Nashville, TN – Former Little Texas front man and multi-platinum selling artist, Tim Rushlow, is bringing his love of the retro classic sounds of icons like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bobby Darin to American Public Television in a swinging new TV special, “Tim Rushlow and His Big Band.” The program will air on select public television stations beginning this fall, with WNPT in Nashville, TN hosting the very first airing and pledge drive on Thursday, September 1st. The high-energy special will feature performances from Rushlow’s brand-new album, TIM RUSHLOW AND HIS BIG BAND, which was recorded live in Nashville at the Rosewall and will be available this fall.
“Tim has created a fabulous program that will delight anyone who loves the Great American Songbook as well as good, old-fashioned entertainment. He and his band deliver an evening of good times and great tunes. APT is thrilled to be making this program available for public television audiences,” comments Eric Luskin, VP of APT.
The project is a true labor of love for the former country superstar, who grew up listening to the greats of the Big Band era and cut his musical teeth on standards from Sinatra, Darin, Perry Como, among others.
“Recording my big band Christmas record was like a dream come true and made me ready to delve in and cut another studio record of Classic big band hits,” recalls Rushlow. “The Christmas record was really a lot of fun and after releasing it my phone started ringing, with different performance centers, theaters and casinos wanting to know how to book me. So I assembled a band of great players and taped a show at the Rosewall so that buyers could get a sample of my performance of big band classics from the Great American Songbook. I went back to the actual Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin song charts and had my team refresh them a little bit so they would complement what I was planning to do with this show, and it just all came together really well. That live performance sparked some attention from some people connected with APT who expressed an interest in making it into television special, and that’s how this whole thing began!” says Rushlow.
The special captures the spirit and swagger of the era perfectly, as Tim and his big band run through a collection of beloved favorites like “Ain’t That A Kick In The Head,” “Beyond The Sea,” “Lady Is A Tramp” and “Mack The Knife,” effortlessly in a set list meticulously hand-picked by Rushlow himself.
A dedicated fan of Bobby Darin’s, Tim found himself extremely humbled by the kind words of Mr. Darin’s son Dodd. Darin commented about the new project, “Tim Rushlow is a genuine and rare talent who is able to authentically cross over musical genres. My father, the late Bobby Darin, was able to do that as well and so it’s fantastic to see Tim interpret some of my father’s songs. It will be exciting to see where his talents lead him and I’ll be watching, as I know it’s going to be great. I wish him all the best!
Rushlow pays homage to the greats during the program but also gives a nod to his country heritage and roots as well with a rendition of one of Little Texas’ biggest hits, “What Might Have Been,” reworked especially for this presentation. “For a while I really didn’t think I was going do anything from my past on this project, but my keyboard player took it upon himself to rewrite “What Might Have Been” as a soloist song with a string section. When he played it for me it just really knocked me out. The production is really intimate and powerful. I think it’s cool because that’s the moment in the show where you really see people connect the dots and go, “oh, that’s that guy!’ So it’s a great thing,” says Rushlow.
The 90-minute special will serve as a pledge drive program for public TV stations and will air in markets around the country in conjunction with live concerts in those markets. Rushlow will host the very first of these in his hometown of Franklin, TN on December 2nd and 3rd, as he presents a big band classic Christmas along with some of his favorite big band hits. He hopes reinterpreting these standards will appeal to a whole new group of fans and is eager to take them out to crowds at intimate venues around the country.
“Romance has really never gone away,” explains Rushlow about the material’s evergreen appeal. “People love it, and sometimes I think we’ve lost our way in our culture with that, and this music brings it all back to that. There is a culture of songwriters and craftsman in that era who wrote songs that stand the test of time like no other. That body of work from that time period is one of the most coveted things we have in this country and it is quintessential America. And that is the fun part for me, to blow the dust off of some of these songs and bring some life to them. I’m not trying to fill the shoes of any of these greats, but really pay tribute to them with this in a way by doing my interpretation of them. I want people to come see this and be transported back in time to the era of the supper club in 1965. I really hope people come out and see the show and have some fun and get their retro on!”