Kyle Lessman

Scores of people dusted off their cowboy hats, polished their boots and practiced their jitterbugging moves for the Johnny Holm concert at the Swiftel on Feb 21.

Before going on stage, Holm walked through the crowd of people waiting for the sound check to get finished. Once the band was warmed up, he joined them on stage and kicked off the show with an up-beat cover that drew the dancing droves to the stage.

“They sound good,” said Ashton Chavez, a freshman pre-nursing major.

Holm was born in Brainerd, Minn., and has been performing for the past 30 years. The band has a large following in the upper Midwest, where they are widely known for playing gigs including county fairs and street dances. The band has appeared in Brookings a number of times in past years. According to the official Johnny Holm’s Band Web site, the band is one of the most widely known and well-traveled bands in America.

“We play a large variety of music. Around this area people like country and hard rock,” said Holm.

The songs they covered ranged from Chris LeDoux to Journey and reached into the country, hard rock and classic rock genres. The band played for three hours, nearly non-stop, only breaking long enough for the parched dancers to down a Bud Light or two before beginning another set.

According to his Web site, Johnny Holm surrounds himself with the finest musicians. Besides Johnny Holm, the band also consists of Jordan Holm, vocals and guitar, John Scalia (guitar and vocals), Shaun Mitzel (guitar and vocals), Mark Hoyt (keyboards and vocals) and Scott Pearson (drums and vocals). Pearson is the oldest member; he joined in Nov. 1992. Mitzel, Scalia and Jordan Holm all joined in 2006. The newest member, Hoyt, joined in January 2008.

The Johnny Holm Band continues to draw and entertain crowds as was evident by Thursday’s turnout.

“My parents used to listen to him, and he’s still cool,” said Ann Lanoue, a senior agriculture education major.

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