BY RUTH RICE
RRICE@TRIBDEM.COM
Chris Higbee is passionate about his music.
The country rocker will help the audience ring in spring at 8 p.m. Friday at the Pitt-Johnstown Sports Center in Richland Township.
Higbee, founder and fiddler of PovertyNeck Hillbillies, has been to the area twice before. In 2007, the Hillbillies, known for its hard-hitting country music, appeared at the Cambria County Fair in Ebensburg and at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown with Lonestar.
“I love coming up to Johnstown, and this just fit,” Higbee said of coming to UPJ for a spring concert.
Higbee won’t have the Hillbillies with him this trip, but his new band, the Chris Higbee Project, features old friends as well as newcomers.
Higbee will be on lead vocals, fiddle and guitar, promoting some of his original music.
“Music is my love and passion,” Higbee said. “It’s interesting to get to write a song.
“When you write, you pour your heart out and hope the audience likes it.”
Because the Chris Higbee Project is a new act, it will perform about half Higbee’s original songs and half popular country covers.
“We want them to recognize the songs with the band just out,” Higbee said. “If you listen to popular country on the radio, that’s what you’ll hear. The show will be energetic and exciting, with a lot of fun and jumping around.”
Higbee will have a concert-style set with some of the same light shows, antics and electricity he was known for with PovertyNeck Hillbillies.
Higbee’s bandmates in this new venture are Les Philburn, childhood friend and initial lead singer with the Hillbillies, on lead vocals and harmonies; Mark Vinsick, friend and former band mate from the rock band Drastic Measures, on lead guitar and backup harmonies; Jay McKnight, friend and fellow songwriter, on bass, lead guitar and backup vocals; Troy Williams, cousin, on guitar; Larry Shotter of Uniontown on drums; and Nate Shrasser, who is currently attending West Virginia University, on keyboard.
Higbee graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in music education.
He founded PovertyNeck Hillbillies his senior year. He was lead singer and played fiddle.
“I knew I liked to be on stage and that I would have a career in music, but I didn’t know what genre,” Higbee said. “Music is in my family.”
Higbee’s father was instrumental in seeing that his son practiced his fiddle diligently.
In memory of his father, Higbee has set up Frosty’s Hillbilly Jamboree every fall to raise money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.
Higbee, 29, lives in Dawson, Fayette County, about an hour south of Pittsburgh, where he enjoys spending time outdoors.
“I like to walk through the woods,” Higbee said. “I’m an outdoors guy. I like to spend time with nature. With my full schedule, I make the time for it so I can relax.”
In addition to performing and writing songs, Higbee teaches violin lessons, runs a production company and works with artists and labels as a consultant.
Tickets can be purchased at the information desk at UPJ’s student union; George’s Song Shop, 128 Market St., downtown Johnstown; or Music Haven, Lamberd and Scalp avenues, Richland Township.
On stage
What: UPJ Spring Concert featuring Chris Higbee.
Where: Sports Center at Pitt-Johnstown, Richland Township.
When: 8 p.m. Friday; doors open at 7.
Tickets: $10 for general admission, free admission for UPJ students and $5 for other college students.
Information: 269-7535.
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