AUSTRALIAN entertainer Glenn Starr grew up on the Border on a staple diet of rock 'n' roll music.
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Albury born-and-bred, Starr said his dad listened to all of the 1950s and 1960s musicians on high rotation.
"I grew up in Lavington in the 1980s, where we'd play at the creek until the street lights went out," he said.
"But music was also a big part of my life and I listened to all of the songs dad liked; he was a massive Gene Pitney fan.
"When I was 14 I played in a school band at Murray High and we started doing '50s and '60s songs; everyone else was playing Nirvana and Metallica but we wanted to do something different!"
That point of difference had served Starr well as he now toured with Hit Parade, a tribute to the music of that era.
He developed the concept for his show in 2018 while performing on board the Holland America, an American-British owned cruise liner.
Hit Parade is an interactive show that covers the hits made famous by stars of the '50s and '60s including Gene Pitney, Bobby Vee, Johnny O'Keefe, The Bee Gees and Roy Orbison.
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Having performed Hit Parade on cruises for the past five years on and off, Starr will bring the show to The Cube Wodonga next month.
"The show has evolved as I've been performing it on the cruises," Starr said.
"People always say how much they enjoy the show and how it takes them back to their youth.
"I guess Dad had good taste in music because the people in the audience like it."
As the frontman for popular corporate bands in Melbourne, Chunky Jam and Groove Star, Griffith-based Starr already had a following.
He was also the producer and performer in the Michael Buble Songbook.
"Shows are back in leaps and bounds," he said.
"I finished up my radio gig at Griffith earlier this year to focus on my music full-time.
"One of the things the pandemic allowed me to do was reassess my goals as an artist.
"In this industry you have to be prepared to take risks and dust yourself off when things don't work out."
THE LOWDOWN
WHAT: Glenn Starr Hit Parade, The Cube Wodonga
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