Sweet Home grad tours with Three Redneck Tenors
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

Sick

NASCAR with Beethoven, lite beer with Puccini, and a classically trained violinist performing rock n' roll - the makings of an interesting show.

Worlds will collide on the University at Buffalo's Center for the Arts main stage during the Three Redneck Tenors' performance on Wednesday, Feb. 27.

The performance will also bring Sick,* a 1999 Sweet Home graduate, back to his home turf. A traveling professional violist, Sick, 26, grew up in Amherst, playing the violin since he was 3.

Living in Austin, Texas, he was hired by the Three Redneck Tenors, based out of Dallas, to tour. The act, which included four singers, an actress and a five-piece band, performed in the summer on the TV series "America's Got Talent."

Sick said, "The three good ol' boys sing and dance, along with their manager, 'the Colonel,' and their beautiful cousin, Edna Mae, with live musicians from the pit

"We play country and pop and opera music," he said. "The style is a combo of Jeff Foxworthy and Luciano Pavarotti."

He described the show as putting opera music on a more palatable stage, and it has something for everyone.

Sick began playing at a very young age. The son of two musicians, they noticed early on that he had a "good ear" for music. And because violins come in small sizes, he said, he started there and it "stuck with him."

A former member of Buffalo Suzuki Strings, he also performed in the Sweet Home School District where he attended from kindergarten through 12th grade. He acknowledged his former music director, Joseph Baudo, as having an important role in his music development. Sick also studied guitar.

Sick attended school in Boston before moving to New Orleans for four years, leaving just six months before Hurricane Katrina hit.

"It was hard to watch," he said about the devastation.

He has performed with blue grass and rag bands and also alongside a freak show in Austin. He said it is the only human oddities show, with a seal boy, bearded lady and giants.

"Finally, a family friendly show after all these years," Sick said, poking fun at some of the more adult shows he's been involved with.

Sick is also performing at the Luxor in Las Vegas, a tour that will end March 1.

He also has his own band, "Sick's Pack," which could be touring in the future.

The Three Redneck Tenors will perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27 at UB's Center for the Arts on the North Campus. General admission is $30 and students, $20. Visit www.ticketmaster.com or call 852-5000. For more information, call 645-ARTS or visit www. ubcfa. org.

(Editors note: Sick* requested that he be referred to by this stage name.)