“We’re Us, and That’s Okay” An Expo on Smalltown band: Sixty-Eight Eighty

Hailing from small town Smiths Grove, KY - home to one of the almost 70 infamous Buc-ees of the world comes an 8 piece band with 20 plus years of music experience and unreleased songs of the same age that have been getting some standing ovations in the South-western Kentucky music scene. 

Every band has a story. While this is only just a portion of that story told from the eyes of one member, the youngest at that, who has a soul of someone much more mature and well-seasoned and plays just the same. 20-year-old Dalton Burch shares the stage with his father, uncle, and their amazing friends. Dalton spent some time reflecting on his short time with the band so far: having ‘gained a lot of wisdom and just overall knowledge from them.” Burch is up there with his dad and his uncle who have “taught amazing things they’ve learned in their personal experience.” Dalton, a writer of some of their originals goes on to state a line from the band anthem ( cool, right?! ). “It's brotherhood, a bond we share, like family. Common ground and staying true to what we believe.” 

I spent a night at a non-profit event ( Band Together BG ) in Bowling Green, KY where the band had people up out of their seats with hits like ‘Footloose’, ‘Burning Love’, and my favorite of the night: ‘Night Changes’. I fell in love with their ability to maintain a captive audience and keep people coming back for another round of dancing. 

I spoke with a few members after the show and found out a week later they would have a show of their own a stone's throw from that night's event. A cozy outdoor venue complete with fire pits and a second story viewing area overlooking the main space. This time I brought co-workers and my camera, ready to end the week off with some great company and even better voices. 

Steven Sams, one of the lead vocalists of the group spoke on starting a family, stating that he ‘took a decade off to raise his family and got back in the groove of things’, bringing his best friends along with him. I have never seen so many stringed instruments on a stage all working so incredibly cohesively, and to pair with it, equally paired vocals from every vocalist including their bass singer, Rick Bessette. Complete with the heartbeat of the band, Gary Ausbrooks on drums, Josh Burch on electric guitar, Gary Belcher on rhythm guitar, Kris Crowe hitting the keys, and Jeff Treece (aka Santa Claus) on bass. 

While both of the performances I have witnessed were majority covers, their original music, which they are always writing, is lying in wait, charming for the right time, place, and group to hear it. This group, to put it plainly, is a bunch of guys with a great love for music and strong faith in what they believe. What you see with these 8 is the real them, with the jokes on stage and the undeniable connection between them, an unspoken language with just a nod or a quick second of eye contact to keep everything in sync and on the same page, starting pieces in the middle for their soundcheck without communicating what their starting point was, not even the song. 

I have worked with bands that come in with such confidence and lack it on stage, bands that have been playing together for such a short period of time and truly have things figured out, and groups like Sixty-Eight Eighty who have confidence on stage, have come prepared and have fun while doing it. They have the energy of a band playing a closing slot at one of the bars on Broadway in Nashville but do it better and with an effortless presence. I have seen it all, and I champion this group of well-placed individuals with their future of writers rounds, studio sessions, and upcoming shows in the years to come. I will always hold support for a group that holds support in themselves and each other.