Hilton Head Island has always been, at its heart, a family destination. We don’t do casinos. We don’t have flashing neon lights enticing visitors to let out their sinful side while they’re away from home. What debauchery we do offer is usually of a classier nature than your typical Myrtle Beach bender getaway.
What we have is the beach. We have splash pads. We have biking trails that snake through carefully preserved wilderness. And, of course, we have mini golf. What we as an island do best is simply set a place at the table for families, providing them with the perfect environment for slowing down and reconnecting.
It’s little wonder, then, that some of our greatest musical institutions are all playing tunes in the key of family. That’s not to be confused with children’s entertainers. Barney is a children’s entertainer. These musicians are here for the family – songs that are upbeat, infectious, and silly enough to get the kids dancing, wrapped in a show that lets the parents share in their kids’ laughter.
These musicians are here for the family – songs that are upbeat, infectious, and silly enough to get the kids dancing, wrapped in a show that lets the parents share in their kids’ laughter.
“A four-year-old is a four-year-old. And a young mom and dad, they come here to the island to escape a lot of the things that society is throwing at them back home,” said Gregg Russell, who is starting his 48th year delighting families under the Liberty Oak in Harbour Town. “They can relax and ride bikes, and they feel safe letting their children ride bikes to the beach or Harbour Town to go to the toy store. What’s been created here over the decades is magical. Families connect to that and relate to that.”
Gregg Russell sings underneath the Liberty Oak in Harbour Town,where he’s entertained millions of people for almost 5o years. Photo courtesy of The Sea Pines Resort. Photography by Rob Tipton
If there was room for just one face on the Mount Rushmore of Hilton Head Island’s family entertainers, it would be Gregg Russell’s. His iconic shows set against the majestic backdrop of Harbour Town have gained a fame that stretches well beyond our shores. In fact, the recent Apple TV+ documentary on him estimates that some 5 million people, stretched across four generations, have sat under the Liberty Oak to hear him play.
He is the headliner, but as his legend has grown, he has inspired others who have, in their own time, earned the right to join him in the pantheon of the island’s greats.
Shannon Tanner poses with a little fan at Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina on a HarbourFest evening in June.
“I always held Gregg in the same regard as Jimmy Buffet. I really watched what he did. I literally went to his shows as a teenager and realized that I’d like to do this,” said Shannon Tanner, whose delightful shows in Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina draw enormous crowds along the waterfront, beanies in hand, ready to be signed. “In the back of my mind, I was following that template. I didn’t want to be a guitar player in bars. That was my rudder.”
Tanner’s shows, hour-long sets that tend to go wherever the crowd takes it – with scheduled stops at favorites like “The Unicorn Song,” “Hair Party,” and “Purple People Eater” – are immersive sing-along experiences. Like Russell, he is experiencing the joys of seeing people he entertained as kids bring their own children to his shows as he enters his 36th year at Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina.
“I have 48-year-olds holding a three- and a seven-year-old and I’m signing all of their hats,” Tanner said. “I’m signing a new message on every color. It’s funny to get the handful of people who come up and I’ve signed this same hat dozens of times over the years.”
Tanner’s beanie caps, the first of which he bought while on a trip with his now 36-year-old son to Walt Disney World as a toddler, have become his signature – as has his love and support for his fellow entertainers.
“When Jevon Daly came along, that was a profound change,” Tanner said. “Going from what he was doing to being a kids’ entertainer, and I was excited to see him evolve.”
Jevon Daly holds court at the Coligny Main Stage.
If Daly has a home stage, it’s the central courtyard at Coligny where his summer kids’ shows fill the entire plaza with laughter. He also takes his shows elsewhere, from festivals big and small to community events. The kids’ shows are obviously only part of his wildly creative streak, which sees him filming videos with C2’s own Maggie Washo to playing with a litany of bands from JoJo Squirrel and the Home Pickles to The Nicest Guys in the World.
“When I hit 40, I started saying to myself I need to start stepping outside of music and trying other aspects of entertainment,” Daly said. Having grown up playing music on the island, he’s gained a reputation as a musical chameleon, performing Grateful Dead songs with one band before slipping into spandex and a heavy metal wig to belt out some hair metal classics. “Those things were all scratching some kind of itch, but the kids’ show was born out of a book that I wrote called ‘He Needs a Chihuahua.’”
That book, based on his own childhood as an asthmatic, was by Daly’s own admission “a flop.” But it sparked a transition to family entertainment that took his whimsical solo songwriting to a more PG level. His kid-friendly tunes like “Sharks Are Our Homies” and “Pelican Bomb Squad” are full multi-media experiences, with music videos, stickers, T-shirts and hats that all help scratch Daly’s creative itch. Their interactivity makes for a wildly unpredictable but always enjoyable family show.
“Getting a kid on the microphone, rapping with them, asking them, ‘What’s your superpower?’ That’s the best part of the show,” he said. “By the time we do ‘Sand in my Pants,’ all the kids are doing their own version of the dance.”
He might be the new kid on the block, relatively speaking, but Daly has already come to appreciate the joy that music brings to families.
“When you get to that point where there’s 50 or 100 people, you feel like you’re riding the biggest wave Hilton Head Island has ever seen. I got 10 toes hanging off the nose and it’s a hurricane swell, you feel great,” he said. “To be doing that for three or four generations all at once, you really touch people.”
The sun sets over a huge crowd enjoying Gregg Russell’s show in Harbour Town.
“Every night with kids onstage is magical,” Tanner said. “You want to talk about something that supersedes the norm? It doesn’t matter what mood you’re in. If I step onstage with a heavy heart, literally halfway through the first kids’ song my soul is smiling. That’s a powerful thing.”
Part of Shannon Tanner’s show includes getting the kids on-stage and having a sing-off – boys vs. girls!
“I’ve done 4,700-plus shows under that tree, and my philosophy has always been that someone is going to see me for the first time and someone is going to see me for the last time tonight. They both deserve the same kind of energy and enthusiasm,” Russell said. “It’s easy for me because it’s truly who I am.”
His is an authenticity that he has passed on, sharing it with Tanner and Daly as each have joined him in giving families a magical experience. Through these three artists, who share in a mutual respect and admiration for what each brings to the stage, our island has proven why it is, and always will be, the greatest place on earth for families.
Who: Gregg Russell Where: Harbour Town When: From June 2- August 7. Days: Monday – Thursdays. Time: 8PM – 9:30PM
Who: Shannon Tanner Where:Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina When: From June 2- August 21 Days: Monday – Thursdays Time: 6:30 and 8 – Two Shows Nightly
Who: Jevon Daly Where:Coligny Plaza Main Stage When: From June 2- August 31 Days: Sunday, Wednesdays & Fridays Time: 6:30 and 7:45 – Two Shows Nightly
