Press Release
November 1, 2018
Contact: Adam Lynn
Honey Springs Battlefield and Visitor Center, Oklahoma Historical Society
Office: 918-473-5572
alynn@okhistory.org
www.okhistory.org/honeysprings
Civil War-Era Concert and Presentation to be held at the Honey Springs Battlefield and Visitor Center
CHECOTAH, Okla. — Honey Springs Battlefield and Visitor Center is excited to announce a Civil War-Era Concert and Presentation to be held at the battlefield’s new Visitor Center on Saturday, November 17, at 1:30 p.m. featuring the Loco Focos Civil War-era band. The program is free to the public, but donations are welcome.
The United States was still a young country in the 1820s and had not yet developed its own type of music. However, by the 1830s American-style music began to take shape. The goal of the Locos Focos band is to present the birth of this authentic music and sound. The band’s name, Loco Focos, historically defined as “a strike-anywhere match,” became associated with a political movement of the 1830s–1840s defined as Locofocism in the writings of Secretary of State William Seward, who served in President Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet.
As a band, Locos Focos attempts to present songs of the Civil War period as closely as possible to their original form. Period instruments to be played at the concert will include an 1850 martin guitar, a boucher banjo reproduction, period tambourine and bones, to name a few. Members of the band are Curtis Payne (banjo and guitar), Terry Aziere (vocals and guitar), Sandy Payne (piano, tambourine, harmonica, bones and back-up vocals), Jane Varmecky Hyde (drum, tambourine and back-up vocals) and Chris Back (guitar and back-up vocals). Curtis Payne has been a living history reenactor for more than 35 years, serving as first sergeant of the Pelican Rifles Company K.
Original period sheet music will be set up around the room for public viewing before, during and after the concert. Songs to be played will include “Clear De Kitchen,” “Get off the Tracks,” “Old Lud Gals,” “Oh! Susanna,” “Old Virginia Breakdown,” “The First Gun is Fired,” “The Bonnie Blue Flag,” “Listen to the Mockingbird,” “Give Us Back Our Old Commander,” “Seward’s Bell,” Dixie with Walk-a-Bout,” “Old Jonney Boker,” “Yellow Rose of Texas” and “The Battle Cry of Freedom.” Historical background of the songs will be provided throughout the program.
After the program, visitors will have the opportunity to tour the battlefield and learn about key aspects of the engagement and those who fought at Honey Springs. Visitors also can tour the new Visitor Center, purchase items from the gift shop, and learn about the new exhibits that will open in the near future.
For more information regarding the presentation and the Honey Springs Battlefield and Visitor Center, please email honeysprings@okhistory.org or alynn@okhistory.org, or call 918-473-5572. Honey Springs Battlefield and Visitor Center is located east of U.S. Highway 69 between Oktaha and Rentiesville. The Visitor Center is located on the northeast corner of the intersection of East 1030 Road and 11th Street, diagonal from the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame.
Honey Springs Battlefield and Visitor Center is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society. The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit www.okhistory.org.
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