Brothers Andy, Dennijo and Chad Sitze make up the Flat River Band.
With one condition
Hearing Flat River Band for the first time can lead to questions about the trio’s musical genre: Is it country? Bluegrass? Popular? What exactly is it?
“We want people to hear some of all of this,” band member Chad Sitze explained. “It’s a country music, American carnival. We have a wide variety and try to reach everyone with our music.”
The sound is a return to music filled with history and lively harmonies, sung by brothers Chad, Andy and Dennijo Sitze – Flat River Band. The band will perform at Murphysboro’s Liberty Theater at 7:00pm on Saturday, September 10th.
“All three of us believe that country music has gone so far to one side, it’s almost lost the real thing about country — the idea of sitting on the front porch and singing harmonies as a family,” Chad said. “I think it’s lost and we’re getting it back.”
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Rich fraternal harmonies are a hallmark of the Flat River Band, a sharp sound ranking as children in another trio of brothers: Larry, Steve and Rudy Gatlin. To honor that memory, the Flat River Band recorded their version of the first single no. 1 of the Gatlin Brothers, “I Just Wish You Were Someone I Loved.” The group even emailed a recording to Larry Gatlin.
“When it finally came to him, he said, ‘Hey guys, I want to be a part of this,’ and after we got into the studio, he said, ‘Let’s make a video for this thing.’ It was wonderful; really cool,” said Andy.
The video, which features Gatlins performing alongside the Flat River Band, has been viewed more than 65,000 times in just a few months. The track is featured on the band’s new five-track EP, Sights and Sounds.
Chad called performing with the Gatlin Brothers a “full circle bucket list thing” and said it was something they never expected. “The industry people here in Nashville were like ‘wow.’ It was an honor to work with him.”
The brothers grew up in a multi-generational family group, playing alongside their parents and grandparents.
“We grew up playing in a family band like the Sitze family,” Dennijo explained. “We played at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri for about 12 years and for about 5 years at Dollywood in Tennessee. The three of us moved to Nashville to pursue our careers in country and Americana music a few years ago.
“What’s unique about us is that we all sing lead and we all play and we all sing in harmony. We interweave all of that during our show,” Andy said.
“People will experience 90 minutes of in-your-face three-piece harmony that tells the story of all the musical influences that have influenced our lives,” Dennijo said. “It’s a high-energy, family-friendly musical journey that we take people on.”
Tickets for the Flat River Band performance are $15 and are available at the band’s website, www.flatriverband.com.
