Rehab 2022: Sawyer Brown guys joined by female newcomers Barrett, Hutchins

Editor's note: Management for Gabby Barrett and Sawyer Brown both declined pre-event interviews.

Rehab 2022 rolls into action Saturday with a country music newcomer on stage and a 2016 telethon performer returning.

The five-hour event begins at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Abilene Convention Center. You can attend in person or you can watch remotely. It will be telecast live by KRBC-TV in Abilene and KSAN in San Angelo, among other stations that include KSWO (Wichita Walls/Lawton, Okla.)

An auction TV show airs from 5:30-7 p.m. on KRBC and KSAN.

The winter fundraiser for the West Texas Rehabilitation Center has settled on a format, pairing a rising country music star with a tried-and-true favorite.

Last year, it was Runaway June and Neal McCoy. Their names were familiar, as both had been part of the show for two of the past three years.

This year, it's Gabby Barrett and the band Sawyer Brown.

The challenge has been put out there for the two main acts.

For the 50th anniversary show, McCoy did his part to raise a record $1.54 million. That was just weeks before a pandemic shut down the entertainment industry.

Last year, still mired in a pandemic, the show brought in $1.46 million. That's a $3 million haul for the two years that the East Texas singer has been in town.

More: Rehab 2021 fundraiser almost achieves record with $1.46M pledged

They rode out a name

Sawyer Brown last year celebrated 40 years as a group.

The current lineup is Mark Miller on lead vocals, guitarist Shayne Hill, drummer Joe Smyth and pianist/keyboardist Gregg Hubbard. Miller, Hubbard and Smyth are original members.

They were the road band for singer (not boxing promoter) Don King.

After King retired, the five-man band held together and entered a talent show called "Star Search." They won the grand prize - $100,00 and a recording contract.

More trivia: The band originally was known as Savanna but it was the name of another band. They opened the telephone book - remember those? - and landed on a street name. It was Sawyer Brown Road. They dropped the Road and had a name.

In 1984, they charted their first hit for Capitol Records, "Leona," and then landed at No. 1 with "Step That Step." They won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award in 1985 as top new act.

Their fame fizzled in the 1990s but they remained a popular touring act until moving to Curb Records. Sawyer Brown ramped back up with the hits, many written by Mac McAnally.

In 1996, they were chosen as Vocal Group of the Year by the Academy of Country Music.

They were Country Music Television's top video group from 1993-95.

Certainly not idle

What the Sawyer Brown boys have in common with Barrett is that she also is a singer born from talent show fame.

Whereas Barrett is about half as old as Sawyer Brown has been a band, she quickly is making a name, as they did back in the day.

Barrett began singing at 9 and in 2014, she won her first major talent show.

Interesting trivia about Barrett: She was encouraged to sing in an all-Black choir in Pennsylvania while growing up.

She auditioned for "American Idol" for its 16th season in 2017-18 season.

She made the finale, finishing third behind Maddie Pope and Caleb Lee Hutchinson. Her third place songs included "Rivers Deep," which she wrote, "Little Red Wagon" by Miranda Lambert and "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey.

On her way to the top 5, she sang songs by Vanessa Williams, Prince and Whitney Houston to showcase her upbringing in the Black choir.

In 2019, back on "American Idol," she sang a song that she independently had recorded called "I Hope." Such was the reaction that she signed with Warner Music Nashville and the song was released as a single.

It went to No. 3 on the Billboard charts, putting Barrett in the company of Taylor Swift.

Her album "Goldmine" made it to No. 4 on country charts.

"The Good Ones" also was a No. 1 song.

She was the 2021 ACM winner for New Female Vocalist and nominated for three other major awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year.

The winner?

Carly Pearce, who performed at Rehab 2018 in Abilene.

Ariel's in the lineup, too

Another show newcomer is Ariel Hutchins, the Texas country music singer based in Cross Plains who is making a name for herself. She now has a pair of No. 1 songs from the Texas Regional Radio Report charts. Her first was "Wine Won't Work."

That finished the year at No. 26 on the chart's top 200.

Her other big hit was "Showing Off," a duet with Sundance Head. It was No. 76 for the year.

This is her first major appearance in Abilene, and she has another planned as an opening act at the 11th annual Outlaws & Legends Music Festival in March.

"I am honored to be part of this amazing lineup and to get the opportunity to perform and help this wonderful organization,” Hutchins said. “I’ve watched this telethon since I was a kid and have always been proud of how Texans generously give to such a great cause.”

Currently, she is at No. 9 on the charts with "The Cowboy He Will Be," a song about her young boy.

Hutchins is due to perform a new song penned by Abilene's Greg Young, "They Come Run'n".

Charlie Chase again will be the show emcee, with Red Steagall and the Bunkhouse Boys on stage. Chase has been involved with the show since 2000.

Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News and general columnist. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Rehab 2022: Sawyer Brown guys joined by female newcomers Barrett, Hutchins