Have you heard these guys?!

 Why these happy smiles? Because we just got done enjoying an amazing concert in Twin Falls by a musical group called, "The Standards".

                                         

Who are The Standards? Let me tell you!

They are 5 brothers from Twin who have been performing for more than fifteen years. They are LDS and most of them are returned missionaries and come from a really great family.

 When they started they were an A Capella group and through the years they've branched out into country music, so and now they do some of both.

Our cousins in Jerome introduced us to this group when we were all pretty young and most of us have been hooked ever since.

And for fun, here's a little story about them. When I was turning 13 (a long time ago) my grandma called my dad to ask him what I wanted for my birthday. My grandparents were leaving for their mission a few weeks after my birthday, and I figured they should leave with a bang and go all out. So half joking, I told them I wanted The Standards to come to The Farm (in Jerome) to sing to us! I mean, they lived in Twin, and Grandma knew some of their family, so it wasn't too impossible, right?

Right!

She surprised me and actually called and asked them to come to The Farm!! And they did! Talk about an awesome grandma! :) They sang Happy Birthday to me, Kelani, and our cousin Heather (all of us have September b-days), and David (Oct. b-day, but this was a b-day party and Grandma and Grandpa would be gone by the time David had his b-day).

They also sang one of my favorites that they do (by request) "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", as well as three or four other songs. It was so awesome!!!!

We had a ton of our family all there to hear them and then Grandma invited them to stay for pie and ice cream afterwords, so we got longer to visit with them. So anyway, I liked them before that, but after something as cool as that was, I'm pretty much a fan for life. :)

That was in 2002 and we've seen them every year since 2000 (I think) at least once - usually more - up until 2008. They moved to Nashville since that's where all aspiring musicians go, and they haven't been back since 2008. So I was extremely happy to see they were coming to do some hometown concerts this past weekend! There was no way we could miss that, so on Friday Mom, Kelani, her friend Gretchen - a "first timer", and I all drove down to see them perform in Twin. Grandma, and two cousins, Maddie and Audrey came to the show with us and we had a blast!!

So here's just a few pictures from that night to give only an idea of the fun we had; you'd have to see them in person to get the full effect. :)

       Because they started as an A Capella group, naturally they need someone who can be a bass, as well as beatbox/instrument guy. Lucky for them they have Nic. He's the curly haired one and he is awesome! He does everything from the tuba to the didgeridoo.
  They always do an impression of a "lowrider" car; the kind that always pull up next to you and their bass is so loud it rattles your windows.  It's so awesome to hear, and Nic is the one providing the bass.

    Most of them play at least one instrument, as well, and we got to hear some of the new music they've been working on. One of the other brothers, Morgan, can also beatbox and he's come up with a way to play the harmonica at the same time that he's beatboxing!

           A bunch of the fans all ran up to the edge of the stage towards the beginning of the show and just stood there the whole time. So of course me, Nani, Gretchen, and Maddie all joined the "family friendly mosh pit" and got up super close to them all. It is pretty exciting to have one of them look down and smile at you while they're singing! :)

   As great as the show is, it's only part of the fun. The guys always come out afterwords and stay as long as it takes to talk to the fans and sign autographs and pose in pictures with people. We always stay and talk to them and have gotten to where they remember us and stick around to chat for a bit while they sign our new posters or cds.
     But since it's been 3 years since the last time we saw them, and since they've covered a lot of ground and met a ton of new fans in all that time, I was afraid they wouldn't recognize us. Wrong! They totally remembered us and asked how we've been and gave us all hugs and just stood there visiting with us. It was so much fun! And of course we got our traditional pictures with the guys, which we always do before we leave.

It was a night to remember and I know all of us around here suffer from The Standards withdrawals for a few days after the show. :) It's nice to have such a fun, clean, happy group of family entertainers to look forward to seeing, and I can't help but become a bit of a "fan girl" at heart whenever they're in town. If they're ever in your area, check them out, you will not be sorry!! :)