Richie McDonald, still in the process of carving a successful solo career after performing 15 years as a member of award-winning country band Lonestar, never has lost sight of his roots.

Though he is one of many former Lubbock residents who left town to chase a musical dream, McDonald never has stopped telling fans and inquisitive media members that he is from Lubbock.

In fact, he said, ‘I’m always very proud when people ask me where I am from.

“It is always an honor to be from the same place as Buddy Holly and Mac Davis and The Maines Brothers Band. I’m happy just to be in that group.”

Nevertheless, he remains astonished at the lineup put together to entertain at Saturday night’s Lubbock Centennial Closing Concert at 7:30 p.m. at the United Spirit Arena.

Performing Saturday are Lubbock Centennial host Mac Davis, Joe Ely, Ralna English, McDonald, Jay Boy Adams, Terry Allen, Donnie Allison, Tom Braxton, Terry Cook, David Gaschen, John Gillas, Virgil Johnson, David Kneupper, Kenny Maines, Jennifer Smith and Andy Wilkinson.

Also performing are Mariachi Amistad, the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra and members of the choral ensembles of Texas Tech: Lubbock Chorale, University Choir, Matador Singers, Women’s Chorale and University Singers.

Music producer Don Caldwell said, “The Lubbock Centennial Opening was more about Lubbock’s culture, its history, people and music by a smaller number of performers.

“This (Saturday) show is a full length concert featuring Lubbock legends and noteworthy West Texas artists.

McDonald is not the only astonished participant.

Concerts during the past year — including the Centennial Opening and a star-studded 4th on Broadway — became fond memories for McDonald.

He said, “Anytime I get a chance to come back home is wonderful. Lubbock showed how it supports its own when we looked out from the 4th on Broadway stage and saw 70,000 people in Mackenzie Park.

“I never saw that sort of turnout back when I was graduating from Coronado High School.”

Growing up in Lubbock, said McDonald, “was a simple life. It really was. It was a great place to raise a family. As a child, it was a great place to live. Lubbock, to me, was not too small; it was not too big. It was just right, whether going to the mall or just riding around town.

“It was a perfect place to grow up. My own kids even ask me when we can move to Lubbock, which is not so easy because of my business.”

Jazz recording artist Tom Braxton agrees.

He said, “Lubbock felt like ‘Mayberry’ to me. I knew everyone on my block and at school. There was a very strong sense of community. I feel that people really cared about me and went out of their way to help me.

“I wouldn’t trade any of my experiences growing up in West Texas.”

A star in the professional opera firmament, singer and actor Terry Cook — born in Plainview, educated at Texas Tech and based in Europe — said that he has trouble viewing himself as a Lubbock Legend.

“I’ll have to spend the rest of my career trying to live up to this,” said Cook.

“I would actually like to eventually move back to Lubbock,” he continued. “But that will take a lot of persuasion on my part to convince my wife, Susanna, and our son, Benjamin, that leaving Berlin (Germany) is a good idea.”

Cook recalls his older brother saving his life by pulling him under their bed when a 1969 tornado struck Plainview.

The same tornado, he e-mailed, “damaged the ‘colored’ school and forced the town to finally totally integrate the school system. … By going to the white schools, I was able to learn to read music, play in the bands and sing in the choirs.”

He shined as a teenager in Lubbock Community Theatre’s “Showboat” in 1975.

“After that, I really wanted to spend my life on stage,” said Cook, who studied under John and Mary Gillas.

He said he earned his first “glowing notices in the papers” via Texas Tech’s “Faust” in 1979. In 1983, he debuted at the Metropolitan Opera

Two years later, in Paris, Cook made his first of many appearances alongside Luciano Pavarotti, still one of his fondest professional memories.

Jennifer Smith left Lubbock and forged a career singing and dancing in more than a dozen Broadway musicals, from “La Cage aux Folles” and “High Society” to “The Producers” and “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

She said that she feels “honored and nervous” about Saturday’s performance.

Her own Lubbock memories include long road trips made as a cheerleader to support Monterey High School sports.

McDonald — presently, a Dove Award nominee who plans to return to West Texas this year for a South Plains College gala, 4th on Broadway and a headlining appearance at the Cattle Baron’s Ball — pointed out how Lubbock has changed.

“The Marsha Sharp Freeway — that’s the biggest change,” he said. “When I came back to Lubbock be inducted into the (West Texas) Walk of Fame, I was driving around and ,,, I’m not saying I got lost, but I sure as heck got turned around.

“Anyway, the city’s growth is the biggest change. Lubbock’s still growing. But no matter how much it has grown, I still see Lubbock as a simple town.”

McDonald stays busy. He has a solo country album on the horizon, and will perform in China as part of a planned cultural arts exchange.

Fifteen years with one band creates lasting friendships, though, and McDonald said, “There are times on stage when I do miss Michael (Britt), Keech (Rainwater) and Dean (Sams).

“Who knows? Maybe we’ll get back together for a Lonestar ‘Hell Freezes Over’ tour?”

McDonald said, “Right now, I just hope I’m not wearing out my Lubbock welcome.”

A modern-day love story between a vampire and a human. High school student Bella (played by Kristen Stewart) moves from Phoenix to a small Washington town, where she meets and falls in love with a mysterious and “beautiful” student named Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).
Edward and his family are unique among vampires in their lifestyle choices, preferring to live among humans while subsisting on the blood of animals tracked in the mountain forest. Problems arise when James (Cam Gigandet) and other undead enemies of the Cullen family arrive, having sniffed out Bella. Catherine Hardwicke directs.