COUNTRY SINGER Timothy Hadler is returning to his hometown of Amboy for a concert to kickoff his upcoming tour and also to help raise funds for Amboy Middle School, which he attended as a youth. Photo courtesy of Timothy Hadler
Country singer Timothy Hadler is returning to his hometown of Amboy to kick off the first leg of his three-year Glad You Made It tour. With him will be platinum recording artist Bryan White, Alabama’s Mike Curtis, local entertainers Chrissy Shelton and Kathy Buchanan as well as a few other surprises.
The show will be held at the Amboy School Gymnasium on June 13 at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $20 with a portion of the ticket price going to a fund Hadler is setting up for Amboy Middle School, which served K-8 when he attended. In addition, Hadler is dedicating the tour to his father Jerry, who passed away in May.
Hadler recently signed a four-record contract with Yocumtown Records and shares Dolly Parton’s producer Kent Wells. The single off his album, also titled Glad You Made It, came in at number 70 in March on Billboard.biz, which charts all the record sales marketed world-wide and it peaked at number two in the Mountain region. He can be seen Saturday nights at 6:30 p.m. CST on UA Network’s God, Family & Country. All this success prompted his music attorney, whom Hadler’s known since 1995, to quip “look at that overnight success.”
In truth, the wave Hadler is enjoying came after a lot of hard work and guardian angels, as he tells it. While attending Clark College he started performing at local venues like Nick’s Tavern, Idle Hour Tavern in Woodland and Ariel Tavern. It was at Ariel Tavern that Hadler met a man who took him to Jollie’s Restaurant & Lounge, introduced him to some musicians and helped him put a band together. They played at Jollie’s for nearly a year before Hadler moved to Nashville in April of 1992.
The loneliness of moving 2,500 miles from home was eased by a local connection.
“I was getting ready to leave town and what not and we were in there (Wayne’s Saw Shop in Amboy) and he (Wayne Sutton) goes ‘I hear you’re moving to Nashville. You’d better stay with my uncle (David Sutton),’ so I ended up living with his uncle for almost two years,” Hadler said.
Hadler experienced some early success but alcohol veered him off course for a time. He credits high school friends and a Vietnam veteran for helping him regain his focus. That veteran, and others that Hadler has spent time with in Branson, spurred he and his wife to launch a campaign in 2010 to build a transitional camp for returning soldiers and veterans aptly named GUMI Camp (Glad You Made It…home). At 258 acres, it’s impressive to be able to say that it’s already half paid for. The cause has captured the hearts of many.
After one of the shows, Iraq veteran Karl Baumer expressed a strong desire to see the camp. That visit prompted Baumer to offer to go on tour with Hadler to tell his story to audiences across the country. A Vietnam veteran, who has also seen the camp, has volunteered to drive another bus. Rick “LD” Wayne, of the Randy Travis band, became involved in the tour after hearing about GUMI Camp and when Hadler invited Bryan White, the cause resonated with him, as well.
It’s the first Vietnam veteran, who desires to remain anonymous, that Hadler goes back to.
“We need to do this just because of what he said,” Hadler explained. “He said that ‘Ever since I got back from Vietnam, this is how I find peace – by helping people with their life’ … The bottom line is that all these guys and girls have sacrificed a lot and they come back and I’ve seen how they live with the pain, the PTSD, all this stuff.”
He counts his wife, Angela, and their four children – Paul, Savannah, Austin and David – among his greatest blessings. Some of them will be performing alongside Hadler at the Amboy concert.
Austin is a singer in his own right and will appear with his dad on the song he inspired. Glad You Made It recounts the story of doctors advising the Hadlers that Austin had a 99 percent chance of being born with Down syndrome. After the initial shock, at four and one half months pregnant, they decided to see it through and love their son 100 percent regardless of the outcome. Austin was born healthy and the song is a brief journey into a parents’ unconditional and unwavering love for his child. Savannah and David will also be making appearances at the show.
To purchase tickets for the June 13 show, call North County Hardware at (360) 247-6700 or Nick’s Bar & Grill at (360) 247-9914. To purchase Tim Hadler’s music, go to www.gohastings.com or www.cdbaby.com.
