Acoustic music at The Rialto Theater

Colton Gilbreath

Somewhere between the intimacy of a Wildscape Acres (Bonham) house concert and the more seasoned performances at Dallas’ downtown Granada Theater, Friday night at the Rialto Theater, in Denison, brought the best of both types of venues into one acoustic music night.  Relaxed and yet professional, intimate and up close between performers and their audience and yet (I repeat) professional, with sound and lighting that can’t be better anywhere else.

Brothers Greg and Garrett Guymon purchased this historic building, which will be celebrating its 100-year birthday in a short eight years, and put in a lot of elbow grease and, most likely, cash to upgrade the beautiful movie theater. Now, with the renovations, it should bring a hometown feel and tradition for decades into the future.

You walk in and the smell of theater popcorn is maybe the first to reach the senses. Another is the sense of friendliness and welcome. And Friday night’s performances touched the heart and  head with a potpourri of acoustic performances, all leading up to Dustin Perkins and his band.

Kicking off three hours of acoustic music was Tyler Perkins, Dustin’s cousin, and following him came Whitney O’Neil, Taylor Walker, and James Nored, each giving a solid 15-minute performance of mostly original songs. Billed for a longer show was Matt Dunn, still solo, but with a presence that defied solo-ism. Strong voice, guitar picking, and sensitive lyrics from Matt.

And in between the acts, Greg replayed some of the previous artists, whom he had recorded during their set, thrown in with CD music through that great sound system.

Dustin, and Michael Waitt on bass and Colton Gilbreath on acoustic lead guitar closed out the night with an hour-plus set of, again, mostly originals plus a few surprise covers including a Justin Beiber.

The Dustin Perkins Band will be returning to the Rialto on May 4, with a premier showing of the video the band has made of one of their songs. It is still in the editing phase now, and promises not to be a light-weight video, but professionally scripted, acted, and filmed — ready for distribution to the television stations.

Dustin and the guys obtained backing on this video project through a “Kickstart” account online, a chance for anyone who wanted to help to pledge their financial support. It was less than two days before the project was funded, if I remember Dustin’s words correctly. More on that later. Also in the band are Nathan Brown on drums and Chris Romain on keyboards.

Chris is also creating a documentary video to be shown May 4, chronicalling the band’s two-year history. The Dustin Perkins Band will also perform that night.

For more Dustin Perkins Band pix, click here:

For more Matt Dunn pix, click here:

For more of the other four musicians, click here:

Category: *- Features