Sunday concert benefits local producer's cancer fight
Devin Heilman | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years, 3 months AGO
<p>Concert in the park attendees line-dance as Kelly Hughes Band performs Saturday evening at McEuen Park.</p>
<p>Several spectators sit on the grass at McEuen Park Saturday night concert in the park. Justin Sherfey, 18 and Colby Acuff, 19 of Acuff and Sherfey, open up the night before Kelly Hughes band performs. The event was put on by St. Vincent de Paul.</p>
<p>Kelly Hughes band performs live at McEuen Park on Saturday. Steve Fleming of Rathdrum, left guitarist, Kelly Hughes, lead singer, Gary Hassler on the drums, Abe Kellmer on bass, and Dan Powers on the keyboard make up the band, who tour the region.</p>
<p>Kelly Hughes, of Kelly Hughes band rocks out on stage, Saturday evening in McEuen Park.</p>
<p>Kelly Hughes dances and dips Sarah Sherfey, of Spokane, Saturday night at McEuen Park.</p>
COEUR d’ALENE — When Kelly Hughes puts on a show, he might invite a few surprise guests to join him on the stage.
“One year, a little girl barely taller than the stage itself came up to him between songs and said, ‘Kelly, will you play such-and-such a song?’” said Chris Guggemos of Handshake Productions. “Kelly said, ‘Dear, if you’ll come up here and sit on this stage, I’ll play that song.’”
Guggemos, who has worked with Hughes for many years, said that compassion for people shines through in his performances with the Kelly Hughes Band.
“He’s just a genuinely nice guy who loves and cares about people,” Guggemos said. “That’s why people come to see him.”
Hughes also knows how to entertain, Guggemos said.
"When you go watch Kelly, there’s not a lot of downtime between songs,” he said. "He ends one song and within seconds he’s playing another song. That just keeps the audience's attention. And when he does talk to the crowd, he’s a very humorous man."
Hughes' combination of comedy, compassion and showmanship make him a natural choice to perform Sunday during the Coeur d'Alene City Park Free Concert Series show. This concert is especially meaningful because it will also serve as a fundraiser for Guggemos, who is being treated for cancer. Guggemos will be selling his newly released original album, "One Short of A Dozen," to help offset medical expenses and lost income.
"Our music industry sticks together, and Chris has been a part of that for years," Hughes said in a phone interview between show tours. "We pull the biggest crowd at the park and we're excited to use our talents to help Chris at his time of need."
Former Coeur d'Alene mayor Sandi Bloem, who was one of the first sponsors for the Summer Concert Series when it began downtown in 1992, said it would be hard to count the number of people who have enjoyed the concerts through the years "thanks to Chris' dedication and hard work."
"Chris' idea of music in the parks, the main thing it did was it brought community together," Bloem said. "It brought people who think differently and act differently together in a place where they could enjoy entertainment and get to know each other. In a city like ours that's grown so quickly, his work to maintain a friendly community feel has been invaluable, and his concerts have done just that."
The Kelly Hughes Band will perform its crowd-pleasing country Western and country rock sound from 1-4 p.m. Sunday in the band shell in Coeur d'Alene City Park. The concert is free. The public is invited to bring lawn chairs or blankets and to relax and dance while enjoying the show. "One Short of A Dozen" cds will be sold for $15 and Eric's Dawg House will provide concessions.
"I surely hope the community comes out Sunday in full force to support Chris," Bloem said.
