The Haygoods – Celebrating 30 Years of Family Fun in Branson, Missouri

Their show has been called Branson’s most popular show — and for good reason. From the moment this family band of five brothers and one sister hit the stage, the non-stop, fast-paced, high-quality music and family entertainment kept everyone in the audience, from the ages of 5 to 95, excited watch.

Whether it’s Michael Haygood sliding down from the ceiling and strumming his guitar, or the band performing one of their choreographed songs with LED lights and special effects, showcasing their talents as multi-instrumentalists, or Any one of their ever-changing clips features their renditions of old loves – every performance of Haygood is full of surprises. That’s why the theater is packed to capacity all year round.

“We really loved it,” Katherine Haygood said. “Every time we go on stage, it’s a new crowd, a new vibe, no show is the same. We like to come up with new things to keep people coming back. They know they’re going to see breakthrough lighting effects, Costumes and new figures.”

Michael is the mastermind behind the special effects and LED lights that grace the show. Among his many accomplishments, he has built his own jetpack, complete with LED lights, which he sometimes wears while flying above spectators. He is also known for entering theaters from the ceiling, grabbing the audience below in amazement.

“What’s really interesting to me,” he says, “is seeing people’s faces from my angle, coming out of the crowd, and they slowly start to realize that I’m flying above them, playing the guitar, smiling. . It was so much fun.”

In a city known as the “Live Entertainment Capital of the World” (thanks to Branson’s many theaters and live music acts), Haygoods hosts one of the most dynamic and well-produced shows on the Las Vegas Strip.

It’s unbelievable to see them perform, but even more interesting is the story behind the Haygoods and how they got to where they are today. They’re celebrating 30 years as a performing family in Branson, but their story begins long before that, in the backcountry of Arkansas’ Ozark Mountains.

“When we tell people our story, a lot of people say, ‘Oh, come on, it’s just a showbiz story,'” Timothy Haygood said, “but the reality is we all live in a single room. mobile home, and our father was a carpenter. He worked very hard, but it was difficult to support eight children.”

“It was tough,” recalls Patrick Haygood. “We always have food on the table, the house is always clean, we’re always clean and tidy, but all our clothes are old clothes, our shoes are taped together, and sometimes, it’s really tough “

In 1983, Timothy was inspired by something he saw on TV, and as the family struggled to make ends meet, fate intervened to pave the way for the children’s musical future.

“I became interested in violin lessons or violin lessons at the age of five,” he recalls, “after watching a famous violinist named Itzhak Perlman Sesame Street. I went to my mother and said, ‘Mom, I want to be like him. ’ That was the fortuitous moment that started the whole thing. “

His mother didn’t give him these lessons right away, but when Timothy insisted he take them and she knew he meant it, she followed through with him. When she saw how violin lessons helped her older son focus, discipline and finish school, she made sure the other kids got violin lessons too.

The young Haygoods got their first chance to perform when they were invited to a local music festival. Soon, they were heading to fairs and festivals in the American South on weekends.Then their father saw a 60 minutes The story of a country artist who finds success by opening a theater in Branson and decides to move his family to Missouri. In June 1993, young violinist Haygoods found a job in Silver Dollar City. It started as a two-week show, but the theme park eventually extended their stay.

“They started pouring resources on us,” Timothy explained, “and instructing us on other instruments, as well as singing and tap dancing. Over the next ten years, we took classes with almost 20 different instructors. My mom would Going to all the biggest Branson shows, she’d find Johnny Cash’s bassist, Willie Nelson’s guitarist, another band’s harpist, this gig’s tap dancers, etc., and she’d hire them to teach us. It’s how we get all these different musical influences.”

In 2002, Haygoods left Silver Dollar City and moved to the Branson strip to start acting independently. It wasn’t easy at first. In theme parks, they have established audiences, and as their own act, they have a hard time building a following. No other band has moved from Silver Dollar City to the Branson strip with such success. But they stick together as a family and are determined to make it work.

Initially, they will find themselves dealing with a very steep learning curve.

“We didn’t know anything about the business side, because when we were in Silver Dollar City, we were kind of in a bubble,” Timothy said. “We were doing really well there, but what we didn’t realize was that people weren’t just coming to see us, they were coming for the whole experience of being at a theme park. So we moved to the strip and immediately hit a brick wall. Play for a house of 1000 people per show, to a house of 50 people per show.

