The Bellamy Brothers — the iconic country music duo from Darby — will return to their East Pasco County roots to headline an event to benefit the Thomas Promise Foundation.
The concert fundraiser, “An Evening With The Bellamy Brothers,” is scheduled for Aug. 26, at the Dan Cannon Auditorium at the Pasco County Fairgrounds, 36722 State Road 52, in Dade City.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for dinner, with the concert beginning at 7:30 p.m.
The concert is a private event, maxing out at about 320 guests.
Select table purchases remain available, with prices based on the table chosen. Each table will hold up to eight guests. Table purchases are tax-deductible.
All proceeds from the event go toward the Thomas Promise Foundation, a local nonprofit organization that provides meals for food-insecure students on the weekends when no school programs are in operation. The organization has provided more than 1million meals to students since its inception a decade ago.
The Bellamy Brothers — Howard and David Bellamy — are scheduled to perform a 90-minute set at the event.
The playlist of songs “absolutely” will feature some of their greatest classics, Joe Simmons, executive director of the Thomas Promise Foundation, told The Laker/Lutz News.
That’ll probably include their 1976 chart-topping country pop hit, “Let Your Love Flow,” which spearheaded a career of 20 No. 1 hits and 40 million album sales worldwide.
Howard and David Bellamy graduated from Pasco High School in the 1960s before embarking on their successful music career.
They had their first official gig in 1968, when they performed on stage with their father during the Rattlesnake Festival at San Antonio Park.
Fame and fortune have followed, over the ensuing five-plus decades.
The Bellamy Brothers usually are booked for dozens of gigs set across multiple states and countries each year.
Their last performance in East Pasco is believed to have been in 2019, at the 53rd annual Rattlesnake Festival.
They have, however, performed multiple times at the annual Florida Cracker Christmas festival in Spring Hill.
Simmons expressed his gratitude that the in-demand performers were willing to set aside a date to help the Thomas Promise Foundation, and the hometown community at large.
The fundraiser has been in planning for several months.
“The Bellamys are extremely busy,” Simmons said. “You know, they have a tremendous tour schedule coming up, and we felt very fortunate for them to be able to do something for us, and we’ll be able to help kids in our community, too, so we do appreciate the opportunity for them to play and give back.”
“We’re really looking forward to this being a tremendous event,” he said.
Simmons pointed out the event sets up as Thomas Promise Foundation’s largest fundraiser of the year.
And it comes at a critical time, he said, with rising food costs and others hardships brought in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Simmons put it like this: “We help more kids now than we’ve ever helped before. We’ve helped more schools now than we’ve ever helped before, so opportunities like this to be able to raise funds for the foundation are extremely important to us.”
The Bellamy Brothers are known to spend any downtime amid their frenetic showbiz schedule on their 200-acre family ranch in Darby, just outside the Dade City limits.
But downtime isn’t very synonymous with the hometown celebrities — juggling multiple side projects over the years, besides performing and putting out new music.
Last month they garnered national headlines in teaming up with actor Dennis Quaid to record and perform a cover of Billy Swan’s 1974 country crossover hit, “I Can Help.”
The single release was featured on the Bellamys’ hit reality television series, “Honky Tonk Ranch,” which airs on the Grand Ole Opry’s Circle Network.
They also released an autobiography in 2018 titled, “Let Your Love Flow: The Life and Times of the Bellamy Brothers.”
Call 813-782-0000 for concert reservations. Visit TheThomasPromise.org for more information.
Published August 18, 2021
