“Automatically … automatically!” said Chapman Friday night after performing in downtown Shelbyville, his hometown. “They wanted to do a show and do some stuff for the community and I had promised my hometown I would be here and play for them. I am excited to be here. It was fun. I think it was a good turnout and I hope everybody had a good time.”
Chapman entertained an ever-growing crowd on the southwest pavilion of downtown Friday under nearly perfect weather conditions. Meanwhile, the Golden Bear Gridiron Club took over the northwest pavilion where members of the current Golden Bears and future Golden Bears interacted in a football obstacle course.
Shelbyville cheerleaders performed face-painting duties and a dunk tank was set up offering anyone a chance to “Dunk a Golden Bear.”
“This is awesome. It’s great for Shelbyville period,” said first-year Shelbyville football head coach Scott Fitzgerald. “The community is out here and getting together. I think that is what they envisioned by putting this all downtown and putting the work and the money and the time into it. This is great to see all these people out here enjoying this weather.”
As Shelbyville football continues its rebuild, Fitzgerald knows it takes more than just the coaching staff to bring success to the program.
“They have done the bulk of the work,” said Fitzgerald of the Golden Bear Gridiron Club. “We’ve had a lot of work to do on the field. I really appreciate everything they are doing for us. There are other things that are happening behind the scenes that a lot of people don’t see that the kids benefit from, and we benefit from as coaches too. I really, really appreciate all the work they are putting in.”
Fitzgerald and the coaching staff will have the 2023 version of the Golden Bears on the field later this week for a preseason jamboree at Madison High School that also will include the football program from Salem High School, where former Shelbyville head coach Brian Glesing is now the head coach.
“You see all these little kids out here running around just enjoying themselves. That is what this is all about,” said Fitzgerald. “We talk all the time about enjoying the journey and this is part of the journey. It’s not always about wins and losses. It’s getting to know people and having fun together.”
Chapman recently released an acoustic album called “Maple Limb” and he featured several songs during Friday’s nearly 90-minute set.
“I have slowed down a little bit for the past year and I did that because I was doing more writing,” said Chapman. “So I spent more time writing and less time out on the road. I really wanted to focus on that acoustic album and get it out. Now that the album is out, we are back to doing some full production songs and we will get back out on the road and traveling a little more.”
Chapman is scheduled to perform at the Buck Creek Winery in Pleasant View, Indiana, on Aug. 19. That concert will be a second opportunity for friends and family to see him perform locally.
“It’s everything. I love this town. I am from here,” said Chapman of performing closer to home. “To see so many people I know … I will go travel the country and see people that I have no idea who they are, so to be here and have so many people around me, family and friends that I haven’t seen in a long time is awesome.”
Friday’s concert was the first for Chapman in the newly-renovated downtown Shelbyville Public Square.
“It’s really cool. It has changed so much,” he said. “It wasn’t even close to like this. They have done so much work down here. The venue is amazing. It’s perfect for exactly what we just did.”
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