Photo submitted to Times Observer The Jeff Lewis Band will be performing their song “Land of Dreams” live on the Mike Huckabee Show Friday. The band, from left to right, are: Norman Cady, Anthony Brown, Jeff Lewis, and Rich Alcorn.

Two local and two regional musicians will be performing live on the Mike Huckabee show Friday.

Anthony Brown and Rich Alcorn, both of Warren, along with Jeff Lewis, of Gerry, N.Y., make up the band. Norman Cady, also of Gerry, wrote the song in response to a call for entries into a contest for music videos and songs of a patriotic nature from the website Constituting America (CA).

While the song, “Land of Dreams,” didn’t officially fit into any of the categories to qualify for the contest, said Brown from Graphite Studios, which he operates in Warren, CA founder Janine Turner — yes, the Janine Turner from the movie “Cliffhanger” — loved it so much that they created an honorary category just to fit it.

The song itself had a community development, explained Brown.

Cady brought a set of cords and fundamental idea for the song to Brown and Alcorn.

“You guys do what you want with it,” he said, leaving the song in their hands.

Brown, whose passion is producing music, which includes most artistic elements of a song’s development, was stoked to be given such creative freedom.

“We rekeyed it,” said Brown of the process the song has undergone, “and gave it a sort of structure. Wrote some lyrics for it. Wrote a bridge. Just basically got it going,” said Brown, likening the process of song development to that of a sculptor pulling a full-fledged figure from a block of marble.

They also got Lewis on board for vocals.

“Norm,” Brown said to the song’s original father when he was all finished, “I think we’ve finally got ourselves a song.”

So ecstatic about the song was Turner, said Brown, that the band was invited to Houston in July of 2017 to play the song for the city’s Fourth of July celebration. Then, said Brown, the song’s video – featured on the CA website – started getting hits. “A lot of them,” Brown said. The song even started popping up on the radio.

“Its just crazy, seeing it take off like it has,” said Brown, who said that you never know with any song what its trajectory or impact will be. He said that while the song was just as good as any they’ve produced, and one they felt just as good about, they had no idea what they had in “Land of Dreams” at the time.

Still, Alcorn said to Brown when they’d nearly finished polishing the song, “wouldn’t it be cool if something came out of it?”

Eventually, Cady found himself attending a taping of the Mike Huckabee Show in Nashville, Ten.

“At the end of the show everyone in the audience is invited up to shake Mike’s hand,” explained Brown. When Cady stepped forward for his handshake, he put his hand in one of Mike’s and a copy of the song in the other.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” laughed Brown, “and that kind of thing…it just doesn’t work. That never, ever works.”

Except when it does.

“He listened to it,” Brown said, laughing again, still in awe of that fact nearly a year later.

Huckabee was just as smitten with the song as Turner had been, said Brown. And he wanted it on the show. It took a while to get the arrangements made, said Alcorn, based on everyone’s schedules. The goal had been to have Mike Huckabee perform with the band on the show, since Huckabee plays bass. Unfortunately, that schedule could not be worked out but the band is still more than thrilled to be traveling this weekend to Nashville for a live performance on Friday’s show.

You may recognize Alcorn and Brown’s names and faces from their other project. Brown founded the Foreigner tribute band Blue Morning in 2017 and they headlined the Fourth of July celebration at Betts Park earlier this month.

“Land of Dreams,” said Brown, is one of many great patriotic songs. What makes it special is Cady’s particular perspective on patriotism and the special combination of his, Alcorn’s, Lewis’, and Cady’s musical presences and talents. “It’s just a really nice, feel good, American patriotic song,” said Brown.

None of the guys are strangers to musical success. Alcorn’s band Graphite Rose opened numerous times for his uncles’ band across the country. You may have heard of them.

They’re two of the members of Diamond Rio.

Lewis, said Alcorn, was very nearly signed by Shania Twain’s manager years ago.

The Jeff Lewis Band, with special guest and friend Norm Cady, will perform on “Huckabee,” which airs on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Friday, July 27. The performance will air on the TBN Saturday and Sunday, July 28 and 29, at 8 p.m., and can be viewed on the Mike Huckabee website (huckabee.tv) or Facebook at www.facebook.com/HuckabeeOnTBN/ starting Saturday.

“We just feel really blessed to have an opportunity to play on live television,” said Brown and Alcorn, from the studio in downtown Warren where the song was born.