Sister Hazel bringing big hits, new music and a horde of Hazelnuts to Montgomery
Show after show, “Hazelnuts” love to sing along with their longtime beloved band.
“The crowd reaction is a living, breathing thing when we’re playing live,” said Sister Hazel bassist Jett Beres. “The participation, the reaction and the energy that comes from it, that’s what really gets us going.”
Hazelnuts — a name Sister Hazel fans invented for themselves — are a true community of die-hards. Some even met at shows and got married, Beres said. Now, the band is meeting Hazelnut children.
“We’re just their soundtrack,” Beres said. “We’re what I like to call the pebble in the pond.”
They’re still making big ripples with live shows like the one coming to the Montgomery Performing Arts Centre at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22. Show up for this one and you’re bound to meet some Hazelnuts, or even become one yourself.
Beres is one of the five founding members from 1993 who formed the band in Gainesville, Fla. Along with Beres, the other core members are lead singer Ken Block, slide guitarist Ryan Newell, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Andrew Copeland, and drummer Mark Trojanowski. The new guy in the group is Dave LaGrande, a keyboardist and saxophonist who joined in 2012.
“We’re a seasoned band. You’ve got the same five guys who have been together almost 30 years now,” Beres said.
So what’s it like to have three decades of time together? Beres said it’s kind of like a marriage: It takes time and work to keep everyone on the same page and maintain balance, respect and trust.
“We’re lucky, man. We’re like brothers at this point,” Beres said. “It’s family. We’ve been through so much together. We’ve been with each other more than not in our lives. A band is a tricky thing. Very difficult to navigate. That’s why so few stay together.”
Still, the brotherly pranks happen.
“It’s like living in a fraternity house on the tour bus,” Beres said. “There’s not really a dull moment. We keep each other in check all the time.”
Tickets to MPAC's Sister Hazel concert range from $17 to $36. You can get them online at mpaconline.org or call the MPAC box office at 334-481-5100.
The music of Sister Hazel
With decades of making music comes a large catalogue. In it are songs the Hazelnuts just love to hear.
“A song called ‘Change Your Mind’ has been really important for a lot of people,” Beres said. “That’s always fun to play, and it’s upbeat. It’s got a lot of integrity and a lot of emotion to it.”
Other fan favorites include “Champagne High,” and one that Beres particularly loves playing, “Swan Dive.”
“We usually end the set or encore with that song,” Beres said.
Of course, there’s also their massive 1997 hit “All For You” that went to No. 1.
Beres said live shows are Sister Hazel’s “bread and butter.”
“That’s why we write music and why we continue to play,” Beres said. “We’ve got a pretty big catalogue of music at this point, lots of songs that our fans want to hear.”
That includes regular rock, Southern rock and more. “There’s a little bit of everything in it. We call it Florida music,” Beres said.
That, and just Sister Hazel music, which also includes shades of country.
“We’re artists,” Beres said. “We write from the heart, and we play from how we feel the song is going.”
Though they’ve made nine appearances on the Grand Ole Opry and had multiple appearances at the CMA Music Festival, Beres said Sister Hazel’s music hasn’t really changed toward country.
“Country’s doors have opened a little wider in what they consider to be country,” Beres said.
Even with decades of hits under their belt, Sister Hazel is still releasing new original music.
“We’re actually in the studio now writing, and just released a single that’s doing well,” Beres said.
He’s talking about “Coconut Trees,” a song they released Aug. 18 that’s a little different for Sister Hazel.
“Ironically, it’s kind of ‘Jimmy Buffet-ish.’ It’s an island kind of vibe,” Beres said.
The song was in the works before Buffet’s death from a rare skin cancer on Sept. 1.
“Jimmy was definitely an icon, and we looked up to him, his music and how he created a brand, an audience and a whole thing that was distinctly him,” Beres said.
There’s more new music to come. Beres said Sister Hazel has been in the studio recording more, and plan to release them as singles ever six weeks or so.
“Eventually, we’ll put a compilation together, and probably put it out on vinyl,” he said.
More fun and works with Sister Hazel
Sister Hazel also has a charity called Lyrics for Life, with an annual event in Gainesville, Fla., for Camp Hazelnut, the Florida Cancer Specialists Foundation, as well as Stop Children's Cancer.
“The last one, we had Darius Rucker play with us, and we raised $700,000 in one night,” Beres said.
Sister Hazel also hosts annual events such as The Hang at Hazelnut Isle (Isle of Palms, S.C.), The Holiday Hang (Chicago, Ill.) and The Ski Hang (Lake Tahoe, Calif.) that focuses on creating unique experiences and interacting with fans.
In 2024, they’ll do the annual “The Rock Boat” cruise.
“It’s 2,500 of our closest friends and fans on a five day trip with about 30 other bands,” Beres said. “That’s a blast.”
Keep up with the band online at sisterhazel.com.
Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel covers things to do in the River Region. Contact him at sheupel@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Sister Hazel bringing music and a horde of Hazelnuts to Montgomery
