SEQUIM — The call themselves five old guys, but they know how to kick up their heels.
And the Old Sidekicks — plus their friends in the band FarmStrong — are bent on doing that at the Dungeness Schoolhouse, 2781 Towne Road, this Saturday night.
In celebration of their new, locally recorded CD “Still Here,” the Old Sidekicks will bring their bluegrass, gospel, folk and classic country to the stage at
6 p.m.
Doors will open at 5:30 and admission to the concert, with FarmStrong’s Jim Faddis and Cort Armstrong opening, is $15 including a signed copy of the CD. Children age 16 and younger get in for $5, but no CD.
“Be prepared to laugh, hoot and holler, and clap until your hands hurt,” advised Jack Reagan, the quintet’s rhythm guitarist and singer. He and Bill Camuso, Steve Sahnow and Vern Sprague formed the band about four years ago along with another man they admire.
“The star of the show is 85-year old W.L. Martin, who will slap the bass and jump around like a teen,” said Reagan.
Martin and most of his bandmates sing, too. Harmonica player Sahnow doesn’t, Reagan quipped, “because his mouth is full.”
The Sidekicks have plenty of numbers to choose from. The new record has 19 tracks on it, including “Window up Above,” “Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down,” “Who Will Sing for Me,” “Dear Old Dixie,” “I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water” and “Back Home Again.”
“We all absolutely enjoy playing together. We’re good friends. . . . It’s a good release for us,” Sahnow said, adding that the Sidekicks fill the dance floor of the Oasis Bar and Grill in Sequim, once or twice a month — including tonight in fact. There’s no cover charge for the band’s sets from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Oasis, in Creamery Square at 301 E. Washington St.
Next month, the Old Sidekicks are slated to play the Oasis on Friday, Feb. 21.
The Sidekicks are retired from careers in commercial fishing, crop dusting, urban planning and other heavy work.
Their average age is 74.2 years; Sahnow is the baby at 68. Martin, the eldest, “feels music with every breath, and it shows on stage,” added Sahnow. “And the ladies love him.”
“Still Here” was recorded at Dungeness Community Studios with producer Bill Yates, while his wife Anna Yates did the artwork for the CD cover.
The Dungeness studio, also where FarmStrong recorded its “Live in Dungeness: The Summer Sessions” CD, is “a fabulous facility to work with,” Sahnow said.
The Dungeness Schoolhouse was the right spot for the party, even if it only seats 100.
“We could have gotten a bigger hall,” added Sahnow, “but really we like the feel of the schoolhouse.”
If any tickets are left Saturday night, they will be sold at the door. But Sahnow urges advance purchase via his phone, 360-683-9566, or Reagan’s, 360-504-2440.
To tantalize just a bit more, Sahnow cut loose with the song he figures will be the finale.
“It’s one we stole from Del McCoury: ‘Get Down on Your Knees and Pray,’” he promised.
“We really get into that one.”
