Western PA band's Christmas wish comes true
Christmas came early this year for western Pennsylvania's The Wrangler Band when its song "I Wish Christmas Was Every Day" went viral.
For the band, with many of its members from Beaver and Lawrence counties, it feels like Christmas is truly happening every day as the song is rocking all over the world.
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Ron George, the band manager, said he looked on Google just to be sure the song was playing right and learned people were line-dancing to it in India and other countries.
With over 100,000 hits from countries as diverse as Germany and China and Spain and Japan and many others, it is a bonafide worldwide phenomenon. But people are not just listening, it has also become a line dance sensation choreographed in a number of videos on YouTube for those who want to learn the dance.
"We were amazed. We're just a little local band, not Nashville, not well-known. We never dreamed it would be popular," George said. "We expected a couple hundred views and it had gone viral."
George is tracking the song's popularity on Spotify, a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider, one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active users. For instance, George learned that they had over 300 hits in Germany.
Right now the Wrangler Band feels like Christmas is every day as the numbers continue to increase. Not bad for a former Ellwood City Summer Concert performer.
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Neighbors in Shenango Township, George and the band's drummer, Brock Keyser, often get together to write songs.
"We just wanted to write an upbeat, fun song with some of the 1950s style we like," George said. "It was released Nov. 4 and we have been surprised every day since."
The Wrangler Band is a country-rock and classic rock band well-known in the local area and a fan favorite at the Ellwood City Community Plaza concerts. They are noted for playing a variety of music, ranging from today’s top-of-the-charts modern country hits to yesterday’s classic '80s rock. Their recordings are out there on all the media including Amazon, iTunes and Apple.
George, the manager and spokesman, plays lead guitar and banjo and provides vocals. His brother Randy plays bass guitar and offers vocals and sister Christy George Kopsak, of Chippewa Township, plays the fiddle and keyboard and sings.
George teaches elementary school in New Castle, Randy George, of Strattonville, teaches elementary school in Clarion and Keyser is a nurse.
The family has been making music together for most of their lives. In 1977, when Ron was 5 and Randy was 7, Randy found a dusty guitar under their father's bed and that was the beginning. Their father, Roy, taught them to play guitar and within two years they were entertaining in public. Christy has been playing the fiddle since she was 6 years old and has won a number of trophies in fiddle competitions in the tri-state area.
The Wrangler Band likes to connect with its audience and now has an audience around the world listening and dancing to its music.
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This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: People around the world line dancing to 'I Wish Christmas Was Every Day' by The Wrangler Band
