Country concert set to benefit Hill County 4-H

People have the chance to hear some live, local and out-of-state country music while helping 4-H youth at the same time.

The 4-H Foundation of Hill County Board of Directors will be hosting Rusted and Busted ’19 in the Great Northern Fairgrounds Bigger Better Barn, Saturday, Nov. 9, to raise funds to continue support and promotion of 4-H youth and events, in cooperation with Hill County Extension Office.

“The idea is to make the foundation as flexible as possible, to be able to provide support to our youth and clubs, and so this event will benefit the general fund,” foundation board member Shea Carroll said. “As the board of directors and the Extension Office see ways to carry out our mission statement, we will be free to do that to the best of our ability.”

The show will feature two local bands, Plowed Under Band and the Pistol Annies tribute band Shotgun Betties, opening and Seattle’s Country Lips as the headliner.

Carroll said that, in the past few years, the foundation has been reliant on businesses’ and community members’ support for funding. A number of businesses and individuals donated time and resources to support 4-H projects such as construction of the new Chuckwagon building, which was completed last year. He added that the event is a way to thank the community for it’s support as well as develop a new fundraiser for the 4-H. 

“We’ve seen the fruits of that effort with that beautiful new building at the fairgrounds,” he said. “We felt that with such generous support we needed to be good stewards and try to develop a fundraiser to be less reliant on corporate sponsors, so the idea was to offer something to the community that everyone could attend and enjoy.”

He said the foundation decided on a concert because it seemed like a fun way to accomplish its goal. He added that a foundation subcommittee is working to make the event fun for all ages.

The concert will have concessions available in the Bigger Better Barn, a dance floor, seating and a beer garden, where people will need to present a valid ID before they are served.

Carroll said the doors will open at 6 p.m. to give people the opportunity to get something to eat and get settled in. The first band, Shotgun Betties, starts playing at 7 p.m. followed by Plowed Under at 8 and the featured band, Country Lips, starting at 9.

People may recognize The Shotgun Betties from Sounds on the Square from over the summer, he said.

“They are a perfect fit, and they’ll bring a great crowd with them,” he said.

Plowed Under Band has played a variety of shows in different venues in the area for several years, he added.

“They’ve been a tremendous help throughout the process,” Carroll said.

He said that although Seattle isn’t well known for its country music, he saw Country Lips live a couple of years ago and thought they would fit well in the event and would make a good headliner for the show. Country Lips plays a variety of modern country and rock music. 

“Country Lips is such a fun, high-energy band. We knew from the start they’d put on a fantastic show,” he said.

Seattle newspaper The Stranger in a Feb. 7 article described the band as “Seattle’s own purveyors of classic country, honky-tonk, and rocking Americana.”

The band has four albums and a variety of videos, including an official YouTube channel online.

Carroll said if Rusted and Busted ’19 goes well, the foundation may want to make it an annual event.

“We have high hopes for Rusted and Busted, and we’re doing a huge amount of work to see those hopes out,” he said. 

Tickets started selling online Sunday for $20 each. They are available at http://www.rustedbusted.com and will be available for purchase at Gary and Leo’s Fresh Foods starting in October, he said. He added that tickets will also be for sale at another location still to be determined. People can go to the website for more information and updates on the event.

He thanked the local businesses and families sponsoring the event.

“Without their willingness to jump in with both feet on a new project like this, we couldn’t do it,” he said.

He added that the foundation is still looking for some sponsors and people or businesses interested in sponsoring the event can go to the  #Supporters page at http://www.RustedBusted.com .