Lorain County Community College’s Stocker Center hosted the 25th annual “Guitars for Girls” event this past Thursday night. The concert, an annual country celebration hosted at LCCC for the past 25 years, raised money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. WGAR’s LeeAnn Sommers presented a check of $23,225.
This year’s edition featured Grammy-winner Ashley McBryde and Nashville-based singer Belles. Alexandra Kay, a country singer from Waterloo, Illinois, canceled due to a scheduling conflict; Belles was added as a replacement guest.
Belles, born Kelli Rachel Jones in Omaha, performed a half hour set. She encored with “Son of Jolene,” a song she wrote with Dolly Parton, the final piece the late singer worked on prior to her death in August.
After a short stage reset, Ashley McBryde came out with her two-piece backing band. McBryde, a powerhouse vocalist, began her career at honky-tonks and dive bars all over the Midwest and the South. She bantered about past bar fights, overzealous patrons, attempting to perform over shouts of “Free Bird!”
A gifted storyteller, McBryde captivated as she segued from story to song, tying everything up neatly at the end with a story reminding the audience why they had gathered at the Stocker Center. If there’s a single continuity across all cultures, she said, “it’s that we all love boobs.”
The trio then ripped into a comical ditty about life in a trailer park, “Brenda, Put Your Bra On.”
