Rhes Reeves to perform at Graystone Ranch
Benefit concert
By Diana Royal True Citizen Staff Writer

He always knew he wanted to be a musician.

By the time Rhesa Hubert Reeves IV was 5 years old, he played a mean set of pots and pans on his mama's kitchen floor. Now, "Rhes" Reeves reflects on a career that's spanned nearly two decades, and he's not planning on slowing down.

"Music is just magic," Rhes says, brushing his long, brown curls off the shoulder of his Hawaiian print shirt. "To me, it's the equivalent to being able to fly. There's nothing else like it."

Just like so many Southern musicians, Rhes was raised in the church choir. His mother taught him "Heart and Soul" on the piano, and he got at least one drum set for Christmas every year from ages 5-9. Once his hands were big enough to handle a guitar, he never put it down.

Watching his dad jam out to bluegrass and beach music as a kid certainly influenced the rocker, who remembers scooting around on the elder Reeves' amplifier.

"A Fender Twin with wheels," he chuckles. "Then one day I figured out you could plug it in and really play."

And Elvis - "He did it for me," Rhes says. "I knew I wasn't gonna be tan or play football … but the girls seemed to like Elvis."

As Rhes got older, his selftaught skills earned him paying gigs in Millen and surrounding areas. The first job came at 13 - and that $30 felt like a million to the teen who went from playing at the town's annual Fair-on-the- Square to learning riffs from Paul Gilbert at the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood.

He honed his talents with school buddies in their band "Blitz" and found a home in the nightlife of Augusta soon after.

"There was a string of places that allowed me to build my experience," says the self-proclaimed "rock guitarist who sings country music."

Most importantly, Rhes has always loved performing. "I get to be part of something special," he says. "I see the great parts of a person's life - their birthdays, weddings … I'm not a doctor. I don't have to save anybody's life. I get to sing … and I don't know why I'm so lucky."

"I think I've held my career where it's at right now," Rhes admits when asked why he hasn't followed the dream of recording his own album. "The most important thing to me was not to be famous but to be a good dad."

But now that his children are older, he'd like to see where his music may take him.

"If I'm not too old," he laughs.

But Rhes says he doesn't feel old, even though he and his wife, Angie, just became first-time grandparents.

"I still think I'm eighteen. Music makes you stay young," he says. "As long as I keep doing it, even if I don't get anywhere else, I'll still be a good dad and I'll still be playing somewhere."

COUNTRY BEACH BLAST

The Rhes Reeves Band will perform at Graystone Ranch Wildlife Education Center on Sunday, Aug. 24. The concert will benefit the ranch's animal rescue efforts.

Graystone Ranch is located at 1017 McManus Road in Hephzibah and can be reached at 706-554-9082.

Rhes, Tim Woods and the Savannah River Boys can been seen Thursday-Saturday nights at the Silver Bullet in Augusta.