Members of the Horseshoe Band perform Friday, Jan. 22. The band plays every Friday night at 111 Harris Street — the building it crowned the Horseshoe Entertainment Center. The organization’s creators wanted to give Union County musicians “a clean, family environment where they can play and hear live music.”
Every Friday night, there is live country music available to enjoy for free in Union.
Tucked away on 111 Harris Street — behind the old Ace Hardware building — is the three-month-old Horseshoe Entertainment Center. The building itself was formerly known as Greene Furniture Store and owner Pee Wee Greene has graciously allowed the Horseshoe Band to use the facility free of charge.
Harold Thompson — a lifetime musician — and Buford Brown — who has played bass for about five years — created the Horseshoe Entertainment Center in mid-October.
"There are so many musicians in Union who don’t have the opportunity to play anywhere else," Brown said. "We wanted to give everybody a clean, family environment where they can play and hear live music."
At one point last Friday, Jan. 22, there were as many as 14 musicians on stage at once. One of those musicians was Jim Woods.
Woods formed a rhythm and blues beach band called "The Original Villagers" in 1965. The band played numerous clubs in South Carolina and Florida and they were a hit at fraternity and sorority parties at nearly every major college and university in the southeast.
Even though their last gig together was in 1969 at the University of Alabama, Woods has continued to play.
Also playing every Friday in the Horseshoe Band is lead guitarist Bobby Stewart. No matter who is singing or playing, when it is time for a guitar solo, Stewart receives the nod.
Grandfather and grandson Billy and Matt Abee also enjoy playing in the band together. And keeping steady rhythm on drums every week is drummer Allen Johns.
Mary Alice Leonhardt is lead singer/co-organizer of the Friday night events.
To help pay utilities, drinks are sold and raffles are held.
"Sometimes we have cake walks," Leonhardt said last Friday, "but probably not tonight because I didn’t have time to bake a cake today."
Music starts at 7 p.m. every Friday and this week the Horseshoe Band is proud to welcome the bluegrass band South by South — a 2008 Horizon Award winner — to its stage.
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