QUEEN OF SWING by Deborah Wolfe

Award-winning Starla Queen has been a staple of the Lake music scene for years By Deborah Wolfe The Lake Today Published: Wednesday, May 6, 2009 1:36 PM CDT On a chilly spring evening at Bear Bottom Resort in Sunrise Beach, a cluster of new arrivals busied themselves with the opening chores of a weekend getaway. Dressed in traditional "spring-into-summer attire" of flip-flops and baggy shorts, topped by bulky collegiate sweatshirts to ward off the chill that their legs apparently don't feel, they hustled about unloading cars, docking boats and firing up charcoal grills. Within a short time, they found their way across the rough wooden deck to the resort's Lakeside watering hole. As they enter Da'Pub they are greeted by the sounds of Steve "Chili" Chilson warming up on guitar, "Big John" Amaro chiming in on the keyboard and Jimmy Queen pounding out a rhythmic drumbeat. The sound check is interrupted by a soft, female voice rising above the cacophony of instruments. "Check, check," Starla Queen said in a voice that manages to be both shy and seductive. "Check, check." (READ FULL VERSION @ www.thelaketoday.com)