By DAVID STONE, Our Town Temple

The concert that’s been coming for two years finally arrives tomorrow night. But if you don’t have tickets, you might want to buy them right now.

“We still have tickets available,” said Keith Smith, Bell County Expo Center box office manager.  A glance at available seats on The Expo’s website, however, showed very few seats remaining.

The concert will feature two bands that were prominent in the 1980s — Foreigner and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. The show begins at 8 p.m.

“Live music is at the heart of what we do, and I’m thrilled to be back on the road and visiting so many places,” said Mick Jones, Foreigner’s founding member, guitarist and songwriter. “I’m looking forward to seeing you all in Belton. We’re gonna rock.”

While Foreigner’s personnel has changed over the years, the band has one constant — Jones. He formed the band in 1976 along with Ian Mc Donald, Dennis Elliott, Lou Gramm, Alan Greenwood and Ed Gagliardi.

While Jones is the lone member of that original Foreigner who still performs in the band, he has brought in other big names to fill the ranks, including former Hurricane vocalist Kelly Hansen, Dokken bassist Jeff Pilson and Train guitarist Luis Maldonado.

Foreigner had originally signed to play The Expo on April 25, 2020, just over a month after COVID-19 brought live concerts to a screeching halt. Obviously, the band cancelled, but fans were excited that the show was rescheduled for Oct. 3 of that year. Again, it didn’t happen, and Foreigner — like every other touring band in America — was temporarily out of work.

Over the years, Foreigner has placed 16 songs in the Top 30 and many more in the Top 40.

Surprisingly, Foreigner has only had one No. 1 hit — “I Want to Know What Love Is.” But eight more songs reached the Top 10, including “Waiting For a Girl Like You,” “Double Vision,” “Hot Blooded,” “Urgent,” “Feels Like the First Time,” “I Don’t Want to Live Without You,” “Say You Will” and “Cold as Ice.”

Several other songs became 1980s anthems, including “Dirty White Boy,” “Head Games,” “Long, Long Way from Home” and, of course, “Juke Box Hero.”

Hansen, who handles lead vocal duties with Foreigner, was the frontman for Hurricane during its heyday.

Joining Foreigner at Friday’s concert will be The Fabulous Thunderbirds, a band known for their huge hits “Tuff Enuff” and “Wrap it Up.”

The band started in Austin in 1974 when Kim Wilson and Jimmie Vaughan got together and decided to form a band. The quickly built a following and in 1979 The T-Birds released their first album, “The Fabulous Thunderbirds,” which was primarily blues influenced.

Over the years, the band has experimented with Cajun, soul and lots of rock ’n’ roll.

In 1986, The Fabulous Thunderbirds reached a commercial peak with the album, “Tuff Enuff”. The single of the same name, as well as “Wrap It Up” and “Look At That,” all went Top 40. The song, “Tuff Enuff” was featured in the movie “Gung Ho” starring Michael Keaton.

SOUNDS | ADY HERNANDEZ & THE 80H PROJECT

By DAVID STONE, Our Town Temple

An Austin musician with deep Temple roots got his feet wet in the music business by touring and traveling with his famous family.

Ady Hernandez, son of Tejano legend Little Joe of La Familia fame, leads 80H Project, a band that blends the authentic Austin sounds of yesterday with the high-energy music of today.

“I lead a band that has generated a faithful following among those that can distinguish between a genuine singer-songwriter guitar prodigy and the puffed-up pastry bands led by processed guitar glam-gods,” Ady said.

For most of his career, he has hidden the fact that he is among the progeny of Jose Maria Hernandez, aka Little Joe.

“Little Joe y La Familia has been a forerunner — a pioneer act,” Ady said. “Over a 50-year span, Dad assembled some of the most talented and original artists from throughout the state and around the country to produce some of the finest recordings and concerts this side of the Mississippi. I grew up with these players.”

As a boy, Ady tagged along with his vanguard musical family to places like Chicago, Washington and Los Angeles, and he was under the constant exposure and tutelage of top musicians in many genres — including rock, blues, funk and country.

Ady said he has learned a lot from his father other than making music.

“He has a life-long commitment to humanitarian issues and causes,” Ady said. “He has been involved in free concerts for United Farm Workers and benefits for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Dad has always been a firm believer in the philosophy of giving back — giving back to the fans and the communities that sometimes get left behind. The farm folks who didn’t have much but still came out to the shows have made our careers possible.”

Ady continues this spirit of gratitude and a connection to the salt-of-the-earth, but he is also a visionary experimentalist. His latest works, created in collaboration with “a group of likewise precocious, border-straddling and genre-bending music nerd,” is entitled Spectrum.

“I am grateful for my stellar and unparalleled musical parentage,” he said. “I am grateful to the many fine musicians and good friends who have come my way. And, I’m grateful to be alive.”

Inspired by icons such as Jeff Beck, Pat Metheny, BB King, Stevie Wonder and D’Angelo, Ady moved from his native Temple to the red-hot music scene in Austin in the late 1990s.

80H Project creates a get-back-to-basics, come-sing-and-dance-with-me groove. Backed by searing but soulful vocals and strong rhythms, the band represents a marriage between the authentic Austin of yesterday and the new groundswell that is the result of fresh energy and ideas.

“It’s infectious,” Ady said. “People need to have a good time, and we provide that. But we are not just here to play — we are here to create.”

EVERYTHING MUSIC WELCOMED

This is Our Town Temple’s weekly issue of SOUNDS. It is a regular part of our Thursday issue, and features local musicians, music venues and recording studios — anything related to music. Bands and musicians must have recorded original music to be included. Please contact David at OurTownTemple@gmail.com.

