Purdue News
Purdue News
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March 16, 2001 Purdue Convocations announces Neal McCoy concertWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Singer Neal McCoy will headline a country music concert at Purdue University that also will feature Ty Herndon and newcomer Chris Cagle. The concert will be at 8 p.m., Friday, March 30, in the Elliott Hall of Music. Tickets are $25 and $21 and can be purchased at Purdue box offices or charged by phone at (765) 494-3933 or (800) 914-SHOW. The concert is presented by Purdue Convocations. McCoy has sold more than 5 million records since his debut album, "At This Moment," appeared in 1991. McCoy’s recent Top 10 hits include "No Doubt About It," "Wink," "If I Was a Drinking Man" and "The Shake." Known for his entertaining stage shows, McCoy was awarded the TNN/Music City News Entertainer of the Year award in 1998 and 1999. The award is the only major country honor voted on by fans. "The rest of the country has come around to what I’ve been doing for years," says McCoy. "I bring a little bit of every kind of music we all grew up with in the ‘70s into country music. You’re gonna hear the truth from me, and the truth is that even if you talk real country, and were raised in East Texas like I was, you listened to more than country." On "24-7-365," McCoy’s latest album, he mixes soulful pop with straightforward country. "Some country people may not like to hear it, but my first influence was Michael Jackson," he says. "I remember sitting in front of the TV when I was 10 years old watching him sing ‘1-2-3, easy as A-B-C’ and thinking, ‘That’s just what I want to do.’" When McCoy was 23, he entered a country music contest in Dallas despite having never sung a country tune before. He not only won but so impressed singer Janie Fricke, one of the judges, that she offered to introduce him to country legend Charley Pride. McCoy found an apt mentor in the pioneering, African-American Pride. "Neither one of us looked like your next-door neighbor when it came to country," says McCoy. McCoy's father is Irish and his mother is Filipino. "I think it worked to my advantage because people found me intriguing. I was mistaken for an American Indian, Hawaiian, Mexican, black ... hardly anyone guessed my true nationality." McCoy says he enjoys the challenge of sending his audience away feeling better than when they arrived. "On stage, we do a slow song now and then, but mostly I want it to be fun, which is how I am. What’s always been great is that when people see us, they become fans forever." McCoy’s special guest for the concert will be Herndon, whose recent country hits include "It Must Be Love," "A Man Holdin’ On (To a Woman Lettin’ Go)" and "Hands of a Working Man," which stayed on the Billboard country charts for 26 weeks. Newcomer Cagle will be the opening act for the Elliott concert. His first single, "My Love Goes On and On," has already brought favorable comparisons to country superstars Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw. CONTACT: Larry Sommers, Purdue Convocations, (765) 494-5045, lsommers@purdue.edu; https://www.convos.purdue.edu. NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: Publication-quality photographs of Neal McCoy, Ty Herndon and Chris Cagle are available at the News Service Web site and at the ftp site. Photo IDs: McCoy.jpeg; Herndon.jpeg; Cagle.jpeg
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