The Time Jumpers Bring Nashville Musicians To Honeywell Center
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Staff Report-
WABASH – For Vince Gill, it all started on a Monday night. The way the multi-platinum selling singer, Grammy Award-winner and Country Music Hall of Fame member tells it, if he was off the road from touring around the world and it was Monday, he would head down to the famed Station Inn in Nashville where a few of his buddies, who had dubbed themselves The Time Jumpers, were playing. More often than not, Gill would grab a chair and sit in. “It was a common place for me to turn up,” Gill says. “To go down on a Monday night and just be a guitar player, it reminded me of when I was 15. Everybody split the money, so you might go home with 50 bucks in your pocket, you might go home with $200.” Gill wasn’t the only one dropping by on Monday nights. Bonnie Raitt, Reba McEntire, Norah Jones, Robert Plant, The White Stripes, Kings Of Leon, Jimmy Buffet and Kelly Clarkson were among those who headed to the Station Inn on Mondays, sometimes to sit in, sometimes just to listen to the array of country, swing, jazz and pop standards The Time Jumpers were playing. After Gill had been a regular sub for several years, a couple players quit the band and the group’s veterans asked Gill to join them full time. So Gill took up vocal, electric and acoustic duties for The Time Jumpers, an 11-piece band of all-star Nashville musicians who loosely formed in 1998 to play Western Swing music – and other types – for fun. The next 15 years produced two albums, four Grammy Awards and fans throughout the world. WWKI welcomes The Time Jumpers’ unique show to the Honeywell Center at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, sponsored by Dillman’s Furniture Bargain Center. The current edition of the Time Jumpers includes Brad Alpin, the newest member, on upright bass; Larry Franklin, fiddle; Paul Franklin, steel guitar; Vince Gill, vocals, electric and acoustic guitars; “Ranger Doug” Green, vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar; Andy Reiss, electric guitar; Dawn Sears, vocals, Kenny Sears, vocals and fiddle; Joe Spivey, fiddle and vocals; Jeff Taylor, accordion, piano; and Billy Thomas on drums and vocals. “There are 11 of the most talented and gifted musicians and singers. And you probably won’t see that much talent on the stage anywhere else,” says Kenny Sears, who is credited with starting the group, although Sears denies full ownership. “It wasn’t anyone’s brain child,” he says “We just got together and started playing for fun and it evolved.” The evolution known as The Time Jumpers brings a brand of music termed as Western Swing and traditional country, but that doesn’t perfectly describe it either, the band members say. “It’s so authentic,” Gill says. “It kind of skips around and doesn’t have to get pigeon-holed. In its truest form, it’s Western Swing, which comes from Be Bop and Big Band. It’s Be Bop played with western instruments. Thirty to 40 percent is traditional country based, heavily laden with steel guitars and triple fiddles.” Regardless of the label the music receives, none can dispute that the Time Jumpers is the highest caliber of musicians from Nashville gathered on one stage. “Really what makes The Time Jumpers a little different from most groups is that we don’t have the usual formula,” Sears said. “Everyone in the band is a star. We don’t have a star out front. Everybody is a support group for whoever happens to be doing something at the time. Everybody gathers around them and does the very best they can do at the time. Sears said, “We get so entertained ourselves that sometimes we forget to play. We get caught standing there with our mouths wide open. We have a saying among ourselves: ‘Sorry, I’ll go buy a ticket.’” The Sept. 14 show is Gill’s first time playing at the Honeywell Center with The Time Jumpers, but the CMA Award winner is no stranger to Wabash. “Wabash is a great little place,” Gill says. “People have come out to see me no matter what I’m doing. Acoustic show one year, bluegrass another. One year, we played a request show where the audience members called out songs and we played them. They are going to love these Time Jumpers. … I encourage people to come out. Take a chance and I guarantee you’ll have a good time.” Tickets are $34, $54 and $75. Tickets may be purchased at the box office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, by calling 260-563-1102 or visiting www.honeywellcenter.org
