KearneyHub.com | KEARNEY — For the Texas Tenors, switching between live performances and television specials comes easily.
“We love the live shows,” said Marcus Collins, a member of the trio, in an interview while on tour in North Carolina. “They’re never the same twice, which is great. We try to capture as much of that live energy as we can on camera.”
Collins, along with tenors John Hagen and JC Fischer, strive to achieve a certain amount of spontaneity in their shows.
“There are a lot of things we can do during a live show that we can’t do on television,” Collins said. “We’ve been to Kearney before so now we can present some different music for the folks. We look at the set list we had before and we add quite a few new things to it so audiences can hear something different.”
The Texas Tenors will return to Kearney for two concerts at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday as part of the Merryman Performance Season at the Merryman Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $37 to $48.
All members of The Texas Tenors look to aspects of their daily lives to help them understand the group’s success.
“We all have very strong faith,” Collins said. “First and foremost, we owe that to Him. Secondly, we owe our success to our work ethic. No one handed us our career. We had to create it and make it what it is.”
Formed in 2009, the group found success on “America’s Got Talent” where they finished in the top four of the competition.
“’America’s Got Talent’ was a huge platform for us,” Collins said. “We took that exposure and turned it into a career. Not everyone from that show does that. We feel very blessed that we’ve been able to do that.”
With his busy schedule, Collins spends most of this free time in the studio. Living in Los Angeles, he stays behind after the other members of the group come to record. He also spends time editing The Texas Tenors’ latest PBS special, “Rise,” scheduled for release in August.
Collins listens to Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, Greenday and a variety of other artists.
As for recreational activities, the tenor sounds like just about anyone else.
“I spend time at home with my dogs in the backyard,” he said. “I like being outside. I have three bulldogs and I like to spend time with them. I sometimes binge-watch TV shows like ‘Mad Men.’ I also work out as much as I can.”
Collins began singing at the age of 4, learning how to perform by listening to country music stars before he studied music in college. His screen acting career includes more than 100 episodes of network television shows as well as 25 films.
As part of the Merryman’s 10th anniversary season highlighting some of the best performances on the venue’s stage, The Texas Tenors feel honored to return.
“We’re excited to come back,” Collins said. “We feel so grateful that they want to have us back. It means a lot to us when we come back. I think we were just there a year ago, so it means a lot to us. We want to try to do a fun and entertaining show and give the audiences what they want to hear.”
Collins promises to perform “God Bless the USA” as well as “My Way.”
“We’ll do some other songs, too,” he said. “We’ll give them a lot of new things as well.”
