MEET THE BANDS

ALMIGHTY VINYL

Hits from the 1970s will rock the stage at the 33rd annual Riverfest this year when the band Almighty Vinyl hits the stage.

Think back, before CDs or MP3s were the way of listening to music, and remember the days when vinyl albums were popular. The band's name gives a good insight to the music they love and enjoy bringing to their crowds. Almighty Vinyl has made the music of the 1970s its top priority bringing an unforgettable experience to its fans.
"It's our goal to re-create the energy and the experience of the music from the 1970s," band member Rich Hoffman said. "We're a fully live show playing music like it was done before bands had all the bells and whistles that they have today."
The show not only brings the authentic classic rock sound to their crowds, but band members also dress the part, wearing bell bottoms and other '70s era clothing while they perform. Their attention to detail has recently helped them earn several awards.
They received the Wisconsin Area Music Industry 2019 People's Choice Southeast Quadrant Artist of the Year award. In 2017 they won the Shepherd Express Best of Milwaukee award.
"We're really all a bunch of music geeks," Hoffman said. "We will sit and super analyze a song so we have every detail, even exactly down to what type of percussion is played in a song. We'll do our best to have all the harmonies and the parts the exact way they were sung in the original song."

BIG AL & THE HI-FI'S

The golden oldies band, Big Al and the Hi-Fi's, may be new to the Riverfest stage this year, but they are no strangers to the Watertown area.

The Oconomowoc natives will perform Saturday, Aug. 10, at 3 p.m.
"Watertown is kind of like our adopted city," Cheech Counsell, band leader, said. "We're all from Oconomowoc, but over the years we've played in Watertown almost more than Oconomowoc. One of the guys in the band said he's always wanted to play at Riverfest, so we actually passed on some other shows just to do this one."
The family friendly band promises to get folks up and out of their seats dancing to music rarely heard on the radio anymore. Most of the songs they perform are from the 1950s and '60s including songs by the Beach Boys, The Dave Clark Five and Chubby Checker.
"We play a good mix of fast type of dance songs sprinkled in with a few newer ones," he said. "Even with that, the younger crowd always seems to enjoy the older songs. They may not know the original artist but they usually have heard of the songs."
Big Al and the Hi-Fi's started out as a one-night stand back in 1975, playing for a birthday party.