COUGAR RESIDENT Gary Bennett has returned from Nashville, TN and has formed a band that will perform as the Saturday night house band at Jollie’s Restaurant and Lounge in Ridgefield.
Gary Bennett recently stepped away from a successful music career in Nashville, TN, to return to his hometown of Cougar. With a little help from his friends, he’s formed a new band that’s bringing traditional country music to Ridgefield.
Bennett was born in Texas, but moved with his family to Cougar at a very early age. When he was 8 years old, he started writing songs and at the age of 16, he joined a gospel group based out of Woodland. The group experienced a degree of success, traveling regionally, which gave Bennett his first real taste of performing for large audiences. Out of high school, Bennett worked in logging but kept his dream of a music career at the forefront of his mind.
In 1989, at the age of 25, Bennett answered an ad for an established band in Oregon and began playing in clubs in Portland. It didn’t take him long to realize that club-goers want to hear songs they are familiar with and can sing along with. Bennett, being a songwriter first, felt there wasn’t enough creative expression and that to make anything happen for him, he was going to have to high tail it to Nashville.
There, he met a man named Chuck Mead, who grew up in the same era of music and was also a songwriter. Their styles complimented one another, the audience loved them and BR549 was born. With lines out the door at Robert’s Western World, where they played, BR549 was still not drawing attention from publishing or recording companies. The fact that they liked to play tunes from the Beatles and the Ramones made them unconventional on Music Row.
Finally one night, band members for the Mavericks brought Timothy White, the editor of Billboard magazine at the time, to a show. White told Bennett, “I’m gonna put you on the cover of Billboard.” White had been drinking so Bennett didn’t put much stock into his announcement. Two weeks later, however, White made good on his promise and there they were, on the cover of Billboard magazine.
Success soon followed with four albums on the Arista label, another one for Sony and seven years living on a bus.
“I got tired of being gone and some other things came up,’’ Bennett said. “Before I even went there, I was cutting timber still. I was in a particularly beautiful setting eating my sandwich and I thought ‘I probably won’t like it (Nashville), all the chaos and stuff.’ It was a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice.”
A visit to Cougar in June 2013 solidified Bennett’s decision to move home. With an aging mother, he realized life is short and you only have one chance to live it right. He rented out his Nashville home and is now buying back the house he grew up in.
“I’ll go back and forth and do what I have to do but, boy, it’s beautiful here,’’ Bennett said. “There are places in Norway and Germany, but the Northwest is really hard to beat.”
Calling on some connections in Portland, Bennett has formed a band comprised of talented and passionate musicians. Country piano player Dave Mersereau, lead guitarist Shawn O’Connor, drummer Bob Stoutenburg and Rudi Spain on electric bass make up a band that seems intentional to Bennett.
For the past three months, they’ve been entertaining crowds on Sunday afternoons at Jollie’s Restaurant and Lounge in Ridgefield. As the weeks have passed, Bennett’s been excited to see the results of word-of-mouth. Familiar faces are returning and bringing their friends with them.
“I’m just doing it completely for the love of it and it’s the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” Bennett said.
Area residents can catch Gary Bennett and the Coat Tail Riders at Jollie’s Restaurant and Lounge every Sunday from 3-7 p.m. and beginning Jan. 4, they’ll be the Saturday night house band. Jollie’s is located at 17701 NE Union Road, Ridgefield.
