Counting their Lucky Stars

Amber Willard

AUTRY MUSEUM -- The stars smiled on the Autry Museum of Western

Heritage Sunday afternoon -- the Lucky Stars, that is.

The six-man band decked out in cowboy hats and Western shirts

performed three sets of 1940s and 50s-style country music Sunday as part

of a concert series at the museum.

The genre of music, sometimes called Western Swing, drew dancers onto

the wood stage and had others dancing on the balconies above the

courtyard where the Lucky Stars played.

“I always wanted to have a band named that,” lead vocalist and guitar

player Sage Guyton said of the Stars, who have been together about five

years.

Like other band members, Guyton played in other bands and kept being

drawn to earlier songs, which he refers to as “Hillbilly Swing.”

“California was the hub of country music until Nashville took over in

the 1950s,” Guyton said between sets on Sunday, dressed in a navy

Western-style shirt with pearl button covers and gray cowboy hat.

Instruments used by the band included guitars, bass, steel guitar and

accordion.

The Lucky Stars played as part of the Wells Fargo Western Serenade, a

year-round series that brings in different groups once a month and one

each holiday.

“It helps people see the variety of music that can be found in the

West,” museum Programs Manager Jeffrey Barber said of the series, which

has included tejano and American Indian groups. “We present a history of

the West that’s not strictly the Anglo West.”

Sunday was not the first time the Lucky Stars played at the museum --

they played Thursday, when the museum had extended hours and free

admission.

“It was neat for us because people in the audience had heard these

groups play,” Guyton said of some of the songs the band covers, including

ones by Bob Wills, Tex Williams and Myrle Travis.

For more information about the band, go to www.theluckystars.com.