Looks to remake entertainment success they found with Rascal
Flatts at 2000 Garlic Festival
n By Brian Babcock
Staff Writer
Gilroy – The Garlic Festival Entertainment Committee is hoping to land another hit band, just as they did six years ago when they selected Rascal Flatts to play the 2000 festival.
They were looking for “name” entertainment, something they had never tried before.
Luckily, KRTY General Manager Nate Deaton knew there were two acts that could fit the bill.
One was the Rascal Flatts and the second was Eric Heatherly. According to Deaton, the Flatts had just come out with their second single, “This Everyday Love,” and thought they would match what the committee was looking for.
“Nobody’s heard of these people yet. But by the end of the calendar year, they will,” said Garlic Festival Marketing Consultant, Peter Ciccarelli, reflecting back on what Deaton had told him about the Rascal Flatts, whose single, “Life Is A Highway” is featured in the new Disney/Pixar movie “Cars.”
However, Deaton did have his reservations. He had only seen the group perform live once, and that was in the radio station’s conference room. He didn’t know how they would sound live and wondered if they could recreate their latest single on stage.
But he said that all changed when he saw them perform at that year’s Garlic Festival.
“They played (‘This Everyday Love’) and it sounded exactly like it did on record,” Deaton said. “I thought, ‘Wow, these guys are really talented.'”
Deaton wasn’t alone.
“The people just loved them. They stormed the stage,” Ciccarelli recalled. “They put on a good act and they loved garlic.”
Now, six years later others have picked up on the same vibe that Deaton sensed about the group. The Flatts latest album, “Me & My Gang,” debuted at number one this year on April 4, selling 722,000 copies in its first week.
In 2005, the Rascal Flatts’ third album, “Feels Like Today,” ranked number seven in the top 10 best selling records of any genre. That album went on to sell more than 2.5 million copies.
Eric Heatherly, however, did not have the same fortune. Heatherly has had mediocre success and has not had a hit since his first single, “Flowers on the Wall,” helped him secure a spot in the 2000 Garlic Festival.
Now Deaton and the committee are looking to remake the success they had with the Flatts by choosing a couple of performers who have the potential to be “huge.” They won’t make a decision for a couple more weeks, but they are hoping for another Rascal Flatts.
