ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Those looking for an evening of good music and fun will soon have that with the High Plains Music Fest.

This year’s High Plains Music Festival will be Saturday, Sept. 12 at Dirtona Raceway just outside Hugoton, with the gates opening at 5 p.m. and the music starting at 6:30 p.m. This year's music lineup will include Cole Barnhill as one of the co-headlining bands, and as he tells it, music has been part of his life for a long time.

“I grew up in Lubbock, Texas my entire life, and Lubbock's a really big music town out here just because we're kind of separated from a lot of stuff,” Barnhill said. “If you play music out in West Texas, you come to Lubbock. I was born and raised there and had a lot of uh opportunities coming up in Lubbock. I started probably seven or eight years ago, or maybe even longer than that, doing open mic nights at local bars and places like that. We really started to get into the touring aspect of everything and traveling around the country about three or four years ago and we’ve been developing our sound ever since while seeing where the road takes us.”

Barnhill said he was excited when the performance was booked.

“The scheduling and all of that comes from my booking agency, so I'm not a big part of that, but I was super excited to see we've got some of my buddies on the bill with us,” Barnhill said. “It's super exciting to get Fox N’ Veed and Sterling Elza on the same bill, so we're super excited about that. We're always blessed to get on any festivals that will have us, and we love getting to do performances like that. One of the funny things about it is we have some people from Hugoton in our band who had actually spent some time there growing up, so they get to come back to where they're from, which is really cool. We've never actually played out in Hugoton, but this festival should be an amazing time with some of our best friends in the business. We love getting to bring our sound out to places that might not get got to hear it yet, so we're just really excited to get to be a part of something like this.”

Barnhill said the rest of the lineup should also be great for the audience that evening.

“Sterling and I are actually coming out with a collaborative album about a week before the show, and we're gonna get to play some of those songs together, so that's really exciting,” Barnhill said. “We've never actually got to play with Fox N’ Vead, but I've known them for quite a while and got to see them back in Nashville a couple months ago, and they're super awesome. I love their sound, and I think the combination of us three is gonna make for a really good time. We all definitely steer towards the country-ish rock vein, and so we've we've got a lot of stuff for anybody that wants to come out and have a great time.”

With the high caliber of talent on the bill for that evening, Barnhill said he hopes to see a big audience.

“We definitely put on a very high-energy rock show, and it’s pretty fast-paced. We like to get after it, jump around on the stage a little bit and really let the music take everyone away,” Barnhill said. “We want to be sure everybody's having a really good time. We pride ourselves in putting on a really good show, and we're excited to bring it to Kansas.”

Barnhill said the festival will not be the last time people will hear from the group.

“We're taking our music from all from Kansas to Maine, all the way to California, and we're hitting every coast. September and October are going to be really busy for us, but we're super excited to get on the road and take our music to places it hasn't gotten to yet, and just to get to see the response from everybody out there,” Barnhill said. “Maine is especially going to be a lot of fun. I like to travel a lot and be on the road, so getting able to go up to an area of the country that I've never been to is super exciting. We're going to get to go all the way up through and play all of New England, and that's a part of the country we've never gotten to hit so far. We've done quite a bit of the southern east coast, but I'm super excited to get up there. We're going during the most beautiful time of the year, I've heard, so we're ready to get out there.”

Overall, Barnhill said, he is excited to make his way to the High Plains Music Fest.

“Getting all three of these bands together is really going to be a great time. I know everybody puts on a really good show, and I'm sure the crowd is going to love it,” Barnhill said. “I know there's going to be a whole bunch of music and a whole lot of other things going on, and it's always super fun to get out there and get to mingle with everybody. I hope everyone’s ready for a high energy rock and roll show and ready to have a good time!”