The Golden Belt Community Concert Association begins its 2013-14 season with Exile, famed as the 1960s rock band that gained greater popularity with its country hits in the 1980s. Reunited after two decades apart, J.P. Pennington, Les Taylor, Sonny LeMaire, Marlon Hargis and Steve Goetzman look back on a career arc that embraces 11 No. 1 country and pop hits, two gold albums and thousands of fans.
The concert is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12, at the Great Bend Municipal Auditorium, Lakin and Stone. This event is available to concert association members. Full-time students will be admitted to the concert for a $5 donation at the door by showing their school I.D. The auditorium will open at 6:30 p.m.
GBCCA memberships are still available for the 2013-14 season, which includes six concerts. Membership dues are $65 for adults; $10 for full-time enrolled students; $140 for a family membership including two adults and all dependent children living in the same household; and $140 for a grandparent package for two adults and up to four minor grandchildren. For more information contact Linda Jerke, 620-793-9440, or visit the GBCCA web site, www.goldenbeltcca.org.
Exile had reached its peak in pop music in 1978 with the No. 1 single, “Kiss You All Over,” but its shift to country music brought the group its greatest success. The band topped the country charts with numerous No. 1 hits including “Woke Up in Love,” “Give Me One More Chance,” “Crazy for Your Love,” “She’s a Miracle,” “Hang on to Your Heart,” “I Could Get Used to You” and “She’s Too Good to Be True.”
By the late 1980s, the band members, suffering from road-weariness, parted and went off in different musical directions. Years went by before the original members of Exile reunited in 2008 for what they believed would be a one-time benefit show. But the audience response was so encouraging – and the music still sounded so good – that they decided to regroup and do it all over again.