Smash Mouth to play at Travis

  • Published
  • By Nick DeCicco
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  San Jose-based pop rock group Smash Mouth will headline a single-day music festival April 17 at Travis Air Force Base, California.

The Bear-Powered Music Festival takes place from April 17 at the Travis dorm soccer field area. It is free for all Department of Defense ID cardholders.
Additional performers include blend of rock and country musicians, including McKenna Faith, Lucas Hoge, Terry Sheets Band, Luce and the U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West.

The event kicks off at 11 a.m. with a Diversity Day picnic with music from noon to 6 p.m.

Lt. Col. John Howard, 60th Mission Support Group deputy commander and a concert organizer, said the event is about giving back to Travis.

"It's truly about saying, 'Thank you for your service,' " Howard said. "We wanted to come up with a way to show our appreciation for everything that the Airmen and their families here at Travis Air Force Base are doing to make the mission happen every single day."

Howard said the genesis of the event came after meeting Hoge and Luce singer Tom Luce last summer. Initially envisioned an intimate evening at the base's Delta Breeze Club, Howard said when Airmen and others in the Travis community jumped on board, the scope of the event widened.

Throughout, Howard kept in touch with Hoge. The Nebraska-born country singer comes from a family with a rich military history, but taking up the family trade wasn't in him, he said.

"When it came time to sign up, I don't think it's in my heart to be out there fighting the fight, but I want to be able to give back in some way I can," Hoge said. "When they asked me to go on my first USO tour overseas, I couldn't help but want to because that's one way I can give back."

Hoge's catalog includes numerous songs with patriotic or military-supporting themes, so performing them for a crowd of armed forces members adds a special treat.

"To be able to sing the songs for the service men and women that you're writing about is rewarding in itself, but hopefully they get more out of it," Hoge said. "I want to kind of make them feel like we're just sitting around in a living room just having a party."

Smash Mouth tops the bill for the festival. Now it its 21st year, the group enjoyed its biggest commercial success around the turn of the millennium thanks to hits such as "All-Star," "Walkin' on the Sun" and "Then the Morning Comes" as well as a cover of The Monkees' "I'm a Beiliever" for the "Shrek" soundtrack in 2001.
Hoge, now based in Nashville, Tennessee, is known for his music as well as a starring spot in Animal Planet's "Last Chance Highway." Hoge recently signed with Reviver Records and hopes to release his first single for that label this spring.

Luce, based out of San Francisco, California, cracked Billboard's Adult Top 40 chart in 2001 with "Good Day." The rock quintet has released five studio albums, including its most recent, 2013's "Fall to Fly."

McKenna Faith, a 20-year-old country singer/songwriter from Ukiah, California, was the No. 1-selling independent female country artist on iTunes in 2013. She's released two albums to date, including last year's "Let's Get Lost."

Fairfield, California-based Terry Sheets Band, a country rock group, brings together Sheets, who grew up in Tennessee and spent 10 years in the military before singing and recording with a group named The Blue Collar Criminals, with band members whose influences range from classic rock to rhythm and blues.

U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West's rock band Mobility will open the show. The group primarily plays covers of rock, country and R&B artists, ranging from Ray Charles to Lady Gaga.

Travis is no stranger to hosting large-scale music events for its community. In recent years, the installation hosted Detroit-based rock artist Kid Rock in 2010 and Lt. Dan Band, actor Gary Sinise's cover band, appeared in 2012.

For more information on the Bear-Powered Music Festival, visit TravisFSS.com or call 424-5892.