Big Butler County Fair

Yesterday we went up to Butler for the county fair and Y108 Freedom Fest. Headlining for the country music fest was Keith Anderson. We, however, were there for Terry Lee Spencer and his band. My father is their keyboard player. It was cool to see my 50+ dad up there on stage playing with a band I would actually listen to on my own.


Now on to my review of the band. (note: my father is in this band, but to be fair, I am only going to look at the lead singer and the band as a whole and if I would listen to them or not.)




Terry had a wonderful, fun and energetic stage presence. The cover songs they played were good. They didn’t always match the original song, but I had a good time while listening to them. (I don’t like listening to cover music, because usually the band gets it all wrong from what I think it should sound like, but Terry and his band did wonderfully!)
Terry had a few songs that were his own original works, and this is where things can get a little sticky. Writing a song is just like writing any other kind of thing, be it a novel, short story or what have you, when someone says they need something, it can rip your guts out. The beats and music to his songs were great, and the story part of the songs were there, but, (and this is where I cringe because I know how hard this kind of criticism can hit,) he needs to work on his phrasing and make the songs run just a little smoother. I enjoyed listening to them, but I did listen with my critical, writing ear. If I were to give him any advice, it would to get himself a good rhyming dictionary and a good thesaurus. Terry and his band have a fantastic sound and I think he will go far in the country music world. His original songs need just a tiny bit of tweaking to make them truly stand out. In short, he needs to work on his writing, because the writing is what makes or breaks anything from Block Buster Movies all the way down to high school poetry. Terry Lee Spencer has talent, and I am interested to see how he progresses in the music industry.




Now on to the day’s activities with my family.




We woke at the God-awful how of 10:00AM, The humanity of it all! Yes, we all know that I am not a morning person unless it’s because I am still awake from the day before. All four of us were showered, dressed and ready to go by 11:30. It’s got to be some kind of record to have a family of four out the door in only an hour and half. The kids started asking “are we there yet” about twenty minutes into the hour long drive. So, needless to say, it was a long forty minutes. We got there and since it was about to start raining, we didn’t have to wait in line for anything. We went to see the livestock first. The kids thought the pigs, sheep and goats were really cool, especially the goats with their rectangle pupils. After that, it started to rain and the ponchos came out. We traveled around the fair before we finally met my Mother and got our tickets to get into the area with the music. Then we got some food, and looked at some more of the exhibits. We got to see ‘That bird guy.” And we got to see cougars, a bear and two timber wolves up close and personal (with a cage as a barrier.) After that we got the kids and the husband their ride all day passes for the carnival rides, because the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. I went with my mother into the music area while the hubby took the girls on a few rides. We watched the Terry Lee Spencer band perform, hung out backstage while they put the equipment away, and then it was time for the kids to whirlwind us around the fair for a barrage of greasy food and sugar loaded food, carnal rides (With me as the coat rack) and loud noise, pulse the petting zoo and stopping in a few of the tents to get a souvenir for everyone. Soon it was dinner time for more grease, and then it was back out into the carnival where they girls got to have a pony ride thanks to Papa. By this time, my seven month pregnant sister was ready to take her two-year-old home, so she and her family left. The hubby and I took the girls on some more rides, and we played some carnival games, winning a plush white tiger, a plush cobra snake and two tee-shirts for the girls. I was ready for nap, so we headed back over to the music area for the feature band, Keith Anderson. It was nice and relaxing to just sit there for about an hour and half while the girls ran in circles to keep themselves awake. When the music was done, we took the kids on two more rides and then hiked back to the car. Bugs was sleeping before we hit the highway, and Pink managed to stay awake until we pulled into the driveway. Once inside, we got the pets fed and Piggy medicated before everyone just passed out. We were all in bed by 1AM and didn’t wake until about 11:00 the next morning. It was a great family day, and the big bonus was the husband decided stay home Sunday, and if we are lucky, we’ll get him home again tomorrow along with a trip the zoo. Hopefully, I will have more adventures to report tomorrow.