Farmer's Daughter: Press

I had the chance to overhear some of the music from Farmer's Daughter. I'm sure these guys (and gals) weren't the only ones disappointed by the floods that originally postponed W-B's Bicentennial events, because their logical opener would have been Martina McBride's "Independence Day." Oh well, these things happen.

People seemed to soak up Farmer's Daughter's twangy tones as it re-created Charlie Daniels Band and Bon Jovi, among other modern country staples. (Does anyone else think it's odd that we're using the words "Bon Jovi" and "country chart-topper" in the same sentence? What's next: "Snoop Dogg" and "Rhodes scholar"?)

Even though I barely know the difference between Toby Keith and Keith Urban, I could tell that its harmonies were tight and it was well-rehearsed.

It's not hard to put on a show when you have someone like Rachel Galassi on stage - any woman who plays violin has my attention. Teaming up with Bethany Kendrick for that one-two female vocal punch, the girls combined with George Pegula's guitar, Floyd Chappel's bass, and Dante Ceccarelli's drums to fire the crowd up into a well-behaved tizzy. (There were children present, after all...)

Fager’s Island is offering up another popular genre of music with Tuesday Country Night. First up will be Farmer’s Daughter, a five-piece modern/classic country band, blending male and female vocals to create a unique contemporary country sound. Lead man George Pegula has recorded with such stars as Ace Frehely of Kiss, and shared the stage with various national acts such as Blessed Union of Souls and The Beach Boys. With a Masters Degree in classical guitar, George often plays more than one part at a time - awesome. Bethany Linn Kendrick adds female vocals and mandolin and lights up the stage. She has won many awards and been the opening act for 98 Degrees, LFO, Charlie Daniels Band, Lonestar, Lynard Skynard and more. Dante Ceccarelli on drums, Coleman Smith, violin, and Floyd Chapell on bass round out the band. Be sure to catch them Tues. at Fager’s Island.

Farmer’s Daughter helps fill the country void
by Alan Stout Weekender Editor
Sometimes, NEPA can feel a little bit like Nashville.

Think about it: Froggy 101, an all-country radio station, consistently has some of the region’s best ratings, and with the arrival “JR,” we now have two such country stations in the area. Country shows also draw huge crowds at Montage and at the arena, and one of the region’s most popular cover bands is an all-country act.

And what about that 100,000 or so NASCAR fans that show up at Long Pond twice every summer? Think there’s a country song or two being played in the parking lot as racing fans tailgate?

None of this has been lost on Farmer’s Daughter, an up and coming, boot-wearing, cowboy-hat loving country band that’s been gigging throughout the region for the past few months. Not surprisingly, guitarist George Pegula says the formation of the group came almost by request.

“We were actually playing in a band before this, Push/Pull, and some of the music that we did was country, and we got great reaction to it,” he says. “We kept on getting requests for more country songs. It’s amazing, really, how much country music is out there and how many people you run into that love country music.”

Still, Pegula says going country was not a mere business decision. The band has genuinely always liked the music.

“For me, I’ve been playing it in one form or another for 20 years in different bands,” he says. “I like all types of music, and it’s sort of like anything - when you start to immerse yourself in it, you start getting really excited about it. People talk about the old twang-style country, which still has merit - there’s a lot of great old country songs - but a lot of this new country music is just great. It really wasn’t hard to get into it once everybody got the music and started working on it.”

Joining Pegula in Farmer’s Daughter are Bethany Kendrick on vocals, Rachel Galassi on violin and vocals, Floyd Chappel on bass and Dante Ceccarelli on drums. Artists covered include Sara Evans, Faith Hill, Trick Pony, Toby Keith, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Trace Adkins, Martina McBride, Keith Urban and Johnny Cash. They also hope to release a CD of original material sometime this year.

Pegula says that in addition to getting lots of requests to play more country music, the group was also inspired and encouraged by the club-packing success of the local band X Country.

“I have to give them credit for opening up the market,” he says.

“There’s a lot of good country bands around here, but they really were the first ones to get really popular playing a lot of the new country. Their success helped us to get people coming to shows a lot quicker than we would have imagined. We already have people making their own shirts up with our name on it, coming to shows.

It’s crazy.”

Pegula adds that though Farmer’s Daughter is having a great time, the group is also very serious about its music and its desire to entertain.

“Everybody in the band is excited about what they’re doing, and are all very hard workers,” he says. “Bethany is actually from Reading, so she’s been making two-hour drives for practices, as well as some of our jobs, and she’s still really happy with it, which is great. She’s got a lot of talent, and everybody else in the band - they’re just fantastic.

“We try to keep it exciting, and the people give it back to us. They’re up their dancing for the first song.”

Farmer’s Daughter live ...

* Feb. 3 @ The Honkey Tonk Saloon, Dunmore

* Feb. 4 @ The Chicken Coop, Plains Township

* Feb. 25 @ The Wildcat Saloon, Sturges

* March 3 @ Olde Tyme Charley’s, Plains Township

* March 17 @ Brews Brothers, Jenkins Township

On the web: farmersdaughtercountry.com