BAM Column: Rascal Flatts’ Tulsa show helps Joe Don Rooney’s hometown
Members of the band Rascal Flatts, from left, Joe Don Rooney, Jay Demarcus and Gary LeVox arrive for the premiere of the new film “Righteous Kill” at the Ziegfeld Theater Sept. 10 in New York. (Associated Press photo)
From Thursday’s The Oklahoman.
Special note: This is the first issue of my new column, BAM, that will run in The Oklahoman and on NewsOK. My column will focus on country music and other entertainment news and commentary.
Rascal Flatts show aids Picher
Along with playing sold-out shows, racking up industry awards and notching hit singles, country music band Rascal Flatts has been honored this year for charitable giving.
In spring, the trio of singer Gary LeVox, bassist Jay DeMarcus and guitarist Joe Don Rooney of Picher received the 2008 Academy of Country Music/The Home Depot Humanitarian Award, followed with the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s “Shining Star Award.” The awards came shortly after the band reached out to Rooney’s hometown in its hour of need.
The hit-churning group, who has sold more than 17 million albums, takes the stage tonight at Tulsa’s BOK Center, but the proceeds from ticket sales already have gone to a good cause. Rascal Flatts made a donation to the Red Cross to aid relief efforts in the wake of the May 10 tornado that ravaged Picher.
“Rascal Flatts has a great reputation for helping nonprofit organizations, and the Red Cross is grateful to be a part of that,” said Nellie Kelly, spokeswoman of the Tulsa area chapter of the American Red Cross. “They understand how horrible disasters are and that they can strike at any time; whether you’re rich or poor, a disaster can affect any one of us.”
Tickets went on sale for the Tulsa concert in April. A spokesman for the band said the musicians decided to use the proceeds from the show to make the donation, the amount of which he asked not be disclosed, immediately after the disaster, when the community’s need was greatest.
Rooney also returned to Picher a few days after the tornado to volunteer with the Red Cross and survey the devastation to his hometown. The EF-4 twister resulted in seven deaths, at least 150 injuries and 114 homes destroyed. It was the deadliest to hit Oklahoma since the May 3, 1999, tornado that killed 44 people.
“When I spent time in Picher immediately after the tornado with the American Red Cross, it was important to me and to the guys that we do something right away to help these people. This town was and is still in my heart. … Our Tulsa show had gone on sale, and we were so thrilled with the fans buying tickets so quickly, we knew that was a way to have the community and Oklahoma help us donate funds to Picher,” Rooney said Wednesday in an e-mail.
During his visit, Rooney handed out water bottles, met with residents and “really cheered people up at a very difficult time,” Kelly said. She drove around the town with Rooney and his sister as they pointed out familiar landmarks turned to rubble.
“I could see the destruction myself, but what I didn’t have was the memories of how it used to be,” she said. “That was what was really touching to me was to see the memories that went along with the disaster and how it touched him so much.”
In a May 14 interview from Picher, Rooney told The Oklahoman that his childhood home was “basically demolished.”
“It looks like a war zone,” Rooney, 33, said at the time. “It’s under such horrible circumstances to be back home.”
His return tonight to his home state is guaranteed to be more fun. The band, which has been touring nearly nonstop this year, is known for putting on high-energy tours.
Special guests on the tour include songwriters Neil Thrasher and Wendell Mobley, who penned the Rascal Flatts’ hits “Take Me There,” “Fast Cars and Freedom” and “I Melt,” and up-and-coming star Taylor Swift, whose debut album spawned five top 10 singles and recently released her sophomore CD, “Fearless.”
IN CONCERT
Rascal Flatts
Special guests: Taylor Swift, Neil Thrasher and Wendell Mobley.
When: 8 tonight.
Where: BOK Center, 200 S Denver, Tulsa.
Tickets: About 400 new seats were released for sale Wednesday. Prices are $49.50 and $69.50.
Information: (866) 726-5287 or www.bokcenter.com.
-BAM
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