Nashville, Tennessee (Top40 Charts) Ben Gallaher, Nashville country music artist and Pennsylvania native, has embarked on a 'Barbed Tour' into four Pennsylvania Correctional Institutions during the holiday season.
"Johnny Cash is one of my music heroes, and certainly one of the first songs people recognize him for is Folsom Prison Blues. It has universal appeal. Although Cash wrote the song in 1953 about the infamous Folsom Prison in California, the response from inmates around the country prompted him to do a prison tour," said Gallaher.
Gallaher has been asked to perform at four correctional institutions during his winter break from Belmont University: Camp Hill Correctional Institution, the largest in the state, Chester, Somerset, and Fayette, near Pittsburgh. The twenty-year-old performed two shows last Christmas at Camp Hill's Correctional Institution, and the administration said it was so well received that they've invited him back and also spread the word to other correctional facilities.
What's on Gallaher's set list? "Folsom Prison Blues is obviously a hit, but so is Tennessee Whiskey, Last Train, Mama Tried, and Old Red."
"For every concert there's an uncertainty an artist feels—not knowing if the audience will relate to your music or to your entertaining style. From the first shout out I gave to the group at Chester, in Philadelphia, they were on fire. By the time I played Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison," the energy was through the roof. I was the first country act to ever perform at Chester
State Correctional Institution, and the staff said they never had a band or singer so well received. I was really pleased with that. Performing for inmates in prison is unlike any shows I've ever played," says Gallaher.
Gallaher, a junior at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, majors in entertainment industry studies and performs weekly. In September, he won Snagajob's Hourly Gig Contest, a national talent contest, and was chosen among 600 entrants to open for country music star
Brantley Gilbert in Richmond, Virginia. "I come from a small town in Pennsylvania and write songs that tell stories about hard-working, America-loving people."
An Eagle Scout and avid outdoorsman, Gallaher will finish his 'Barbed Tour' with a hometown performance at Buck Wild's Rode House, in Mechanicsburg, on December 29. Tickets are available at the door for people ages 21+. The show starts at 9 p.m.
To connect with Ben Gallaher Music, go to Facebook.com/BenGallaherMusic, or you can listen to his latest song released on iTunes titled "Last Train." His self-titled album is also available on iTunes at Ben Gallaher.
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