Martin McDaniel said he is looking forward to playing for friends he’s known his whole life at tonight’s July Jamz.
The Opp native has been working in and from Nashville for the past 10 years, and is preparing to film his first music video in California later this month. The video will be released along with a single, likely at the end of the summer.
“We just tracked the new record two weeks ago,” McDaniel said, adding that there is still studio touch-up work to be done. The group will fly on July 26 to California, where they have several gigs and also shoot the video. Locals will definitely have an opportunity to hear the song tonight, he said.
Martin McDaniel said he is looking forward to playing for friends he’s known his whole life at tonight’s July Jamz. The Opp native has been working in and from Nashville for the past 10 years, and is preparing to film his first music video in California later this month. The video will be released along with a single, likely at the end of the summer. “We just tracked the new record two weeks ago,” McDaniel said, adding that there is still studio touch-up work to be done. The group will fly on July 26 to California, where they have several gigs and also shoot the video. Locals will definitely have an opportunity to hear the song tonight, he said. “We have two possible singles,” he said. “The decision isn’t final, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a song called, ‘About last night.’ I’ll know for sure in the next day or so.”
McDaniel’s band includes his youngest brother, Wright, who is a drummer.
“He moved to Nashville four years ago,” McDaniel said. “I picked him up from his high school graduation (in McKenzie), and he’s been with me ever since.”
McDaniel said he and his brother are fortunate that their parents, Liz Reid and Tim McDaniel, have been supportive of their work.
“My mom never said, ‘Get a real job,’ ” he said. “And my dad has been supportive, too.”
Opp native Drew Hassell plays bass.
“We’ve been friends since I was 3,” McDaniel said. “Technically, I’ve known him longer than I’ve known my youngest brother.”
“We have two possible singles,” he said. “The decision isn’t final, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a song called, ‘About last night.’ I’ll know for sure in the next day or so.” McDaniel’s band includes his youngest brother, Wright, who is a drummer. “He moved to Nashville four years ago,” McDaniel said. “I picked him up from his high school graduation (in McKenzie), and he’s been with me ever since.” McDaniel said he and his brother are fortunate that their parents, Liz Reid and Tim McDaniel, have been supportive of their work. “My mom never said, ‘Get a real job,’ ” he said. “And my dad has been supportive, too.” Opp native Drew Hassell plays bass. “We’ve been friends since I was 3,” McDaniel said. “Technically, I’ve known him longer than I’ve known my youngest brother.” Read More>
Andalusia Star News
Andalusia Star News
Ashton Wells and Ashton Wells Jr. drove this load of cute kids in the parade in 2016.
There are several events planned for Tuesday to celebrate Independence Day.
- A Fourth of July Parade will begin at 10 a.m. in downtown Andalusia. The event is sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
- City of Andalusia Fireworks show will be at the Kiwanis Fairgrounds. Gates open at 5 p.m. Entertainment will be at 6 p.m., by Ric McNaughton Band. Fireworks show begins at 8:30 p.m. Free watermelon and more. Bring lawn chairs or blankets.
- City of Opp will host its annual Fourth of July Celebration at Frank Jackson State Park. Free watermelon. Free admission after 10 a.m., Ben Norris will play at 1 p.m.; Otha Allen at 2:30 p.m., and Charity Bowden at 4:15 p.m. A fireworks show starts at dark.
Progress on the rebuilding of South Three Notch Street renovations should be more visible soon.
Daniel Wells of CDG Engineers and Associates said Friday that the utilities on South Three Notch have been relocated, which means road construction can resume. Phone, cable and power lines were moved underground as of June 16.
“We are currently in Phase IV of construction (Seegars Street to Baker Street) which is expected to continue for two to three months,” Wells said. “At completion, we will shift traffic and begin work on the southbound lane from Baker Street to Seegars Street.” Northbound traffic was closed in January.
Wiregrass Construction won the bid for the project, which is being managed by the State Department of Transportation.
