BleedGopher
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per the Hastings Star Gazette:
Hastings native Ben Utecht is well known for his accomplishments on the gridiron, from Todd Field all the way to Super Bowl XLI. Less well known is his talent as a singer, a lifelong passion of Utecht's, but since his retirement from the NFL has been able to pursue professionally.
Utecht will perform "Moon River: The Best of Andy Williams" at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 28, at the Ames Center in Burnsville at the Masquerade Dance Theater. He was first introduced to Williams' music when he first moved back to Minnesota and performed in a Christmas show called "An Andy and Bing Christmas." Utecht said he instantly connected with the music.
"I just fell in love with this guy's voice and the style of singing felt so natural, and the Christmas show had so much success that I thought you know what, I think we need to do an Andy Williams show because nobody is doing Andy Williams," Utecht said. "Everyone does Sinatra, the Rat Pack, Tony Bennett, so on and so forth but nobody does Andy Williams even though he's one of the greatest crooners of all time. That's really where it started and I put together "Moon River: The Best of Andy Williams", which is 25 of his greatest hits and I do it to a 12-piece orchestra, I figure if you're going to do Andy Williams you gotta do it like Andy Williams."
Utecht said that part of Williams' signature style was performing duets with female singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Julie Andrews. He will be joined by local singer Aimee Lee for four duets during the concert and his musical director and piano player is Matt Ulrich out of Nashville. The title "Moon River" is after Williams' greatest hit.
https://www.hastingsstargazette.com...gs-his-cleats-microphone-upcoming-performance
Go Gophers!!
Hastings native Ben Utecht is well known for his accomplishments on the gridiron, from Todd Field all the way to Super Bowl XLI. Less well known is his talent as a singer, a lifelong passion of Utecht's, but since his retirement from the NFL has been able to pursue professionally.
Utecht will perform "Moon River: The Best of Andy Williams" at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 28, at the Ames Center in Burnsville at the Masquerade Dance Theater. He was first introduced to Williams' music when he first moved back to Minnesota and performed in a Christmas show called "An Andy and Bing Christmas." Utecht said he instantly connected with the music.
"I just fell in love with this guy's voice and the style of singing felt so natural, and the Christmas show had so much success that I thought you know what, I think we need to do an Andy Williams show because nobody is doing Andy Williams," Utecht said. "Everyone does Sinatra, the Rat Pack, Tony Bennett, so on and so forth but nobody does Andy Williams even though he's one of the greatest crooners of all time. That's really where it started and I put together "Moon River: The Best of Andy Williams", which is 25 of his greatest hits and I do it to a 12-piece orchestra, I figure if you're going to do Andy Williams you gotta do it like Andy Williams."
Utecht said that part of Williams' signature style was performing duets with female singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Julie Andrews. He will be joined by local singer Aimee Lee for four duets during the concert and his musical director and piano player is Matt Ulrich out of Nashville. The title "Moon River" is after Williams' greatest hit.
https://www.hastingsstargazette.com...gs-his-cleats-microphone-upcoming-performance
Go Gophers!!