The Theory of Relativity opens Friday at TC

Temple College Vocal Point, a class that focuses on musical theater, will present The Theory of Relativity this Friday and Saturday in the Jackson-Graeter Backstage Theatre. 

The show begins at 7:30 p.m. both nights.

The Theory of Relativity is a musical based on a book by Brian Hill with songs and lyrics by Neil Bartram. The show explores how young adults deal with their personal feelings and situations, and how they develop communities based on their shared experiences.

“The class has been working on this production since January,” said Priscilla Santana, Temple College’s assistant professor of music and co-director of the musical theater program.

“This is a very popular small musical,” she said. “I actually had to apply for the right to do this show.”

“We are very excited,” she said. “This is actually our first musical since Pirates of Penzance back in 2019. COVID shut us down.”

The cast of The Theory of Relativity includes high school students who are taking Vocal Point through Temple College’s dual-credit program.

Tickets for the show can be purchased at the door, and students will be admitted free.

The Jackson-Graeter Backstage Theatre is located inside the Mary Alice Marshall Performing Arts Center on the Temple College campus.

LIVE BEATS NEAR YOU

April 22, Friday

•  Maxx Carter live at Fire Base Brewing at 6:30 pm.

• Aaron Watson with William Beckmann live at Schoepf’s BBQ. Gates open at 6, show at 7. 

• Foreigner and The Fabulous Thunderbirds live at The Expo. Tickets start at $38. Concert starts at 8 p.m.

• Karaoke Night at Corky's. Songs start at 8 p.m.

April 22-23

• Temple College’s Vocal Point, presents the musical The Theory of Relativity on April 22-23 in the Jackson-Graeter Backstage Theatre. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. both nights. Tickets are $5 at the door and students are free.

April 23, Friday

• Craig Howell Band live at Bo’s Barn. 8 p.m. to midnight. 

April 23-24

• Sounds Over Salado Music Festival features White Denim and The Stone Foxes. 11 bands over two days, including Nic Collins, son of legendary rocker Phil Collins. Tickets: https://radiomilk.ticketbud.com/sounds-over-salado-2022

April 24, Sunday

• Vineyard Voice, formerly Central Texas Master Singers, will deliver an orchestrated concert at 6 p.m. at Immanuel Baptist Church, located at 1401 W. Central Avenue in Temple.

April 29, Friday

• Wade Ralston live at Fire Base Brewing. 6:30 pm.

• Karaoke Night at Corky's. Songs start at 8 p.m.

THURSDAY | APRIL 21, 2022

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

To include your events in What’s Happening and Today’s Best Bets, email information to OurTownTemple@gmail.com. Photos are welcome to for use in the publication as space permits!

New VA clinics coming to Killeen, Cove

Our Town Temple

The Central Texas VA Health Care System has awarded contracts for two new community-based outpatient clinics in Copperas Cove and Killeen.

“We are excited to offer Veterans primary health care options where they live,” said Executive Director Michael Kiefer, Central Texas VA Health Care System. “Not only will these new VA clinics in Copperas Cove and Killeen offer primary care, but also women’s health services for our growing number of women Veterans.” 

The Central Texas VA already has clinics in Brownwood, Cedar Park, College Station, Palestine and La Grange; a stand-alone multi-specialty clinic in Austin; and the Temple VA Clinic Annex. 

VA awarded 10-year contracts to Potomac Valor Healthcare and Primary Care Solutions Inc., both minority and service-disabled Veteran-owned small businesses.

Scheduled to open this fall, the Copperas Cove clinic will be located at 336 Town Square and the Killeen clinic at 1001 East Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite 401.

“These new clinics were recently approved by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as part of a nationwide effort to provide expanded health care to our nation’s Veterans,” said Kiefer.

Serving more than 252,000 Veterans in 39 counties, the Central Texas VA area of operation covers approximately 35,000 square miles and 11 congressional districts. In 2020, the health care system treated 108,659 Veterans with about 1.2 million outpatient visits.

What Temple hospital was established in 1899 and advertised “An ideal home for the sick?”

On this day in 1836, Texas forces won the battle of San Jacinto, the concluding military event of the Texas Revolution. Facing General Santa Anna's Mexican army of some 1,200 men encamped in what is now southeastern Harris County, General Sam Houston disposed his forces in battle order about 3:30 p.m., during siesta time. The Texans' movements were screened by trees and the rising ground, and evidently Santa Anna had no lookouts posted. The Texan line sprang forward on the run with the cries "Remember the Alamo!" and "Remember Goliad!" The battle lasted but eighteen minutes. According to Houston's official report, the casualties were 630 Mexicans killed and 730 taken prisoner. Against this, only nine of the 910 Texans were killed or mortally wounded and thirty were wounded less seriously.

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On this day in 1906, Frank Hamer enlisted in the Texas Rangers. Hamer, born in Fairview in 1884, was recommended for a position with the Rangers after capturing a horse thief while working as a cowboy in 1905. In 1908 he resigned from the force to become marshal of Navasota and then a special officer in Harris County. He rejoined the Rangers in 1915 and patrolled the South Texas border from the Big Bend to Brownsville. He was criticized for his use of force, and legislator José T. Canales accused Hamer of threatening him in 1918. In 1934 Hamer became a special investigator for the Texas prison system and was assigned to track down outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. After a three-month search, he and his men shot and killed them near Gibsland, Louisiana. Congress awarded Hamer a special citation for stopping the pair. Hamer retired in 1949 and lived in Austin until his death in 1955.

OurTownTemple@gmail.com | (254) 231-1574

TODAY’S TEMPLE TRIVIA ANSWER: St. Mary’s Sanitarium was located at Avenue F and South 5th, and it included two operating rooms, patient rooms and a doctor. All Temple doctors were welcome to treat their patients at the hospital.