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Community Corner

Marshall Tucker Band Rolls in for One EPIC Night

Southern
Rock may find its roots buried somewhere below the Mason Dixon line, but
nowhere did the genre grow stronger than on Long Island; a fact not lost on
lead singer and founding member of the legendary Marshall Tucker Band,
Doug Gray who brings the band back here to The
NYCB Theater at Westbury
on September 7th.



“I
love my hometown of Spartanburg,
South Carolina, but I’ll be
honest. I don’t know if we would still be here today if it weren’t for Long
Island.” He states humbly.



For
more than four decades now, the singer has been blessed with the opportunity to
continue a dream that began in the early 1970’s with five boyhood friends, and
while he makes it a point at each and every performance to publicly thank fans
for that honor, his gratitude runs far deeper. Last year the group mounted a
major relief effort to aid many of the victims of Super Storm Sandy. Collecting
clothing, supplies and more than 1500 blankets, several of their equipment
trucks were dispatched directly to our area.

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            “Long Island was right there with us in the beginning
when we were just driving around in a van eating cheese and crackers ‘cos
that’s all we had,” he says laughing. “Had this been the original band we would
have done exactly the same thing. I mean think about it. How many times in our
lives are we ever gonna be able to appreciate and give something back?”



The
Marshall Tucker Band has seen several changes over the expanse of their four
decade career, yet today the group continues to tour relentlessly, playing to
standing ovations and sold-out shows not just around the country, but in many
places around the world. On several occasions they have journeyed to Iraq and Kuwait to show their support and
play for the troops. Things seem to be coming back around full circle for Gray
and fans as well. In 1976 the original members toured Europe
for the first time. Several shows were recorded and plans had been set in
motion to release a live album shortly afterwards. Their contract with
Capricorn Records was due to expire however, causing a 27 year delay in getting those tracks released. Stompin’ Room Only finally saw the light
of day in 2003, allowing fans of yesterday and today a true glimpse into the
peak of their career. Several months ago the current incarnation traveled to Switzerland to play the International Country Music Festival in Zurich where tape rolled once again with
plans to release a new live recording in the far nearer future.

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“It
was always about the music, always about the songs and always about the fans.
Right now things are really meshing again. I’ve got some of the greatest
musicians in the world in this band and I know the original guys; some of whom
are no longer on this earth would be extremely happy that all of it is still
going on. Our personality as a group continues to touch people now as it did
when we first started out. Every night I go out there and know the audience
still feels the music as much as I do because they’ve shared so much with us.
What a tribute that is to the writing and career that we put together.”



Marshall
Tucker returns this time around with old friends The Charlie Daniels Band.
Tickets are available at www.westburymusicfair.org
or at the box office until show time.







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