The Gates Four Summer Concert Series is back this month with the penultimate show of the 2021 season featuring Tim Hair with Indian Outlaw on Aug. 28 at the Pavilion.

“We are a southern, high-energy band,” said Tim Hair, the front man of the group. “We want to get the crowd involved, we want them singing and dancing along.”

The seven-member band includes: Tim Hair on lead vocals; Jeff Eisemann on drums; Kevin Freeman on violin, cello and mandolin; Gina Gerard on keyboard, flute and harp; Dale Nelson on acoustic guitar; John Parker on bass guitar; and Ken Pittman on electric guitar.

The band has been together for about a year, but individual members have decades of experience performing and entertaining audiences.

“Jeff and I have known each other for about 10 years,” said Hair. “Jeff knew the others.” The band came together with the intent of performing at fairs, festivals and doing theater shows. “We didn’t want to play clubs late at night anymore.”

Eisemann focused on putting together the best performance band he could, picking talented musicians from across the state. Band members live from Sandford to New Bern but come together for rehearsals and live shows.

Hair has been performing as a Tim McGraw tribute artist for about 18 years, but “I’ve always been singing,” he said.
Hair sang in church growing up and performed in concert choir while attending the University of Mount Olive. Later he sang at weddings and then clubs.

People told him he looked like Tim McGraw many times, so as a joke, he attended a McGraw concert in the late 90s wearing the singer’s typical fashion of jeans, cowboy boots, hat and T-shirt.

“I was bombarded by people,” Hair said. Some thought McGraw was walking through the crowd, some wanted to get their picture taken with him. At one point a security detail surrounded him.

Hair decided to enjoy the experience and, being a fan of McGraw, began doing tribute shows, even performing in Las Vegas as part of Matt Lewis’ Vegas ShoWorks Entertainment. He’s also had a few opportunities to perform with McGraw on stage in 2001 in Charlotte and in 2014 in Raleigh. Hair sang back-up vocals during a virtual concert McGraw performed last year during the pandemic.

Once, Hair took part in a “magic trick” at a McGraw concert. At the beginning of the show, McGraw’s security people walked Hair through the crowd to the stage. “It was an illusion,” Hair said. While the audience focused on Hair, the real Tim McGraw was hidden in the crowd to be revealed as a surprise when McGraw came out of hiding and started singing.

Although he won’t be hiding anywhere at Gates Four, Hair said that is the kind of fun he and Indian Outlaw like to deliver to audiences.

“The guys in the group are super excited to be playing [at Gates Four]. It is our first time here as a band,” Hair said. Hair has performed shows in the past at the Crown and at the Cumberland County Fair.

“We come to have a great time and put on a good show,” he said.

Indian Outlaw will perform three sets. The first two are a Tim McGraw tribute. “We perform his hits from the early days up through ‘Humble and Kind’ and a couple off his new album,” Hair said.

“The third set is other fun songs, more southern rock,” he said. That set list includes songs to get the audience singing along such as “Keep Your Hands to Yourself,” “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Chicken Fried.”

Tickets for Stylin Country: Tim Hair with Indian Outlaw are available for purchase online at www.fayettevilledinnertheatre.com. Tickets include dinner and the concert with lawn seating (bring your chair). For VIP tables, group rates or more information, call 910-391-3859.

Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and the meal is served from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The concert is scheduled from 7 to 10 p.m. There will also be a complete line of beverages available at full-service cash bars. Concierge table service will be provided for VIP tables inside the Gates Four Pavilion.

The Gates Four Summer Concert Series is sponsored by realtor Jay Dowdy of All American Homes, Piedmont Natural Gas, Up & Coming Weekly, Healy Wholesale and Gates Four Golf & Country Club.

For more information about Tim Hair and Indian Outlaw visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/107438679278378.