The Boggy Bayou Festival Board is proud to announce its headliner for the 35th Annual Boggy Bayou Festival. Glen Templeton will bring his country tunes to the stage on Saturday, April 6, from 8:30 - 10:30 p.m.
“I’m not sure I chose country music, in a way its kind of chose me,” says Templeton, one of country music’s most promising up and rising stars. “I probably had 10 or 11 jobs from the time I got out of high school until the time I finally moved to Nashville, TN. I think I was probably fired 10 or 11 times too,” says Templeton, with his trademark mischievous grin. “I’d show up for work bleeding through the eyes from being out singing and playing music all night before and pretty soon the boss man would have enough, and I’d be fired. The thing is, the more jobs you lose, the less and less professional the next job becomes. One day you’re working at a Chevrolet garage or running heavy equipment and the next thing you know you’re digging ditches by hand with a shovel. That’s why I say I think country chose me. It just kept pulling on me, no matter what the cost was at the time.”
Today, Templeton wraps his hands around the neck of a guitar instead of a shovel. It’s a career change that seems to be working out - now the jobs are becoming more and more professional.
In 2008, Templeton was hand-picked by Conway Twitty’s daughters to portray Conway in the touring musical tribute to their father. They first heard about Templeton through Joni Twitty’s husband, John Wesley Ryles, a noted studio background vocalist. He had worked with Templeton on demo projects. With more than 20,000 hopefuls auditioning for the part, Joni Twitty finally found a powerful voice capable of conveying many of the same qualities Conway had.
“One of the biggest thrills of my life was performing the inaugural show of the musical,” explains Templeton. “We were still waiting for my wardrobe to be finished for the tour and I got to wear some of Conway’s old suits. I wore these custom wigs they made for me out in LA. I was singing his songs and hearing people react to them the way they must have reacted to him. In a way, it was like getting a change to literally walk in the shoes of one of my musical heroes.”
Templeton has shared the stage with several other country music artists as well. In his early Nashville days, he worked the clubs down on lower Broadway. At the world-famous Tootsie’s, it wasn’t uncommon for an “A List” star to hop up on stage to do a few songs with Templeton and his band.
After earning a reputation as one of the best singer-songwriters to play the shotgun bars and honky-tonks in Nashville, he was recruited by Mike Murphy, owner of Cowboy’s Dance hall clubs in Texas. He toured the circuit playing to several thousand people each weekend for his own shows and was the opening act for several top names in country music.
Never forgetting his old school country roots, Templeton cites the shows he performed on tour with George Jones in early 2009 as some of his favorites. He has also appeared on CMT, The Grand Ole Opry, The Ryman, and a long list of regional performance venues. True to his nature, Templeton doesn’t lose sight of what important in life. “I’ve played a lot of places, but I’d have to say some of the most personally rewarding are when I go back home to Alabama and play for hometown people that really care about me and want to see me do well.”
Securing a foothold as a performing artist on the country music stage in 2010, Templeton criss-crossed the country playing events such as The ACMs All-Star Jam, Country Jam USA, Cheyenne Frontier Days, and numerous state fairs and festivals to perfect his rollicking stage shows.
From producers, studio musicians and music industry vets to country radio and its listeners, Templeton has set out to impress and inspire. No bells, no whistles - just straight down the pipe - he is genuine in his performance, but his studio recordings translate as undeniably and absolute as his live stage show.
Country music may have chosen Glen Templeton, but it won’t be long before country music fans all over the country are choosing his music.
Mark your calendars to attend this year’s Boggy Bayou Festival to hear Templeton and his band perform on stage.
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BERNICE ARDOIN Special to The Gazette