PEORIA MAGAZINE June 2023

K urt Van Meter got head-butted by a bull in a rodeo, worked as a cop, shot a guy, got fired for insubordination, married and divorced twice, loves the USA, his kids and Jesus, cusses more than a little bit, drives a truck and once picked a fight with a rival on his one and only official play in five years as a college football walk-on. And that’s what you get in just the first 30 minutes talking to him. Van Meter is a country song come to life, a story-telling machine with a guitar and a band that hits the stage ready to party. He’s also a get-back up-again overcomer with big dreams and maybe bigger audacity. The first time Van Meter met Garth Brooks, he told the music megastar: “My goal is to open for you.” That gig hasn’t happened yet, but the game ain’t over. Kurt Van Meter and the Band have shared stages with country music superstars Blake Shelton, Eric Church and Montgomery Gentry. They’ve played private shows for Hollywood A-listers and former President Donald Trump. And they’ve become almost joined at the hip with the actor Cole Hauser, who plays the consummate kick-ass ranch foreman Rip in the blockbuster television series Yellowstone . Which brings us to Peoria hosting the band and Hauser in late June. Hauser is the celebrity attraction at a June 23 fundraiser for Honor Flight, OSF HealthCare Children’s Hospital of Illinois and WTVP. The next night, Van Meter and his band will perform a concert for the State & Water series at WTVP studios. How Hauser, the actor, and the band hooked up is a classic Van Meter story. The band was playing in Jackson, Wy oming, at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, where concert promoter Rob Jennings happened to be hanging out. Jennings loved their sound and hired the band to play his wedding last summer. A MATCH MADE IN COWBOY HEAVEN

PLAYING IN PEORIA

‘OUTLAW COUNTRY’ COMES TO

RIVER CITY Get ready, Peoria, as country rocker Kurt Van Meter and Yellowstone star Cole Hauser will be in town for a concert and fundraiser

BY KIRK WESSLER

66 JUNE 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE