Sam King '94 of Push Down & Turn Preps for New Year's Eve Performance

December 29, 2017

Sam King, a 1994 graduate of DePauw University, "will perform Sunday night at West Side Pub & Grub in Shelbyville as part of its New Year’s Eve celebration. This is the second year in a row he is the feature act for the final show of the year," reports Indiana's Shelbyville News.

Jeff Brown writes, "Originally from northern Indiana, he labels himself a farm kid, King went to DePauw University in Greencastle, where he met his future bandmates for Push Down & Turn, which had a long, successful run in the 1990s and early 2000s performing around central Indiana. The band members went their separate ways in 2003 and King started building a solo career singing acoustically ... King is currently writing songs and recording at home. Some of his new songs will be part of the New Year’s Eve celebration as well as his deft ability to perform most any song acoustically."

Push Down & Turn also included DePauw graduates Jason Barth '93, Jason Brown '95, Tay Bourquein '93 and Matt DeVore '94. The band was founded when all were students in Greencastle in 1992 and was voted "Best Local Rock Band" by readers of NUVO, a weekly local newspaper in Indianapolis, several times in the early 2000s.

"We did a reunion show about a year-and-a-half ago at the Vogue [in Indianapolis] and it sold out," King tells the newspaper, and says the band still performs benefit concerts. "We can still get together once a year and have fun for one night."

Brown adds, "Being a solo act is King’s focus right now, though. And at 8 p.m. Sunday, King takes center stage at West Side to help close out 2017 and welcome in 2018."