By Lydia Lowe
(all photo’s by Bob Hunter)
The Rusty Needle Sports Bar played host to Concert For The Cause for a fundraiser to support The Reno County Food Bank. Donations of cash and canned goods were collected at the door.
The evening was full of music, food, drinks, and fun. Three outstanding female performers: Morgan Wilk, Kaylee Keller and Lacey Cruse took to the stage to sing in a round robin style, shifting from one performer to another, as they sang some of their favorite songs. It was an all-acoustic evening. Occasionally the ladies would chime in on one of the other performers songs, when they knew the lyrics. There was original music as well as cover tunes. The musical styles were different, yet all blended well.
Kaylee Keller was the nights pop princess. She sang her original song entitled Red Boots, which I thought was outstanding. She also did her rendition of an older cover song, Brand New Key. I’ve heard the original version as well as Kaylee’s version, and I’ll have to say that I think the way she sang this song was the way it should have always been sung. Her voice rose and changed on a dime, it seemed, and her range was incredible. Whenever I hear that song from now on, I will always think of Kaylee’s version as being the right one.
Lacey Cruse was the folk singer of the group. A member of the audience likened her style to Janis Joplin and I think I’ll have to agree. I loved her original tunes entitled Not That Kind of Girl and, I hope I have the title of this one right, Treasure Hunting?. Lacey sang a cover of House of The Rising Sun and put her own twist on it. It was pretty amazing! It had a slower folksy sound to it and I loved the way she did it. As good if not better than the original version.
Then there was Morgan Wilk, our country music sweetheart. She sang an original tune entitled Almost Like Mine, which I loved. She sang the well-known, I’ll Fly Away, which got everyone in the bar clapping, hooting and hollaring. At one point she lead the group in singing a Christmas song.
Truly a wonderful evening with three strong, talented female performers with varied styles. Oh, and I almost forgot, toward the end of the evening two of the wrestlers from Midwest Entertainment, a wrestling company in Wichita, Kansas; showed up to promote their Sunday night show in Wichita. It’s a CFTC show, so you never know whats going to happen and you never know who’ll show up. Three ladies sitting on bar stools singing to muscle bound wrestlers-you just never know.
