Mike Benton, Amanda Smothers perform Saturday
Published 11:00 pm Thursday, August 9, 2012
Often, homefolks are the hardest to please.
But Mike Benton and his daughter, Amanda Smothers, are crowd pleasers whether they are at home or on the road.
The duo will be “at home” at studio 116 in downtown Brundidge Saturday night and they can hardly wait.
“We are both looking forward to being at studio 116,” Smothers said. “We are honored be there. It’s always a good thing to perform ‘at home’ and anything that we can do to promote the arts, we want to do.”
Smothers said she has been impressed by the lineup of talent that has performed at studio 116 to date.
“And, I was surprised by some of the names on Open Mic night,” she said. “I didn’t know that some of them were doing public performances – singing, playing instruments and stepping up to read poetry. Wow! I didn’t know they were doing these things. It’s awesome to have a place where talent is spotlighted. We just appreciate studio 116 for providing our community, our area, with this venue.”
Mike Benton said a venue like studio 116 is greatly needed in the area.
“It’s priceless to have a place like this to perform your art,” Benton said. “What we need is more venues like this where families can come and enjoy good music. We appreciate being a part of the We Piddle Around Theater and the storytelling festival in Brundidge and we are excited to now be a part of studio 116.”
For about 18 years, Benton and his daughter have been playing gospel music and churches have been their main venue.
“But there’s also some great secular music out there that doesn’t talk about drinking, and drugs and wayward women,” Benton said. “We enjoy singing that kind of music, too.”
And, when Benton and Smothers take the stage from 7 until 9 p.m. Saturday night at studio 116, the audience will have an opportunity to hear them perform folk, bluegrass, blues and gospel music.
“Venues like studio 116 are opportunities for us to step outside the box and do the music that we love,” Smothers said. “Saturday night, we’ll do different genres of gospel music and some traditional bluegrass. And, we’ll probably try something new. It’s always fun to see how an audience responds to something new.”
No matter what they sing, both father and daughter said it will be family friendly.
“We just want everybody to come out and enjoy a night of music,” Benton said. “We’re excited to see the arts live and well in downtown Brundidge and we’re proud to be a part of it.”
Tables are available for those who would like to “dine in” during the performance.
Tickets are $8 for individuals and $15 for couples.