By Maggie Nixon
CULVER – A fall fest is planned in Culver this weekend, today through Sunday, and while there is something for every age and there are sure to be many who reunite, it’s one band in particular that will surely draw a crowd for its one-night reunion show.
Kickbush, a four-man band with local flavor, will take the Main Street Stage Saturday night.
The original band that mixes in some rock and roll and upbeat covers will start at 8 p.m., following a tribute to Ryan Hampton, a local musician who has passed on. The tribute show will bring in several buddies of Hampton’s, from 4-7 p.m. for the Ham Jam.
“There will be plenty of talent to entertain the masses, with some younger talent getting introduced as well,” said Kickbush drummer Brad Ebert.
“As far as the four of us playing our last gig together in Kickbush, it would have been in 2011,” said Ebert, of Plymouth. Also from Plymouth, the band’s front man, Matt Record will be back, along with Andrew Madden and Paul Duda, both from the Chicago area. Ebert said the band formed in late-2000s when he returned from L.A.
“It was within six to eight months that Matt (Record) moved back from Oregon to Chicago,” he said. “And so getting him back in the region and finding Andy, we started as a three-piece band and played some of our earliest gigs between Chicago and Plymouth, and Culver. So one of our first few gigs as a band — even before Paul — were down at the Culver Marina, so we’ve got some ties to Culver.”
The Town of Culver continues to make the Fall Fest an event for all. “There’s a lot of local fair and they’ve increasingly added more to it,” Ebert said. “It runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They’ve got hay rides, pumpkin-related themed stuff, just a nice downtown fall festival and something for everybody.”
Ebert said Kickbush is known as a fun band that plays originals and good covers. “We’re lovers of rock and roll,” he said, “so we cover everything from The Allman Brothers to the Beatles and Stones to ZZ Top. We’ll also even cover Phish and Sublime. It’s good rock and roll and it’s stuff that sounds good for us to pull off. Matt’s got the kind of voice that has really good range and we can cover a lot of things. There’s no telling what you might get out of us. But it’s good music that will entertain the young to the old, and everyone can come out and join us, and enjoy our own music as well.”
Along with lots of music for the weekend, there will be live mural painting all weekend by Laura Newman at Heritage Park, a moonlight paddle at the town park, a fun run/walk Saturday starting at the town park gazebo, many vendors and a beer garden, and downtown shops staying open later hours to accommodate shoppers — and much, much more.
