Well, although Tim now lives in northwest Arkansas while going to the U of A, he is actually from over in Batesville, Arkansas.  I still consider him a hometown boy, though.  Tim was a great opening act.  He sang several covers and also two or three originals.  I’m told he performs down on Dickson St in Fayetteville pretty often so I might have to see him again in the near future.  Instead of strumming his guitar and singing in the above picture, he is playing with his cell phone.  In case no one heard, Arkansas beat Auburn yesterday evening.  They were in the closing minutes of the game when Tim took the stage, and Arkansas was ahead.  Tim was very interested to know the outcome.  When the game concluded, the crowd errupted in celebration but Tim wasn’t completely convinced the Hogs had actually pulled off the win so he decided to take a moment to double-check the score on his cell phone.  When it became official, he led us in singing the Arkansas Fight Song.  Woo Pig Sooie!!!

Sorry about the poor quality in the above photo of Joe.  It was the best I could do in order to capture the moment.  What is Joe doing?  Well, he is calling the Hogs.  None of Joe’s band-members are from Arkansas so he wanted us to demonstrate the Hog Call.  Given that we were all very high on the Hogs at that moment (because Arkansas beat Auburn, in case you hadn’t heard), we all jumped up out of our seats and were happy to oblige. [On a side note...I'm told Joe was a little late to sign autographs backstage before the concert because he was watching the Hogs on pay-per-view and wanted to make sure to see the end.]

Joe’s concert was great.  My favorite Joe Nichols song is “The Impossible”.  I took a little video of him singing the chorus of the song.  Click here to take a look.  Besides singing all of the songs that have made him a country star, he also sang a couple of covers – Hank Williams Jr’s “A Country Boy Can Survive” and Nickelback’s “Rockstar”.  Oh yeah, and we can’t forget the mid-concert sing-a-long we had of “Old McDonald”.

Click here to see a slide show of several photos from the concert.

Joe Nichols – “A Country Boy Can Survive”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxZFW-VuBBw

Joe Nichols – “Rockstar”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8LGidHO6O8

Rogers native Joe Nichols opened the 2008 Inaugural Season for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals by singing the national anthem and throwing out the first pitch.  Joe is returning to Arvest Ballpark tonight to give a concert to his hometown crowd.  The concert starts at 7 pm.  Mom, Shelby, & I are probably getting there around 6:15 or so to get a decent parking place.  The seating is general admission but we are sitting upstairs in one of the suites so I’m not worried about getting there right when gates open.

Welcome to Springdale!

Joe Nichols, Rogers native, sang the national anthem on opening night.

The NWA Naturals take the field for the first time in Arvest Ballpark.

Shelby got Joe’s autograph and got her picture taken with them. It was the highlight of her evening.

Here is a view of the seats & suites at night from my seat.

Cody Clark, Fayetteville native, is a catcher for the NWA Naturals.