THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 10, 1995 TAG: 9511080156
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
You don't have to go to rock 'n' roll heaven to see Roy Orbison and the King.
Just follow Battlefield Boulevard to the Hickory Ruritan Clubhouse and you'll find a bit of rock paradise, all to help a troop of Boy Scouts enjoy their camping trips.
Music Barn Productions will present its rock 'n' roll nostalgia show featuring ``A Tribute to Elvis and Roy Orbison'' beginning at 8 p.m. on Nov. 17.
The show is the brainchild of longtime local rock performer Gary Woolard, a safety engineer for Tarmac of America concrete company, who will be sitting in as Roy Orbison at the concert.
``Roy Orbison is one of my favorite all time performers,'' Woolard said. ``I'll sing his hits right up to the time he was in the Traveling Wilburys. We'll do songs like `Only the Lonely,' `Crying,' `Sweet Dreams' and we'll, of course, do `Pretty Woman' as our encore. And we don't do any medleys, we perform the full songs.
``I've been performing with various rock bands around Chesapeake for the past 20 years. Old-time rock 'n' roll, that's my favorite, and that's what we play. We all do it for the fun of it, and we always get a charge from our audiences. We won't become millionaires doing this, but it sure is fun.''
Woolard performs regularly with his band Exit, most often at the Oak Grove Inn on North Battlefield Boulevard.
After Woolard charges up his Orbison tenor, the evening will end on a high energy note with Ricky Henderson performing as the King himself, Elvis Presley.
Henderson, now a detective with the Chesapeake Police Department, will don a shimmering white Las Vegas-style jumpsuit and stir up the crowd with some high energy Presley power.
``Ricky's been doing this since about 1971,'' Woolard said. ``He used to do this for a living before he joined the force. In our show we've paralleled Elvis' `Aloha Hawaii' show. He appears on the stage while we play the `2001 Theme,' the lights hit him, and he'll do about 22 songs in all.''
Woolard said Henderson as the King will swing, sing and croon such hits as ``Hound Dog,'' ``Love Me Tender,'' ``Suspicious Minds,'' ``Teddy Bear'' and many others in the Elvis song book.
Woolard said he and Henderson don't work together on a regular basis. He said they usually share the stage about once a month, usually at benefits. In fact, Woolard said he and Henderson may hold a benefit performance to help out the family of Chesapeake Police officer Daniel Eugene Eaker, who died early Saturday in a highway accident.
Along with Henderson's Elvis and Woolard's Roy Orbison, the evening will include Bo Woods of Oldies 95 radio station as the master of ceremonies and local comedian Paul Pishko will inject some laughs between the Orbison and Presley sets.
Besides performing around Chesapeake and South Hampton Roads, Woolard also indulges in his love for all things rock 'n' roll at his own Music Barn Studios.
Actually, the Music Barn Studios is a detached garage by his home. Woolard said the studio is a 24 feet by 36 feet room with a vocal booth and drum booth and nine other recording stations.
Henderson and Woolard recently recorded a cassette tape of their ``Tribute to Elvis & Roy Orbison Show'' at the Music Barn Studios.
Why present this Nov. 17 show?
Woolard's 11-year-old son Bobby is a Tenderfoot Scout in Troop 413. On one camping trip he said he noticed that the troop sponsored by the Hickory Ruritan Club was in need of new camping equipment.
``I've been on camping outings with them and their gear is old and in need of repair,'' Woolard said. ``And then I remembered when Ricky (Henderson) did a show to raise money for his son's AAU Blasters baseball team and how well it did. We thought we could raise money for Troop 413 the same way.''
The fund-raiser is being helped by the Hickory Ruritans, Southern Pawn & Music, Tarmac of America and Bailey's Guitars.
``We've got Scout parents and other volunteers helping out with lights, parking, tickets and selling soft drinks,'' Woolard said. ``We're going to have a high energy good time.'' by CNB