Rock band Judd Hoos is always ready to put on a show for its Mitchell fans.
The band will do just that with a free show at 7 p.m. today on the Freedom Stage, located on Main Street outside of the Corn Palace, for the second day of the Corn Palace Festival.
Mitchell has always been a market for Judd Hoos, according to drummer Shane Funk.
"We started playing clubs and we kind of hit a chord from that," Funk said. "Mitchell has always been supportive for live music. We always try to play there a couple of times a year."
Funk said the band has played many times over the years in Mitchell, and in surrounding areas at street dances.
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For Thursday's all-age encompassing performance, Funk said fans can expect everything from class hard rock to pop, new country and "everything in between."
"They can expect a lot of variety and we try to hit people from all angles," Funk said. "We're a high energy, local band and we try to mix genres and do a little bit of everything... We try to keep people guessing."
The Black Hills-based band includes Funk, Devin Bills, Chris Hornick, Andy Young and Tyler Bills, and all of whom are from the Midwest.
Tonight's free concert is a first for the Corn Palace Festival. According to Scott Schmidt, director of the Corn Palace, the free show was a way to celebrate the festival, Corn Palace Week, the harvest and the people of Mitchell.
"It was something we discussed and we felt that it was going to be a good way to give back to the community," Schmidt said.
Schmidt said they wanted a band that wouldn't cost "an arm and a leg," but was still notable and attractive to the Mitchell audiences. Their solution was Judd Hoos.
The five-man rock band has seen a lot of success this year, Funk said.
"Beyond just being that band that can play a lot of cover material, our music that we are writing are starting to take off," Funk said.
For the past year, the band has been supporting their single "Billboard," and a more recently released single titled "Breathe In," is also proving to be very successful, charting No. 23 on the iTunes Rock Charts.
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With their performance in Mitchell this week, Funk said the band is excited for the remainder of their summer tour. In August, the band will play 21 of 31 days, keeping themselves "really busy," Funk said.
Prior to Mitchell, the band played for 10 nights during the 76th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Following that, they went to play at Summer Nights in Rapid City, Riverboat Days in Yankton, Party in the Pasture in Clark, and then back to Rapid City for the Central States Fair before arriving in Mitchell for the Corn Palace Festival.
And it doesn't end there. On Friday, Judd Hoos will be driving to Brookings for a gig, and then north Saturday for Stutsapalooza in Jamestown, N.D.
"We're keeping really busy and summer is always that way. We slow down a little bit in winter," Funk said. "... We look forward to capping off our summer tour."
