Gatesville Country Music Hall of Fame

June 17, 2016 Allen Hurt, a country music artist, entertainer, and song writer returns to our stage next month. Allen has been entertaining music fans since an early age and has written over 1500 original country and bluegrass songs, and some never recorded. He is known for wearing the traditional rhinestone suits and singing with his unique, high lonesome, tenor voice that would become his trademark sound. Over the years, Allen's music has gained airplay on radio stations throughout the US and Europe. His career crossed paths with music legends such as Ray Price, with whom Allen toured and shared the stage for many years along with other greats like Don Williams, Bobby Bare, Del McCoury and his long time mentor Porter Wagoner. His musical talents earned him 14 Gold and 2 Platinum Texas Music Legends (TML) music awards in 2005. He received Gatesville Texas Country Music Hall of Fame?s Entertainer of The Year award for 2013, and Male Vocalist of The Year award for 2014. Continuing to write songs and play the country music he loves, Allen proudly performs today with his band "The Mountain Showmen". He is an Inductee into the Gatesville Texas Country Music Hall Of Fame, a Member of the Country Music Association (CMA), and is also, an honorary member of the Fort Worth Songwriters Association. Other members of Allen's, "The Mountain Showmen", band: Steve Honeysuckle is from Ft. Worth Texas and one of Fort Worth's "North Side" favorite musicians performing for many years in his own family band. He played at many well, known Country Music venues honing his skills as a vocalist and keyboardist. He recently joined Allen and his organization as the tour bus driver and proud member of The Mountain Showmen. Steve, part of Allen's opening act, performs a couple of Traditional Country songs backed by the other Showmen. Larry Light, Allen's new drummer and proud permanent member of The Mountain Showmen, will sing a couple of songs as part of the opening act before bringing Allen on stage. Larry provides that smooth touch which makes the "showmen sound" truly come alive. His music industry background spans a lifetime of professional experience performing with many bands that have graced the stage. His unique style of playing country music has earned him a reputation of being one of the best and most sought after in the business. B.K. Cummings, performs as our lead guitar player for the group's unique style of new traditional Country music. His talents as a top musician in the industry earned him a strong and lengthy reputation as one of country music's leading musicians. Recently joining Allen and his organization of Showmen, B.K. proudly performs on stage as a member of The Mountain Showmen. Randy Hunsuckle started playing bass at age 15 and has performed all over the US for 25 years. He traveled and entertained with many top name acts, such as, Gary Stewart, David Alan Coe, Chris LeDoux, and many others. His musical influences cover a range of artist from Hank Williams to Little Feet. Performing with deep traditional country music roots, Randy is a proud member of The Mountain Showmen. Joan Cox, steel guitarist and long-time friend of Allen, joins this evening's concert as his proud guest of The Mountain Showmen. Joan is from Troy, MO. Living in Nashville, TN, she played behind Grand Old Opry stars Jeannie Seeley, Jack Greene, Del Reeves, Johnny Russell, and Connie Smith. After moving to Texas in 2004, Joan continued playing for various Texas acts like Johnny Bush, Allen Hurt, Bobby Flores, Darrell McCall, Tony Booth, Justin Trevino, Amber Digby and many others. She was the steel player for the house band at the Silver Saloon in Terrell, TX from 2004-2012. Joan was a featured player at the Texas Steel Guitar Association's Steel Guitar Jamboree for the past 26 years, and the International Steel Guitar Convention in St Louis for the last 29 years. In 2012, Joan was given the Texas Steel Guitar Player of the Year Award (Honorable Mention).