BLAIR, NEBRASKA (2024 November 21, Thursday)
Don Harrold, Writer / Editor
blairtoday@mail.com – Facebook
I’ve lived in Blair for 22 years, and I thought I knew most of our local music scene. So, when I heard there was a band playing at Just Mary’s, I was intrigued. When I learned they were from Blair, I was surprised. But when I heard their professionally recorded single, I knew I had to meet Waco City.
What I discovered was more than just another local band.
“My wife, Tammy Jo, and I started the band a couple of years ago,” Derek Christensen tells me as we sit down to talk. The couple has been making music together for 13 years, but Waco City is their newest venture. Around them, they’ve gathered an fascinating cast of characters: a retired school teacher on bass, a lawyer who plays steel guitar, and a career musician on drums.
But it’s when Tammy Jo starts talking about their band name that I realize this story has deeper roots than I expected. “Some of the best years of my life were in Waco, Nebraska,” she says, quickly adding, “believe it or not.”
Like many others, I had assumed there must be a Texas connection. Instead, it’s a touching tribute to a small Nebraska town that shaped her life.
Named after Tammy Wynette herself, Tammy Jo carries country music in her blood. When she tells me about their repertoire: “We do a lot of the mixture, you know, the old rock, upbeat country, just a lot of the popular songs.”
Derek jumps in with an impressive list: “Everything from Squeezebox to Mony Mony to My Next Broken Heart to Tammy Wynette. We could do it all from Shania Twain, Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride…” He pauses, then adds, “We have a three-inch book of hundreds of country songs I’ve had to learn.”
But it’s when we start talking about their original music that the conversation takes an unexpected turn. Tammy Jo has written a song that’s being released worldwide on January 3rd, and the story behind it stopped me in my tracks.
“That is my true story. That’s my testimony song,” she says quietly. Then she tells me about writing it. “My husband was actually telling me, asking me, ‘I had to write my testimony song.’ I was actually kind of upset about it that day because I was like, ‘I can’t just write a song.'”
She continues, her voice softening: “I just went in the bedroom and I shut the door and I just turned around and I prayed. I said, God, if you want me to write this testimony song, you’re going to have to give me the words.” The result? “I wrote that song in about 10, 15 minutes.”
The recording quality of that song caught my ear immediately – it sounds like something you’d hear on national radio. Turns out it was recorded right here in Nebraska at the Music Factory with Scott Gaeta. They even brought in Jimmy Weber, a national act who has backed John Denver and Michael Montgomery, to help with the recording. Including Tammy Jo’s mentor, Lisa Larsen of High Heel.
“Live music is probably always going to be a little bit different than recorded,” Tammy Jo admits when I ask about their upcoming show at Just Mary’s. But Derek quickly adds, “High energy, definitely high energy. It’s not, you know, I don’t want to be putting people to sleep!”
The band has been quietly building a following, playing venues across Nebraska and Iowa. “We started in the Lincoln area and everything else, so nobody around here really knew who we were,” Tammy Jo explains. “Well then, we got our foot in the door in little places in little towns in Iowa and we played for Miles for Heroes; we donated some time at Uehling, Nebraska, and so little by little we were getting our names out there.”
“Music is something we love, it’s our passion,” Tammy Jo reflects near the end of our conversation. “To do it for a living would be great. But another goal of mine is to do exactly what the song said – to maybe even share a snippet of that testimony and just let people know hey, it’s gonna be okay, you might be in the valley right now but it’s gonna be okay.”
Waco City will perform at Just Mary’s next Wednesday, November 27, 2024 at 8PM. Fans can follow the band on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/wacocity
