Beutz to join Hawkey on FireFest stage

by Dennis Dalman

editor@thenewsleaders.com

Angela Beutz, raised in St. Joseph, will take the stage as keyboard back-up for regional country-music solo singer Chris Hawkey, who will kick off FireFest in Cold Spring starting at 5 p.m. Saturday, July 29.

Beutz, a special-education middle-school teacher in Becker, is one of the three daughters of St. Joseph Mayor Rick Schultz and his wife, Tammy.

The 10th annual Fire Fest at the Cold Spring Brewery grounds will begin with an hour’s performance by Hawkey and Beutz, followed by music far into the evening with country performers Kip Moore, Big & Rich, Canaan Smith and Colt Ford.

The brewery is located at 219 Red River Ave. N. For tickets and more information about the concert, google FireFest, Cold Spring.

Beutz loved music and singing ever since she was a little girl, growing up just a stone’s throw from the old Kennedy Elementary School with her younger sisters, Jessica and Briana.

“I would carry around a tape cassette with a microphone, and I’d sing until my voice couldn’t sing anymore,” she recalled.

She’s a bit nervous about her FireFest keyboard playing because she said she feels keyboard is not her natural instrument.

“I’m never nervous singing, but playing piano can be really nerve-wracking,” she said. “But I’m getting better all the time, so it should be OK.”

As a girl, Beutz took piano lessons from a neighbor, then from a student at the College of St. Benedict.

Three years ago, she joined the band Outside Recess and didn’t even own a keyboard, so she had to buy two of them and then spent many intensive hours learning to play the keyboard parts of songs. Outside Recess is a band comprised of teachers – Beutz and another Becker teacher, a teacher from Elk River and two from Maple Lake. They play mainly 1980s rock music: Journey, Def Leppard, Poison, Motley Crue, REO and sometimes lighter pop such as Michael Jackson and Billy Joel songs.

Beutz first met Chris Hawkey last year after Outside Recess opened for a show at Pebble Creek Golf Course in Becker. One day, Hawkey invited her to sing one of his original songs with him. He was impressed by her talent.

Her upcoming gig with Hawkey was planned when she talked with him after a show at Lakes Jam in Brainerd. He mentioned to her he’d need a fill-in keyboardist for an upcoming concert in Cold Spring, FireFest. He asked if she’d be willing to fill in. She said yes. In Minneapolis, the two of them did one practice session. Back home, she spent many hours learning the songs.

“This is just a fill-in job because I happened to meet Chris at the right place at the right time,” she said. “My music stuff is just for fun, just a part of my life.”

Beutz and her husband, Josh, live in Foley with their two daughters – Ryland, 12, and Hayden, 5. Josh, who was in the construction business for years, just landed a new job in the Sanitation Department for the City of St. Cloud.

Beutz and her family love to return to her childhood home in St. Joseph. She and her daughters love to romp with the many foster dogs her parents care for – for an organization named “No Dog Left Behind.”

Chris Hawkey

Born and raised in Union City, a small town on the border of Ohio and Indiana, Chris Hawkey attended broadcasting school and later moved to Minnesota where he scored success more than 15 years ago as a radio star – the Powertrip Morning Show on KFAN-Radio, Twin Cities. He also contributes to the Minnesota Vikings Entertainment Network.

For years he would play part-time with a band called Rocket Club.

In 2014, he launched a solo career. One of his songs, “My Kinda Crazy” became a regional hit. He released a country CD called Underneath and most recently one called Shine that contains mostly self-penned songs and a hit called “Good Liar,” written by country-music legend Brett James.

Hawkey has a very busy touring schedule as his popularity increases.