They quickly used up most of the money they had saved over the past decade, as well as the loans their grandparents had given them to let them out on their own. Timothy realized he had to learn very quickly how the business side worked.

“So, I got off the stage and started researching marketing and Branson and getting addicted to it,” he said. “I talked to everyone I approached, every hotel owner, everyone else in the music industry, and I figured out what we needed to do to make it work. Slowly, the numbers started to go up.”

Timothy’s in-depth study of marketing is similar to what his brother and Catherine have done with every other aspect of the Haygood family business. They all have different responsibilities within the family business and are all self-taught in their respective fields. Michael was in charge of the show’s high-tech lighting and special effects.

“I joke with people that I went to YouTube tutorial school,” Michael says. “Put yourself in the shoes of 20 or 25 years ago, when we wanted to do all kinds of interesting productions and program lights to music, but couldn’t afford a programmer. Out of necessity, we knew we were going to have to do it ourselves.”

Patrick, who is in charge of accounting for the family business, agrees.

“I actually went to college to get a degree in entertainment management and was writing a business plan to bring the show to the Strip,” he said. “One of my professors sat me down and said, ‘Listen So, you’re in the real world. You don’t need to study the real world in college, your opportunity is already in front of you. So, I took that to heart.”

Patrick said the “learn as you go” approach was applied across the board, sharing some of the special effects they had to learn on their own to achieve.

“We decided we wanted to light up the mic stand. Okay, figure it out. We want the piano to light up wirelessly. Okay, figure it out, build it. Disneyland is doing projection mapping on their castle. Okay, we can scale it down and put it on the instrument. We’ll figure it out.”

Dominic Haygood was the show’s general producer and arranged the music, Catherine focused on the costumes and assisted with social media, and Matthew Haygood helped with office paperwork.

Over the past 30 years, they’ve figured out what works and what doesn’t. Two brothers (one of eight children) chose not to act with the family group and went on to other careers.

Today, their show is the longest-running and most successful first-generation show in Branson history.

They have found success elsewhere, too. In 2011, they partnered with the RFD-TV cable network to bring their talents to homes across the United States, and they toured as far as China.

Today, the Haygoods choose to live close to home.

Like many Branson theater companies, they owned their own theater at one point, but eventually decided to get out of the management business.

“We used to play six shows a week, but the shows were too intense and too busy to keep up the pace,” Timothy noted. “We also noticed that when we run a theater, our focus is not on performances, but on running a theater.”

Today, they perform at the Clay Cooper Theatre, on a rotating basis.

“We made a deal with Clay Cooper that we would have two A shows, swapping the 8 p.m. field, and it was always open. We thought we should do one show, skip a day, show one, skip a day, and it turned out to be the perfect formula for success.”

The schedule allows them to focus on creating and performing the best show possible, which they are constantly striving to improve, but also has time to spend with their kids and significant others.

Family has always been a top priority for the Haygood family. Patrick said that responsibility to each other got them through the difficult early years.

“I’ll tell you about a great memory I’ll never forget,” he said. “We had just left Silver Dollar City and were out on our own with two injuries. Tim had a hernia, Dominique broke his shoulder from a wrong backflip on stage, and Michael accidentally burned his hand. I remember looking across the stage and Tim Tom is hunched over the guitar, Dominic has a jacket over his shoulders, Michael is playing the guitar and he literally has blood on his hands. We just tear it up! We’re covered in blood but not interrupted, Taking care of each other in the fight. That attitude started at a very young age and I think it has helped us over the years.”

He said everything was perfect. Today, their parents work with them on all of their shows.

“I look at my mom and dad at different times and they’re so proud,” Patrick said. “It’s been incredibly rewarding, especially starting from scratch and seeing what they’ve done to feed us.”

While they’re both happy with their success, it’s still sometimes hard to believe how far they’ve come.

“I don’t think any of us thought it would be a 30-year career 10, 15 or 20 years ago, when we were just doing this as a hobby,” Michael said. “We are blessed and excited to continue as a family.”

“I was blown away by the number of people who came to Branson and came to our show,” Catherine said. “And keep coming back, with their kids and grandkids. It’s hard to concentrate sometimes, but we’ve been lucky to be here for 30 years.”