The State of Alabama awarded Andalusia an $8.6 million ATRIP grant in 2013 for the repairs to the southern entrance to the city. The project required a $2.1 million local match. ATRIP is a program Gov. Robert Bentley designed in which future federal dollars were pledged against a bond issue to fund current projects.
Work on the massive South Three Notch project began the first week of November, when the first phase of construction widened the street from Simmons Street to Railroad Avenue. This phase also included installation of a new sanitary sewerage line in the center of the street.
Another phase included widening on the southbound side of the street, but did not interrupt traffic.
The completed project is expected to take approximately a year.
Andalusia Star News
Andalusia’s Stingrays ended the 2017 regular season giving their coach exactly what he wanted: effort.
The Stingrays hosted the final meet of the regular season Tuesday afternoon at Cooper Pool alongside the Troy Tiger Sharks.
“At this stage, with district in three weeks, I’m looking for effort and that’s pretty much it,” Donaldson said. “I pounded them pretty hard last night in practice. We won’t back off.” Donaldson said that his Stingrays have been swimming between 4,000 and 5,000 yards worth of sprints per practice and emphasized that he just wanted to see effort as his team closed out the regular season.
Donaldson said that with the District Meet coming up in three weeks he feels like his team is hitting its stride.
“They’re right where they need to be right now,” Donaldson said. “We’re not up too high, we’re climbing up the stairs getting ready for district. We’ll run through district and then the ones that qualify for state we’ll get them ready and see what they have at the state level.”
In Tuesday’s meet, freshman Annaleigh Fischer showed that effort, beating out four other Troy swimmers with a time of 1:09.83 in the Girls 9-10 50-Yard Breaststroke.
Likewise, Stella Landreneau beat out four other Troy swimmers in the Girls 8 and Under 25-Yard Freestyle with a time of 21.24.
Sophomore Brycen Owens finished with the best time in the Boys 9-10 50-Yard Freestyle with a time of 37.81 and Briley Henry finished on top with a time of 36.16 in Girls 9-10 50 Yard Freestyle.
11-year old Anna Grace Scott bested all swimmers with a time of 33.17 in the Girls 11-12 50 Year Freestyle, while teammate A.C. Tillman was right behind her with a time of 33.65. In the Girls 15-18 50 Yard Freestyle Emma Younce just beat out Elisabeth Younce with a time of 26.06 compared to Elisabeth’s 30.74.
Andalusia’s team of Grace Philpott, Cali Fillmer, Elisabeth Younce and Emma Younce beat out Troy’s team in the Girls 15-18 200 Yard Freestyle Relay with a time of 2:00.78 compared to Troy’s 2:18.55.
Anna Grace Scott again finished on top in the 11-12 50 Yard Butterfly with a time of 38.86 while also finishing first in Girls 11-12 50 Yard Backstroke with a time of 40.12. 10-year old Kaylynn Wagoner finished in first place in the Girls 9-10 50 Yard Backstroke with a time of 51.49.
Scott closed out the meet with a first place finish in the 11-12 100 Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:15.36.
Andalusia Star News
With storms washing through the past weeks, many local sporting events had to be postponed.
The Andalusia 10U All-Stars were supposed to play Tuesday night against Greenville in Greenville for the district championship, but rain continues to push the date of the game back.
Officials said that discussions to play on Friday or Saturday have been made, but nothing has been determined at this time.
Further weather issues and additional All-Star games will play a factor in determining when they game will be made up.
The City of Andalusia’s annual tennis camp was forced to push their camp back to next week after multiple days were rained out this week.
“Due to the cancellation of some days this week, tennis camp will run from Monday through Thursday of next week,” John Vick said.
The City of Andalusia’s annual golf camp was rained out on Wednesday afternoon, and that date is not expected to be made up.
Several high schools that had scheduled workouts for Thursday also cancelled the activities out of safety concerns about the weather.
Andalusia Star News