Arts & Entertainment
A Southern Illinois Resident and His Band Have Been Providing the Soundtrack to the RNC
The Fiserv Forum doesn’t get quiet in between speeches from former President Donald Trump’s relatives, former rivals and the “everyday Americans” chosen to promote his reelection campaign.
For the entirety of the Republican National Convention, a five-piece band has filled the arena with musical interludes, prompting delegates to sway and sing to “What I Like About You” by The Romantics and The Beatles’ “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.”
They are among the popular songs covered by the band Sixwire.
The band is based in Nashville, but its keyboardist, Steve Hornbeak, is from southern Illinois.
“I moved away when I was 20 years old, pursuing the music dream,” Hornbeak said, but “decided to move back to where I grew up, and settled in Anna.”
The pursuit paid off. Hornbeak said he met Lee Greenwood in the late 1980s, and his career hasn’t stopped.
Hornbeak played with Greenwood for a while. His bandmates have also all played with major acts before moving to do the “corporate work” that’s led them to play at major events.
Those events include the last six Super Bowls, the Daytona 500 and the NFL Draft. They also served as the house band for Connie Britton’s character on the ABC show “Nashville.”
This is the band’s first time playing a major political convention, and though he’s happy to talk about the music, Hornbeak said he doesn’t want to talk about politics.
The band became a topic of conversation when a teleprompter malfunction on Monday required the group to fill the time with a 10-minute concert, which was played live on TV networks.
“It’s been a little surreal that we’ve gotten so much publicity out of it,” Hornbeak said.
They’re on call nonstop from when the convention begins around 5 p.m. until it ends after 10 p.m.
Playing the RNC requires taking the temperature of the convention’s theme, speeches and mood. Their job is to keep that momentum going by playing a song that roughly matches the time convention planners need to fill.
Hornbeak said the musicians have earpieces in, and someone from the convention whispers when the band needs to start playing and for how long. It’s up to Sixwire’s lead signer to pull an appropriate song from their massive setlist.
Other songs are clearly planned for drama, like when Sixwire played alongside the musician that gave Hornbeak his big break: Greenwood.
Greenwood’s patriotic classic “God Bless the USA” has become an anthem for Trump devotees.
It’s the song that Trump walked out to on Monday to uproarious applause.
Hornbeak said he saw clips on TV of Trump walking out Monday as his band accompanied Greenwood.
“It’s kind of a thrill for me because I hear in the background, I hear me playing piano,” he said. “I’m like, ‘that’s my moment in history.’”
Sixwire has more gigs lined up for after the RNC. But when he’s off the road, he’ll be returning to his home of Anna, Illinois.
He prefers living in the town with a population 4,303 to Nashville.
In Anna, his wife serves on the city council and they own Kiki’s Coffehouse, where Sixwire and other bands play.
“We are real involved in the community, and our downtown’s growing and it feels like when we do things, it makes a difference in the community and in people’s lives,” Hornbeak said.
WTTW News talked to Hornbeak on Wednesday, and concluded the interview in an untraditional fashion — by singing to him.
Reporters may not have the musical talent of Hornbeak’s long-honed skills, but it was for good reason.
He turned 61 on Wednesday, and the song was “Happy Birthday.”
Contact Amanda Vinicky: @AmandaVinicky | [email protected]
