Ray Price to perform at Whatley Center on April 14

Due to the overwhelming success of last year's sold-out show, The Northeast Texas Community College Foundation is pleased to announce that†it will again host country music legend Ray Price in concert at the Whatley Center†for the Performing Arts on Saturday, April 14.

The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Premium seats are $100 and regular reserved seats are $50. Reservations are highly recommended as the show is expected to†sell out. Please call 903-434-8181 to order your seats today. All proceeds from the event will benefit The Campaign for the Whatley, a community effort to revitalize the Whatley Center.

?Last year's concert was a huge success and everyone was asking when we would have Ray Price back. We are thrilled to be able to host him again this year as a fundraiser for the Campaign for the Whatley,? Dr. Jonathan McCullough, NTCC Vice†President for Advancement, said.

Price, who resides near Mount Pleasant, began his singing career after he†left the U.S. Marines in the late 1940s. He moved to Nashville in the early†1950s, where he became friends with Hank Williams. After Williams? death,

Price managed his band the Drifting Cowboys and went on to have his first†successful song with ?Release Me? in 1954.

He formed his band, the Cherokee Cowboys, in 1953. Its members include†names like Roger Miller, Willie Nelson, Darrell McCall, Johnny Paycheck and†Johnny Bush. Miller went on to write several songs for Price.

Price?s more well-known songs include Crazy Arms, Heartaches by the Number,†City Lights, For the Good Times, Night Life and numerous others.

Though he is 86 years old, Price continues to record music and tour. He has†received numerous awards from the Academy of Country Music, the Country†Music Association and Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Country Music

Hall of Fame in 1996.

For more information†about the Ray Price Concert, or to learn more about The Campaign for the Whatley, please visit†www.ntcc.edu/whatley or call the box office at 903-434-8181.