Singer Lynn Reese is shown performing with the Columbus-based band Dirty Laundry, which will play at the Hope Cruise In on Friday.
HOPE — Lead singer Lynn Reese likes to rock, for sure. But she passionately believes that patriotism rocks as well as any pop or related tunes.
So she and the local members of the Columbus-based Dirty Laundry band fittingly will include the National Anthem near the beginning of the two-hour, 25-song setlist for the next free monthly Cruise-In to Hope from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday on the historic Hope Town Square on Main Street.
“I want to honor our troops and simply recognize that we have liberty and freedom,” Reese said.
With that flag-waving feeling in mind, the group also will perform Martina McBride’s “Independence Day” and Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.” Also in the varied mix are Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kid Rock, Fleetwood Mac, Big and Rich, Johnny Cash, and AC/DC.
“I’m really an AC/DC girl,” she said. “Everyone who comes to our shows knows.”
Her first 8-track cassette was the band’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.”
Come the weekend, Deron White, the other founding member of Dirty Laundry, will be on drums, John Tasca will play guitar, and Jody Brown will sit in on bass.
“We’re pretty diverse,” she said of each of their musical tastes and styles.
Reese has been singing in bands for more than a decade after karaoke popularity. She will DJ the first hour of the event before the band cranks it up at 6 p.m.
The band played the July 4 cruise-in weekend last year and also the year before. Plus, the group performed the Total Eclipse of the Hope event in April.
Last month’s Cruise-In to Hope was among the more popular ones, with 135 motorcycles, cars or trucks along the square. This time, those bringing a vehicle will each donate $10, with funds benefiting “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.”
Reese generally makes certain these types of gigs feature audience interaction, particularly for the youngsters. Consequently, she brings along her maracas and even her cowbell for the kids to be part of the band.
And yes, she eventually hears cries from the crowd for “more cowbell,” straight from an old Will Farrell “Saturday Night Live” comedy sketch referencing Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper”.
“They also come up and dance,” she said.
She’s seen 80-year-olds “get up and cut a rug,” as she put it. “And I’ll get out there in the crowd and get them into it.”
Reese purposely never calls herself a musician. She said that’s inaccurate.
“I’m actually a mimicker,” she said. “I can sound like Madonna or even Robert Plant.”
