I look forward to having you with us for another wonderful evening of great food, heart warming and humorous stories, and terrific songs — sung by some of the nicest, most talented songwriters in country music.
Last year was the second time Reneé, Allen, Austin and Billy performed for us. What a privilege to be at that event. After enjoying some scrumptious Pedrotti’s BBQ, the artists entertained for over two hours, singing 24 songs. Some of those songs had me laughing till my sides hurt, others brought tears to my eyes. And the stories behind the songs gave everyone an insight into the songwriting process - a process of the heart.
One of the songs Reneé sang was Charm Of The Army, and it really got the crowd going. Reneé told us that her sister, Angie, is an Army wife, and while at Ft. Bliss, she was talking with two friends about what it means to be an Army wife. They began to throw out words like strong, true, spirit, soul, etc., and wrote them down. Angie took the words to Reneé and asked if she would write a song using those words to honor Army wives. The rest is history. The song was formally introduced this year at the Eighth Army Ball in Seoul, South Korea. It will be sung at the Association of the United States Army Convention in Washington D.C., during late October.
The last song Allen Shamblin sang that night was A House That Built Me. That song was recently recorded by Miranda Lambert and became a #1 hit. Miranda won top female honors for both the ACM and CMT Awards earlier this year.
Almost four hundred folks attended last year, and I expect twice as many this year. Why? Because of the wonderful comments from the people at the end of the evening. Lou Pedrotti, owner of the North Wind Ranch was there for the concert and he said, That was one of the top two or three shows we’ve had at Pedrotti’s since it opened in 1993.
See you at the Ranch.
Andrew Anderson
Director,
Omega Retreat Center/Event Coordinator
