HerrinFesta back with stellar lineup

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The countdown is on. A brutal winter and short spring has allowed the ultra-popular music and cultural extravaganza known as HerrinFesta Italiana to slip up on us. The event kicks off in only 11 days.

A wide variety of patrons are traditionally drawn to this affair to witness everything from grape stomping and big nose competitions, or watch a beauty contest or play in a golf tournament, but a vast majority of fans flock to the piazza stage to watch the high-caliber musical guests.

As always, artists from all genres of music are in the lineup for 2008 and plenty of local talent will be taking the stage. However, the area artists will be shelving the mild sound this season and replacing it with a high-octane style that should have fans on their feet each night.

Wild Horses and Lori Eisenhauer will display a supercharged stage show on May 25. It will be followed by the high-energy presentation of Jennifer Thompson on May 26 and capped off by the unbelievable LoCash Cowboys on the same night.

"These four acts are as good as anything you hear on country radio today," says HerrinFesta executive director Jim Gentile. "Lori is a Herrin girl that is making a name for herself down in Nashville and Jennifer has been a dominant female vocalist in Southern Illinois for a decade.

"Wild Horses was a legendary band around here for a long time and are now making a name for themselves in Texas. The boys in LoCash love playing this area and we have pretty much adopted them at the festival."

Eisenhauer was a fixture in area nightclubs for many years, starting when she was just a teenager. Tired of being a big duck in a little puddle, she eventually migrated to Nashville to attend college and observe the inner workings of the music industry.

She has surpassed many of her Music City goals by completing her education and making numerous important contacts. She has worked as a demo singer and honed her craft as a songwriter, releasing a CD of original material, including emotion-packed tunes like "Once In A Lifetime," "Criminal" and "Where Ever You Go."

Eisenhauer has won positive critical reviews from nearly every publication in the city, including the prestigious Tennessean, which called her a "dark-eyed vamp" with "legs that deserve to be registered as deadly weapons."

The sexy siren has used her famous legs to win featured roles in powerhouse musicals like Chicago and Grease. She has also toured as a background singer for Martina McBride.

Wild Horses converged in this area in the mid-1990s with a plan to build a fan base from the obscurity of The Sweetwater Saloon in tiny Golconda. It worked. Instantly, there were overflow crowds rushing the stage, climbing on tables for a better view and dancing on the bar.

With sultry lead singer Angela Rae belting out tunes like "Ride Cowboy Ride" and lead guitarist Michael Blake Mahler working the audience into a frenzy, the band won three major record deals and scored a Top 40 single with "I Will Survive."

The band earned record deals, but refused to conform to recommended changes and never enjoyed commercial success.

"We're the band Nashville couldn't tame," Mahler says.

A couple of years ago, the group moved to Texas to be closer to family members. They have prospered musically in the Lone Star state, with a new loyal legion of fans and many radio-friendly songs. Last month, they were a featured act that played on a military base in front of a crowd of 80,000.

A native of Sandoval, Thompson started singing in her dad's band as soon as she was able to walk and hold a microphone. Through the years, she has been in and out of numerous bands and in and out of the music business, but one thing has remained constant - tremendous vocal ability.

She has aged like fine wine. Countless trips to Nashville have helped her learn her craft. In 2006, she won the state finals of the Colgate Country Showdown. She can deliver a powerful ballad that nearly brings tears to your eyes one minute, then blast into "Hit Me With Your Best Shot."

Thompson has appeared in a Gretchen Wilson video, become friends with Hank Williams Jr. and opened shows for more than 25 major acts, including Little Big Town and Lorrie Morgan.

The LoCash Cowboys are Chris Lucas of Maryland, a high school football star, and son of a preacher man Preston Brust of Arkansas. Both are in constant motion on stage. After meeting at The Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville in 2002, they developed a friendship and continued to pursue solo record deals.

Both had doubts when it was recommended they form a duo, but their personalities have perfectly meshed. Both are choreographers and have coordinated many of the national award shows for the industry.

While commercial success has somehow managed to elude the LoCashers, they continue to kick on the door and have a huge fan base, playing more than 200 concerts a year.

The festival begins May 19 with the Miss HerrinFesta scholarship pageant. The music actually begins May 22, with a different featured act each night. The arena rock cover band Hairbangers Ball will take the spotlight on May 22, followed by former Chicago member Danny Seraphine on May 23, rocker John Waite on May 24, country star Jake Owen on May 25 and the high-energy LoCash Cowboys on May 26.

Vince Hoffard can be reached at 658-9095 or vlh76@midwest.net.