identify a few of the songs we play. The more they see and hear us the better off all parties will be."

So any fans of alt-country or quality music in general are encouraged by the band and the sponsors to be at Robe Ann Park at 7 p.m. Tuesday for the show. They will find a band that wants to entertain and open some ears.

"Alt-country is fine music and we look forward to playing it in Putnam County as long as we can," Barcus said.

For more information on Saturday Shoes, visit their blog site at saturdayshoes1.blogspot.com