Free Spring Concert Series continues on May 10 with The RedHots
By Sherry Lucas
The RedHots will provide the music for the May 10 installment of the Spring Concert Series. Band members include (l to r) Will Skelton, Vera Hendon, Morgan Bondurant, Beth Woodcock, Barrett Hathcock and Jason Woodcock
Jackson area-based band The RedHots warms up the evening of Saturday, May 10, at Lions Club Park with the sort of laidback folk/rock that’s the musical equivalent of an easy late spring breeze.
The free concert, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., continues the Spring Concert Series in Clinton. The RedHots delivers the music, Neerly Southern will have food options and Rollin’ Sips will be on hand with a choice of beverages.
The band has been a musical fixture for more than twenty years, with an eclectic repertoire of music that everybody in the band likes to play and wants to hear, said bassist Morgan Bondurant, who’s been part of the outfit for nearly all that time.
“The group was a dynamic bunch of Episcopalians,” Bondurant said, chuckling as he added, “I’m the heathen of the group. I’m the Methodist.”
Nevertheless, he got pulled in, thanks to his roommate roots back at Mississippi State University, sharing digs with an Episcopalian, now a priest.
“I nicknamed them The RedHots, aka The Episcopalian House Band,” Bondurant said, for their ubiquitous entertainment presence at BBQs, crawfish boils, fundraisers and Episcopalian weddings.
The band bubbled up from the social circle bonds forged at The Gray Center and Camp Bratton-Green in Canton. The RedHots name is a nod to the red-haired lead female singers. Members include Jason (guitar, vocals) and Beth (lead vocals) Woodcock of Clinton, as well as Vera Hendon (vocals), Will Skelton (lead vocals, guitar) Barrett Hathcock (drums) and Bondurant (bass). Hedon moved to Baltimore, but hops on a jet to play back home when she can, Bondurant said.
The RedHots has always been a cover band, “just for entertainment purposes mainly,” Bondurant said of their musical mission. A mixed bag playlist bounces from Jim Croce, The Wood Brothers and The Grateful Dead to John Prine, Alison Krauss and Bonnie Raitt.
“It’s laid back, but every now and then we’ll throw out a song people will dance to,” Bondurant said, noting that a slow tune will often get folks on their feet, to sway along with the music. “We’ll hit a favorite of somebody’s out there, every time.”
“It’s a good, laid back, listen-to-the-music kind of band,” Bondurant said. Clintonians are encouraged to show up with their chairs and blankets, food and drinks to kick back, catch a breeze and a tune and bask in the pleasant glow of spring.
