Feb. 3, 1959, will always be known as “the day the music died” in a field outside of Clear Lake due in large part to Don McLean’s subsequent megahit “American Pie,” but listeners around the world continue to find joy and inspiration in the sweet sounds of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson and other singers of the early rock n’ roll era well over 60 years later.

Few have done more to carry on that legacy than The Baldy Holly Band, a group of Brits from the northeastern city of Newcastle upon Tyne fronted by hairless Buddy Holly megafan Jamie Bell, and Buddy’s niece Sherry Holley. On Friday evening, they came together formally for the first time stateside — they had played together in the United Kingdom before — and performed a slew of classics for a delighted audience at the Marshalltown Performing Arts Center as part of the “Live After Five” concert series after the show was moved inside from its original outdoor location on 13th Street because of the extreme heat.

Why Marshalltown? Local businessman and fellow Holly enthusiast Steve Ames traveled to the late singer’s hometown of Lubbock, Texas, for an 85th birthday celebration last September, connected with Sherry and the Baldy Holly Band and helped to arrange the gig, hosting a private party at his residence Thursday night before the free public show on Friday. Bell and Sherry Holley worked up some songs in Lubbock, but Friday marked the first time she had played with the full band in the U.S. Valens’ sister Connie was also scheduled to appear but was forced to cancel at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances.

“I’m excited to be here. I’ve been looking forward to it for months,” Sherry said.

Through his trips across the pond, Bell is still awestruck that he’s had the chance to meet both of Holly’s late brothers, one of whom passed away just last year at the age of 96, and they expressed their sincere appreciation of the fact that the singer still enjoys such a rabid following in the UK.

“For me, with Buddy Holly being my hero, it was amazing because I was fortunate enough to meet Sherry’s father (Larry) and her uncle Travis Holley, great guys, and they shared many of the family memories with me,” Bell said. “Kind of like a dream come true, I guess, in a way.”

While they’re in Iowa, the Baldy Holly Band also plans to play in Shenandoah (the onetime home of the Everly Brothers, another favorite of theirs from the early days of rock n’ roll) and four shows in Clear Lake, where Buddy Holly famously performed for the final time at the Surf Ballroom before the fateful plane crash. They’ve played in America before, but the band is relishing the opportunity to connect with a state and a place that plays such a large part in the Buddy Holly story.

“I’ve made a lot of friends, a lot of connections in the U.S.A., which has paved the way for the band to come over on numerous occasions,” Bell said.

Bell, who donned a Texas Tech tank top during an interview Friday as a nod to Lubbock, said he first fell in love with Holly’s music as an eight-year-old when he received a box set of his LP records for Christmas.

“I fell in love with the music and learned guitar and wanted to reproduce those songs,” Bell said.

Lead guitarist Paul Cowan traces his journey back to hearing the Beatles when he was 12 or 13 and learning about their influences, which included Holly, Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Chuck Berry. Bassist Richard Smith, who’s been in the band for the last two years, admitted he’s relatively new to playing this type of music (he had previously gravitated more toward soul, blues and dance tunes) but has always admired it.

Charlie Thompson, the youngest member of the band at 18 years old, keeps the beat on the drums and started off in blues and jazz. Like Smith, he said he wasn’t terribly familiar with the music before he joined the band, but he’s gotten a crash course.

“I sort of started to enjoy it a lot more, you know. It’s class music, really good,” he said.

Both he and Smith were making their maiden voyage to the U.S. — Cowan had actually been to Clear Lake for a Chubby Checker show at the Surf back in 2019 — and they had great first impressions, describing it as “very hospitable and welcoming.”

Although Holly’s name might not still inspire the same level of reverence — stateside, at least — as some of his contemporaries in rock n’ roll and country music like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Johnny Cash, Bell and Cowan are happy to report that he’s as celebrated as ever in England.

“Buddy Holly’s still as popular as Elvis Presley in England. He’s a huge name. Everybody, even young kids, know Buddy Holly,” Bell said. “We can put a show on and fill a ballroom with like 1,200 people because of the name Buddy Holly. It still draws so many fans.”

Likewise, the phenomenon doesn’t shock Sherry, a respected singer-songwriter and recording artist in her own right, at all.

“It doesn’t surprise me because he had a way of making his music sound really, really good. It was original. It was different. He had a special sound, and he could play the guitar. He could write songs. He could just feel what he was doing, and he loved doing it,” she said.

When put on the spot to name their favorite songs they’re currently playing, each member of the band gave a different answer. For Cowan, it’s Holly’s “Heartbeat,” for Smith, it’s “Rock Around With Ollie Vee,” and for Thompson, it’s “I’m Lookin’ for Someone to Love.” In a surprise twist, Bell, the singer and ultimate Buddy Holly enthusiast, upset the apple cart and chose Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” — because it rocks, in his words. He qualified it by naming his favorite Holly song as “True Love Ways,” though.

“Just remember every day is a Holly Day,” Bell said.

The mostly older crowd that turned out for the show seemed appreciative of the decision to move inside, and after completing sound check with a little help from British expat and current Marshalltonian Jude Rawlins, a filmmaker and musician, Live After Five organizer Bob Moore delivered a few remarks to welcome the band to the stage. The Baldy Holly Band played about a half hour of rock n’ roll from the time period before Moore returned to introduce their special guest, Ms. Sherry Holley, and recount his own experience hearing the news of the plane crash as a senior in high school.

“That music didn’t really die, but of course that’s what that song suggested to us, the day the music died, but ladies and gentleman, we are extremely honored (today),” Moore said. “You ever run across somebody that the moment you meet them, you say ‘What a wonderful, wonderful opportunity this is?’ Our next guest coming up on the stage right now is the niece of Buddy Holly. Would you please give a really big Marshalltown welcome to Sherry Holley?”

After the crowd broke out in rapturous applause, Sherry and the band quickly bursted into a slew of Holly’s hits, including her personal favorite, “Send Me Some Lovin’,” and as she described it, the chemistry has always been natural when she plays with the boys from Britain.

“It just clicked. Some bands I’ve worked with, you’ve really gotta work it and try to make everything happen, but (with) these guys, it just clicked, it just happened,” she said.

Sherry and her husband are set to release a new blues album called “Rockin’ These Blues” on Buddy’s 86th birthday, Sept. 7 featuring a mix of original songs and two by other writers, and another run of joint shows with The Baldy Holly Band is scheduled for next year in England and Scotland.

“Let’s keep rockin’,” she said with a laugh.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.