Littletown

Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Garth Brooks, Joe Nichols, ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd are only a few of the artists who will be served up by Littletown, a local band playing the Bermuda Club within the River Palms on Super Bowl weekend, Feb 1-3.
Formed in 2006, Littletown is made up of Kingman residents Matthew Middleton (Lead Vocals, rhythm guitar); Charlie Covault (vocals , drums); Ken McLaughlin (vocals, Lead guitar); and Bullhead City resident Ross Chavez (vocals, bass). The live band came together thanks to the recorded world of karaoke.
"I was doing karaoke in Kingman and Charlie's brother, John, used to come in and sing." Middleton explained. "One day he asked if I played any instruments I said of 'of course.' They asked me to come over and jam with them sometime. I blew them off at first but when I finally did go over, I was blown away. John and Charlie were awesome.
Inspired by the level of musicianship, Middleton set out to find a few more members to create a band. McLaughlin was a regular at the Radio Shack where Middleton worked his day job. The two had discussed music on more than one occasion, so it was an easy slide to get the guitar player on board.
The last piece to the Littletown puzzle was Chavez, who fit in perfectly.
"The first gig we ever played was at the Nashville Grill in Kingman, AZ," Middleton remembered. "We played the Bowling Alley in Kingman and at the Kingman Triathlon. Eventually we started playing at the Dam Bar Steak House in Kingman every other weekend."
Their musical ability, harmonies and varied set list soon earned them a following and connections outside of Kingman. Eventually, this lead to an "audition" at the River Palms and their first booking last weekend for the Score event.
They return to River Palms this weekend, helping create a party mood for Super Bowl weekend.
So what do they play?
While they can stretch their repertoire to meet a variety of tastes, their music is centered around classic country, modern country and southern rock.
"Merle Haggard is my favorite," Middleton said. " Charlie's is Willie; Ken's is Johnny Cash and Ross he likes a lot of different artists. People are going to hear a variety of music. We've recently added some new songs to our set list so people will hear country music that is just now getting played on the radio. I'm the lead singer but all five of us sing. That gives the show even more variety of sound."
That sound is what Middleton thinks is their biggest strength.
While they are a fairly new band, individually they have decades of experience under their belts.
Charlie has been playing drums since he was four years old. The Victorville, CA native spent his childhood drawn to music and spent a good deal of his time chained to his drums.
During high school Covault moved to South Carolina where he played in the high school band and had the opportunity to play for the President of the United States.
McLaughlin started early as well. The Arizona native picked up the guitar during middle school and hasn't put it down since. As a member of a musical family, McLaughlin has always had an outlet for his art, including several years with popular Northern Arizona band, Mogollon. McLaughlin took a break from music to become an air rescue pilot for the state, but with the forming of Littletown picked up the guitar once more.
Chavez, a transplant from Napa Valley, CA, was originally drawn to drums. After playing for many years, he dscided to change tacks and picked up the bass. Good for him; Good for Littletown.
Middleton, originally from Dallas, TX, has been p[laying and singing since he was a kid. After joining the Army he won a place in the "Soldier Show" but superiors thought he needed a little more training as a soldier before being set loose as a musician. He was a regular around the Dallas Opre Circuit and even performed with LeAnn Rimes before she made it big. Because he is the songwriter of the group, Littletown has several original numbers that they play. If you ask for a sample, The original song most requested is "High Time." Ask for it and they are sure to play it. In fact ask for most anything. They gladly take requests. - Laughlin, Nevada Entertainer Jan 30th - Feb 5 2008