Fayette County Opry Band to Headine Monthly Show

The Fayette County Country Music Club will host a special opry show featuring the great Opry Band: Mark Lehmann, John Dujka, Craig Schmidt, Jimmy Rohde, Duane Wavra and Chip Wied on Monday, June 17 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in La Grange. The show starts at 7 p.m. and the doors will open at 5:30 p.m. Admission is $8.

Mark Lehmann has been with the Opry since it started. He started playing in local dance bands in 1975 at the age of 15. He did a fifteen year stint in theAustin Music Scene but came back to La Grange and Fayette County about 14 year ago. He believes that the local musicians are some of the best in the business and feels blessed to be on the same stage with them.

Craig Schmidt started playing bass guitar at the age of 13 with a family country dance band. At the age of 19 he received a double neck steel guitar, for a Father’s Day gift. He began playing the steel guitar in local dance bands at the age of 21. In 1986 Craig retired from playing for 10 years to focus on his rice farming and ranching operation. In 1997 he started playing for dances again. Shortly afterwards he was asked to play at some Opry shows. He has been playing at the Fayette County Country Music Opry for about nine years.

Duane Wavra grew up in Columbus with a family of musicians. His father and two brothers played in dance bands. His earliest memories were of going along to the dances and wishing he could get up on stage and play. When he was 11 years old he started playing bass in his brother’s band. Eventually he was playing trombone, trumpet, sax and clarinet. In high school Bob Wills and Ray Price got him into country music. Then he got some Johnny Bush recordings, and that was it. That driving 4/4 shuffle was where it was at, and he became a Bush fanatic. In 1991 a dream came true when he was asked to join Johnny Bush and the Bandoleros. He worked with Bush for nine years and recorded with him. He also worked with the great bass players Bob Moore and Junior Huskey who were a big influence on him as well as Ray Price, Darrell McCall, Tony Booth and Curtis Potter. He now enjoys playing with the Rocky King Band.

John Dujka has been a proud member of the Fayette County Country Music Show since 2012. He is a versatile multi-instrumental musician and vocalist who is at home performing country/pop styles, classical repertoire, as well as Czech and German folk music. In addition to the La Grange show, John is a founding member of the Brenham Bluebonnet Opry which started in 1997. John and his brother Mark have also been performing as “The Dujka Brothers” since 1986, and are known nationally for their recordings of Czech folk music. John also is a host of “Saturday Morning Dance Time” radio show on El Campo’s KULP 1390 AM/106.7 FM from 10 a.m. to noon on each Saturday since 2003.

Jimmy Rohde lives in Fayetteville and started playing the drums over 40 years ago. He has played with multiple bands over the past 40 years. He now has his own band called “Bandits” and they play country, rock, Texas music and old country. The members of the band are Aaron Gross, Bryan Gersch and himself.

Chip Wied is nominated for Texas Sound Engineer of 2024 and the owner of a sound company serving the Central Texas Area. Chip has extensive experience in running sound and a background as a member multiple bands through out the years. He has worked with some of the biggest names in Texas Country Music including, Steve Wariner, The Bellamy Brothers, Bill Anderson, John Anderson, and many more. He also serves at events in and beyond Fayette County. He has been doing the sound for the Fayette County Opry since its beginning, and also does the sound for the Washington County Opry, Best Little Cowboy Gathering in Texas, The Kenney Store, Holman Valley Dancehall, and fairs and festivals within Central Texas are some of the places where you can find him, and good music, throughout the year.

Be sure to be with us on Monday, June 17 for a toe tappin good time.