West Texas A&M University’s Wine to Water Organization hosted Shotgun Rider for their first beneficiary concert last Friday, Feb. 6 in the Jack B. Kelley student center’s Legacy Hall.
The performance lasted a duration of two hours, from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Shotgun Rider preformed a variety of songs; songs from their new album, some of their hits from Seven Miles South and cover songs from multiple artists. An intermission was included halfway through the show that consisted of a Wine to Water presentation along with a short speech by Kendra Campbell, advisor for WT Wine to Water.
“I really enjoyed the concert, we had a good turn out and Shotgun Rider was awesome,” Amanda Torrez, sophomore and Wine to Water member, said. “We look forward to throwing another beneficiary concert around this time next year.”
Wine to Water is a newly formed campus organization that is a branch of the international non-profit organization also known as Wine to Water. Alfredo Rosendo, a sophomore mechanical engineer major at WT, founded WT’s Wine to Water. Alfredo attained his inspiration after attending the leadership trip to Uganda last year. He was able to work alongside with Doc Hendley, writer and founder of the international program Wine to Water.
“Being able to go to Uganda really opened my eyes to the water crisis around the world. It motivated me to continue Doc’s work and try to inspire others to help make a difference.” Alfredo said. “We had a lot of fun, not everything went as smooth as we wanted, but it was a good learning experience for us. We were able to earn over $1200 in ticket sales, so we are extremely happy for these results.”
The proceeds will help fund Wine to Water’s upcoming missionary trip to Colombia this spring break. This will be the first of many expected trips for WT’s new organization.
Shotgun Rider, formally known as “Seven Miles South,” changed their name due to contract and legal reasons, and was excited to perform for the beneficiary concert.
“We performed last year for homecoming as Seven Miles South, and we are excited to come back to perform as Shotgun Rider,” Anthony Enriquez, lead guitarist and song writer, said. “We feel like this was a great opportunity to improve our fan base and help out a great organization.”
Logan Samford of Nazareth, Texas and Anthony Enriquez of Dimmit, Texas make up the newly re-mastered band Shotgun Rider. Between the two of them, they have over 23 years of experience playing the guitar. Although they sing mostly Texas Country, they get most of their inspiration from alternative music. Some of their favorite bands include Coldplay, Matchbox 20 and The Eagles.
Shotgun Rider is also hosting a CD release party on Feb. 21 at Austin’s Pub in Amarillo.
“It will also be my 21 birthday so I welcome anyone to come down and have a good time with us,” Logan Samford, lead singer, said.
