Texas musician Jason “Sundance” Head got a taste of the Deep South last week — jamming with a Tylertown band, hunting at a quail preserve and touring Vicksburg Military Park.
Sundance, of Houston, was a semi-finalist on “American Idol” in 2006 and a winner on “The Voice” in 2016 as part of Team Blake Shelton.
Last week Sundance visited Zack Rushing’s Deep South Quail Hunts, 230 Z.C. Rushing Road, Tylertown.
Rushing had hunted doves at a friend’s place at Crowell, Texas, and the friend returned along with Sundance and others to hunt quail here.
“We hunt with the guys that came with Sundance,” Rushing said. “They’re friends in Texas that we hunt with. They mentioned this last year when we were there hunting that Sundance was a friend of theirs and they would like to bring him over.”
Rushing had already heard Sundance perform on “The Voice” in 2016 when his Texas buddies told him about it and asked for his vote. Sundance has a powerful country vocal style with a touch of soul.
“To me he can definitely get down and get it,” Rushing said.
For his visit here, Sundance said he’d like to find somebody he could “pick and grin” with.
Rushing hooked him up with Keith “Bushhog” Thomas and the Hogwood Band of Tylertown.
“He’s fantastic,” Rushing said of Sundance. “Just a heckuva nice guy. He just really was appreciative of everything we did for him and enjoyed the people, enjoyed being in the country.”
The local guys were impressed, too. “Sundance is an extremely talented musician and the band really enjoyed jamming with him,” Rushing said.
Of course, Sundance got to do some serious hunting at Rushing’s quail preserve as well.
“They hunted three days. Then Saturday was a rain-out, so my son, Wade Rushing, took them to Vicksburg to tour the Civil War battlefield,” Rushing said.
Sundance has written and recorded with the likes of ZZ Top and has had three No. 1 songs on the Texas music charts.
His album “Stained Glass and Neon” was produced by songwriter and fellow performer Dean Dillon.
After “The Voice,”Sundance toured with Blake Shelton in 2017 and opened shows for Zac Brown Band.
Sundance learned music from his father, Roy Head, who had a hit in the 1960s with “Treat Her Right.” He was also heavily influenced by his late older brother’s record collection that included artists as diverse as James Brown, Patsy Cline, George Jones, Marvin Gaye and Queen.
in addition to playing a his own gigs.“The first time I heard Dance, I thought, ‘Where has this guy been hiding?’ ” Dillon said on Sundance’s website.
“I had talked with my wife about possibly retiring and I was going to start winding down, and then he comes along, and well, that goes out the window.
“He’s a great person, he’s very jovial. He likes to hunt, fish and sing country music, or any kind of music for that matter. It’s a privilege to know him and work with him.”
Sundance learned music from his father, Roy Head, who had a hit in the 1960s with “Treat Her Right.” As a boy, he was also heavily influenced by his late older brother’s record collection which was steeped with artists like James Brown, Patsy Cline, George Jones, Marvin Gaye and Queen.
In 2006, Sundance traveled to Memphis to try out for “American Idol,” where he placed in the Top 13.
Later he tried out for “The Voice” and won the competition. He found guidance from his team captain, country music star Blake Shelton, and went on tour with him in 2017.
Sundance also opened shows for the Zac Brown Band in addition to playing a his own gigs.
