The band will be performing at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum Luncheon on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Meet the Band<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Brad Reynolds – Springfield, MO – Upright Bass<\/strong><\/p>\n Band Manager and on the Board of Directors for the Greater Ozarks Bluegrass Society.<\/p>\n Brad started his musical life as a young man with the “Lifesavers Choir” from the Assemblies of God Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado.\u00a0 Brad spent many years touring and performing with music groups from SAGU, Waxahachie, TX including the internationally renowned “Harvesters”, “Divine Touch” and “Free Spirit\u201d.\u00a0 In these groups, Brad sang tenor and was the founder of “Free Spirit”\u00a0These groups toured nationally with many large concert events\u00a0including: Jesus Rocky Mountain, Christ for the Nations, The Billy Graham Crusades, as well as hundreds of churches all across the country.\u00a0 Brad has opened for such acclaimed Christian Artists as Russ Taff, Dallas Holm & Praise, Andrus Blackwood and Company, The Archers, and many, many more.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brad has also toured and sang background vocals as part of “The New Men of the West, for Western Music Hall of Fame Member, Rex Allen, Jr.; Johnny Western; Charlie Rich Jr.\u00a0 Lacy J Dalton, and Bix Crary.\u00a0 Brad now sings and plays upright Bass for Acoustic Essays, and is a proud member of the Greater Ozarks Bluegrass Society, the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) and the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPGBMA).<\/p>\n Bill Crider – Springfield, MO \u2013 Guitar<\/strong><\/p>\n Bill started playing guitar at age 8 with his family’s band in Southern Illinois.\u00a0\u00a0 While in High School, he was the guitarist and lead singer for a Southern Illinois gospel quarter, “The Gospel Messengers” and spent his Senior Summer\u00a0in the far northern\u00a0reaches of Canada, providing the music for his\u00a0church’s sponsored Missionary.\u00a0 Bill then headed west to Arizona where he performed at many local Country & Western Clubs, winning several local talent shows, and soon after joined the internationally award winning “Spirit of Phoenix Chorus”, the premier performing group of the Phoenix Chapter of the\u00a0Barbershop Harmony Society,\u00a0competing on the international stage.\u00a0\u00a0 During this time Bill\u00a0met\u00a0Western Music Hall of Fame Member, Rex Allen Jr. and became part of\u00a0Rex’s backup group, “the New Men of the West”.\u00a0 With this group, Bill\u00a0toured and sang backup vocal for Rex, as well as fellow Western Music Hall of Famer, Johnny Western, Charlie Rich Jr. Bix Crary and Lacy J. Dalton.\u00a0 Bill\u00a0later relocated back to the Midwest, settling in the Heart of the Ozarks, Springfield, MO and currently sings and plays guitar for Acoustic Essays.\u00a0 He is a proud member of the Greater Ozark Bluegrass\u00a0Society, the\u00a0International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) and the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music\u00a0of America, (SPGBMA), and the International Country Gospel Music Association.<\/p>\n Brett Dudenhoeffer – Marshfield, MO – Fiddle<\/strong><\/p>\n When Brett was 4 years old, a “fiddle and a bow” topped his Christmas list.\u00a0 In the years that followed, Brett’s love for music intensified.\u00a0 He began making public appearances when he was 6 years old and he recorded his first album.\u00a0 At age 9 Brett was featured in the March\/April edition of “The Ozark Mountaineer” magazine.\u00a0 At age 10 he won the “2010 Most Outstanding Young Fiddler” award at the American Heritage Music Festival in Grove, OK.\u00a0 Brett’s fiddling has been featured in numerous Missouri venues to include contests, festivals, county fairs, benefits, music shows, school functions, and church events.\u00a0 He has made guest appearances on the Mickey Gilley Show and the Joey Riley Show in Branson.\u00a0 The last 2 years he has played the National Anthem\u00a0to open\u00a0MSU’s Lady Bears and men’s Bears basketball games as well as the Springfield Cardinals baseball games.\u00a0 This year Brett also played the National Anthem for the Missouri Tigers Men’s Basketball game in Columbia MO.\u00a0\u00a0 Brett is a regular performer at Luttrell’s Live Music Show in Springfield, and a frequent performer at Prater’s Ozark Hills Theater in Lebanon, MO.\u00a0 Brett is also a member of a young group of fiddlers called The Possum Holler Fiddlers, a young fiddle group from Missouri that has performed at the White House in 2012 and\u00a0 2014. In the last 6 years Brett has recorded 5 full length cd’s. His latest titled “In His Element”\u00a0 Brett now plays fiddle and sings with Finley River Boys.<\/p>\n Alan Johnston \u2013 Ozark, Mo. – Banjo<\/strong><\/p>\n Alan started playing guitar at 10 years old.\u00a0 He later switched to banjo with his family\u2019s Bluegrass Gospel band, playing throughout the Southwestern Missouri region.\u00a0 After Alan graduated High School he joined the U. S. Air Force and spent 26 years active duty serving in many of the Military Operations over the last few decades.\u00a0 While in the Military, he played guitar in Church Ministries, and started doing more Tech work; organizing Talent Shows at military bases.\u00a0 He also played with the Variety group \u201cThe Beyanamme Band\u201d in Turkey, and he has played with regional Texas bands \u201cThe Texas Outlaws\u201d and \u201cThe Buckshot Band\u201d.\u00a0 After his military service, he moved back to the Ozarks to pursue his love of Bluegrass Music. \u00a0His recent projects were playing Banjo and Guitar with \u201cRoute 66\u201d and \u201cThe Lost Hill Bluegrass Band\u201d, both from Springfield Mo. \u00a0\u00a0He leads Bluegrass Gospel Church in Ozark, and plays Guitar for other services.\u00a0 He is a multi-instrumentalist\/vocalist that has played with many local bands and Venues in the area. \u00a0He is a member of the Greater Ozarks Bluegrass Society (GOBS) in Springfield Mo.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The band will be performing at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum Luncheon on Friday afternoon. Meet the Band \u00a0Brad Reynolds – Springfield, MO – Upright Bass Band Manager and on the Board of Directors for the Greater Ozarks Bluegrass Society. Brad started his…<\/p>\n