WARSAW — Take two bands with some 80 years of combined music experience who actually seem to like each other, throw them on stage under perfectly pleasant summer conditions, and you have a recipe for a great night of country music.

That was the case Friday night in Warsaw at the County Concert for St Jude featuring Confederate Railroad and the Kentucky Headhunters, both of which had their share of huge hits in the 80s.

[caption id="attachment_114780" align="alignright" width="280"] Confederate Railroad's Mo Thaxton unexpectedly came on stage to provide backing vocals for a song early on The Kentucky Headhunters' show. At right is Fred Young. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

Recreation Director Stephanie Schaefer said before the show that she noticed how easygoing the bands interacted and how both groups seemed to enjoy being around each other.

That spilled over moments later on stage. Confederate Railroad opened up the night of music. They performed for an hour, then signed autographs backstage and intermingled with fans before singer and guitarist Mo Thaxton unexpectedly came on stage to provide backing vocals for a song early on the Headhunters' show. 

Both bands highlighted their classics: “Elvis and Andy,’ “Daddy Never Was the Cadillac Kind," and “Trashy Women” by Confederate Railroad, and "Dumas Walker," "Oh Lonesome Me," and "Ragtop" for the Headhunters.

But both topped off their shows, reaching back into the 1960s for some antique wonders of music. 

Confederate, which repeatedly paid homage to country music legends throughout the show, spiced up their performance with a countrified version of Dr. Hook’s “Cover of the Rolling Stone,” and the Headhunters changed things up at the end by closing with the Beatles ‘Don’t Let Me Down” and "Hey Jude.”

The doubleheader night of country music attracted a bigger-than-normal audience in Central Park, and organizers get credit for pulling together a memorable night of free entertainment in an era that makes it challenging to do so, given financial constraints found in today's concert industry.

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