Hope's Night Owls to take stage at Ceraland Saturday

Tiki torches will be alight lakeside when Hope’s Night Owl Country Band takes the Ceraland stage with the grandson of an iconic country music legend at 6 p.m. Saturday as part of the CeraFest concert series at Ceraland Sports Park and Campground.

Following a meet and greet scheduled for 5 p.m., the NOCB will open for Whey Jennings, grandson of the late Waylon Jennings, who is considered one of the original pioneers of the outlaw country music sound and, what many would deem, country music royalty.

Matt Lee, lead singer for the NOCB, says his band’s landing the opportunity to share the stage with such a country music great kind of “just happened.”

But, it should be noted, this isn’t the first time they’ve shared the stage with Jennings.

The guys opened for Jennings at last year’s CeraFest and when they were given the opportunity to book their own headliner this year, they extended another invite to Jennings and he accepted.

“We had a great crowd last year,” Lee says. “I just think it will be bigger this year.”

As the summer concert series begins to wind down, this weekend’s show will offer all the ingredients for a relaxing, good time for everyone. The pool will be open, there will be putt-putt available, and folks can even camp if they want to, Lee says.

“Just as long as they come to the show,” he adds jokingly.

However, all joking aside, Lee says that Jennings is one of the most professional singer/songwriters with whom he and the guys have shared the stage.

“As far as people we have played with, he’s one of the best people we’ve had a chance to play with,” Lee says. “He’s super nice and humble. His voice sounds just like his grandpa.”

NOCB guitarist Tim Dooley is excited for this weekend’s show and says meeting Jennings the first time was a great experience, but it was what the singer did before ever taking the stage the impressed Dooley the most.

“When we played our set he and his whole band sat out there [in the audience] and listened to us,” Dooley recalls. “That doesn’t happen a lot in this industry. The headliner kind of disappears until it is time for them to hit the stage.”

What happened the next morning only served to cement Dooley’s first impression, he says.

“He went to church with us the next day,” Dooley says. “He came to Matt’s father’s church there in East Columbus, he and his whole band. He got up and sang a song and it was really cool.”

The Night Owls encourage everyone to bring lawn chairs, blankets and a cooler as tickets for the show are general admission.

Lee and the guys don’t rule out the possibility of a spontaneous jam session and say they look forward to playing some new material, including their latest single “Country to the Bone,” which is steadily climbing the Indie Radio Top 10, as well as new covers, including David Allan Coe’s “Time Off for Bad Behavior” and Morgan Wallen’s “Sand In My Boots”.

“This is probably one of our favorite places to play,” Lee says. “I think it is just the feeling of being out in the park with the crowd in front of you with their lawn chairs. Even if it is a little hotter, you still have the beautiful scenery of the lake, which sits behind us. I love outdoor venue shows. And you can crank it up better, too.”