REPRINTED FROM: The Republic | azcentral.com

Four years down the road from taking viewers of “America’s Got Talent” by surprise with their unlikely blend of cowboy hats and operatic vocals, the Texas Tenors remain the highest-ranking vocal group in that show’s history.

Here’s why their concert Monday at Grand Canyon University is worth checking out.

1. It’s still a good gimmick — down-home operatic cowboys blending country, gospel, classical and Broadway with humor and actual vocal chops. And how many acts can claim to take you “from Alabama to Puccini?”

2. The Tenors — John Hagen, Marcus Collins and JC Fisher — have done more than 450 concerts in 20 countries since “America’s Got Talent,” so they’ve only gotten better and more confident onstage. Fischer told The Republic, “We don’t just stand up there and do a concert. We have video elements. We have audience participation and we create an ebb and flow — we go up and down. People leave the show feeling like we are three genuine guys who care about the music we’re performing.”

3. They’re taping a PBS special, “You Should Dream,” at this concert, for which they’ll be accompanied by the Phoenix Symphony. Collins told The Republic, “We will be performing with the Phoenix Symphony and the New Life singers, the choir at Grand Canyon University. We will do a variety of songs that we’re performing on tour, including ‘Mountain Music,’ ‘Danny Boy,’ ‘The Climb’ by Miley Cyrus, Italian arias and some original music. But we’ll arrange it and present it in a way that’s unique for PBS.”

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-4495. Twitter.com/EdMasley