Roger Estlack

“God can handle 2020.”

That’s the message that Zach Williams hopes music lovers will come away with after seeing him and Big Daddy Weave, performs live on stage at Clarendon’s Sandell Drive-In this Friday night, October 9.

The concert will be the latest of the critically acclaimed Drive-In Theater Tour series, produced by Awakening Events. Tickets are available at driveintheatertour.com and are sold by the car load (up to 6 people per car) at $100 per car.

A multiple Grammy Award-winner, Williams told the Enterprise last week that he is excited about Friday’s performance and very happy to be on the drive-in tour with Big Daddy Weave.

“It’s the perfect time of year, and we’re having a great time together with several performances close to capacity,” Williams said, who is the singer/songwriter know for such hits as “Fear is a Liar” and “Chain Breaker.”

The COVID-19 pandemic shut down many performers this year, and Williams was no different. He was five shows into a 40-date concert tour when things came to a sudden halt.

“When it first happened, I felt so worthless,” Williams said, noting that he even talked about possibly finding a new line of work.

He usually performs 100 to 120 shows a year, but had only played six shows from Thanksgiving until the pandemic hit. It was a test of faith, he says.

“The enemy would like to creep in,” he said. “But we know the enemy is defeated. It’s like God saying, ‘Do you really not think I can handle 2020?’ God is in every season and aspect of life.”

Williams said he’s talked to Mike Weaver of Big Daddy Weave about this very thing.

“You’re seeing riots and all this stuff right now, but you’re also seeing people praying together in the streets,” Williams said. “We can be a part of something big in all this.”

Williams and Big Daddy Weave have performed in 14 drive-in theatres this year with another 16 to go. He says it’s been a great experience and a chance to play a lot of towns that ordinarily wouldn’t get to have concerts like this, and for Williams himself it was a first.

“I’m 42 years old, and I had never been to a drive-in theatre before this tour,” he said. “We had the remains of an old drive-in my hometown, but it was closed.”

Williams’ connection to Big Daddy Weave extends beyond this tour and is much more personal.

Williams grew up in Bono, Arkansas, a town of about 1,000 people. He only got into music after a basketball injury sidelined him in college, and he picked up his roommate’s guitar. Soon, he said, he had chord charts up on the wall and was teaching himself how to play. He took a poetry class and fell in love with writing music.

As his rock and roll music career started to take off, his wife surprised him in 2012 as he was leaving home for a tour in Europe. He had gotten into a bad lifestyle like so many musicians do; but if he didn’t change his ways, she didn’t think she could stay when he came home.

While touring in Spain, someone on a bus played “Redeemed” by Big Daddy Weave.

“It blew me away,” Williams said.

When he returned home, he and his wife found a church and started attending. Soon he was working in the church, and playing music, which led to a new music career. And the first band to take him on tour? Big Daddy Weave.

“It’s great playing with those guys,” Williams said. “And we’ll even be doing some songs together on stage Friday.”
Williams hopes everyone gets something out of Friday’s concert.

“If it’s one thing, it’s that everything is going to be alright,” he said. “If you believe, then you already know it’s going to be alright and know what your future is.”

For more information, visit the Sandell’s Facebook page.

The Clarendon College Rodeo team is glad to be back in the arena and spent the last two weekends competing at Sul Ross and Vernon College rodeos and are preparing to host the quadrennial Stampede rodeo here next week, October 15, 16, and 17.

There are 25 members this year.

In Alpine, the team earned enough points to end up 4th in the rodeo. Individual results for the rodeo in the Bareback riding follow: Cole Franks scored 77 points for 2nd place in the long round and 82 points in the short round finishing 2nd in the average while Ricky Williams, from Decatur, Ala., was 71 points in the long round and 79 in the short round and 5th in the average.

Clarendon College had six saddle bronc riders qualify for the Top 10 short round. Brody Wells, Powell, Wyoming, scored 77 for 3rd in the long round, 77 in the short round, and 3rd in the average. Cole Franks was 74 in the long and 70 in the short go for 4th in the average. Brodie Roessler of Fairview, Alberta, scored 67 in the long and 72 in the short for 5th in the average while Cauy Pennington from Kiowa, Colo., scored a 72 in the long go but failed to make the whistle in the short round. Danny Cassidy of Meridian scored 71, and Trey Elshere from Quinn, South Dakota, was 69 in the long go, and both were bucked off in the short round.

This past weekend in Vernon, the team finished 2nd and had both bareback riders and seven of the ten saddle bronc riders qualify for the championship round on Saturday night.

In the bareback riding, Ricky Williams scored 68 in the long go and 59 in the short go for 6th in the average while Cole Franks was 75 in the long go but failed to make the eight seconds in the short go. In the saddle bronc riding long round, Cash Wilson from Wall, South Dakota, placed first with his 80.5 ride; Keene Justesen, St. Cloud, Florida, was 2nd with a 75; Caleb Newell of Vernon, was 3rd with 70 points; Cole Franks was 5th with a 69; Brody Wells was 68 points for 6th place; Cauy Pennington was 7th with a 67 score and Gaige Langmaid from Clarence, Iowa, took the 10th with a 58.

The horses had the upper hand in the short round with only three cowboys making a qualified ride. Keene Justesen and Cash Wilson were the only Clarendon bronc riders to make a qualified ride in the short round and finished first and second respectively. Clarendon College men’s team is currently in third place in the Southwest region behind Tarleton State University and Southwest Texas Junior College.

Clarendon College will host the next rodeo on Oct. 15-17 with performances at 7:00 so come out and support the Bulldogs. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $5 at the Clarendon Visitor Center or Clarendon College or can be purchased at the gate for $10.