William Lee said band with his sons became a vision to reality
William Lee Golden and The Goldens to perform Saturday in Brewton
The COVID-19 pandemic gave William Lee Golden time to reflect in his Hendersonville, Tenn., home that led him to realize a vision he had two or three years ago about performing with his sons Rusty, Craig and Chris.
That vision and dream will come to life this Saturday when William Lee Golden and The Goldens hit the stage together in his hometown of Brewton as part of Porch Fest. The event will kickoff at 2 p.m. with The Goldens performing on the main stage in front of the Downing House at the intersection of Belleville Avenue and Rankin St.
Other performers who will be playing on front porches along Belleville and Evergreen avenues include Josh Pugh, Highway Home, the W.S. Neal FFA Band, The Redfields, David Stinnett, Burning Fern, Earl and Stephen Dolihite, Brown Barnes Band, Patrick Lowery and Friends, and Schwayne Bradley and theLa Strangers.
The Tip Tops will wrap up the day with a performance at 6 p.m. on the main stage. The event is free to the pubic with plenty of food and entertainment available. Bring your own lawn chair and enjoy the shows.
William Lee Golden said in March of 2020 the Oak Ridge Boys were shut down after a concert in Myrtle Beach due to the pandemic. He said he went home to Hendersonville and had nothing but time on his hands.
"With all the negative stuff coming out in the news I had to turn the TV off and get away," Golden said. "I was sitting out under a tree singing."
He said that he, Rusty and Chris would get together and sing old songs, which led them to record 32 songs during the pandemic. He also used the time to write an autobiography entitled 'William Lee Golden – Behind the Beard'. Following Saturday's performance Golden will be on hand with books to autograph.
He said performing with his sons was something he has been dreaming of and that dream will come true for the first time in 25 years during Porch Fest and said he couldn't think of a better place to start than in Brewton.
"I started and finished five major projects during the pandemic," he said. "It took a situation like the pandemic, like turning off the TV and focusing on what I was drawn to. These old songs kept my vision alive. It had a healing effect on me and my family, emotionally, physically and spiritually."
A 1957 graduate of W.S. Neal High School, Golden, now 82, joined the Oak Ridge Boys in 1965.
He said back in the summer Brewton Mayor Yank Lovelace invited him to perform at Porch Fest and he said he told the rest of the Oak Ridge Boys he needed to go home.
Golden said when his first wife, Frogene Normand, who was the mother of Rusty, Craig and Chris, died in July, 2020 things began to hit home with him. Immediately following the funeral in Brewton, Golden said he was in the vehicle with Craig when he found out Charlie Daniels had died.
"It makes you know how fragile life is," he said. "I felt desperate. I'm 82 years old and have lost a lot of my high school classmates and family."
It was part of that desperation that helped his vision to form a band with his sons. He said he did some touring with his sons when he was out of the Oak Ridge Boys and it has come full circle with Porch Fest.
"We'll be doing a lot of old songs and bringing a little family band," he said.
Golden said he has been singing and playing the guitar since he was young noting he and his sister Lanette played a lot together.
He said bringing back the old songs with his sons has had a real healing effect on him and he's looking forward to Saturday.
When asked about the beard he said it began in 1980 while doing primitive camping with mountain men, sleeping in T-pees and lean-twos and was the blunt of jokes about his trimmed beard.
"I lost my razor in 1980 camping with them," he said. "I used to trim my beard and those mountain men asked me if it would grow. So 1980 was the last time I trimmed it."
