Simon Says moving away turned out to more difficult than they thought. "Every time we tried to leave (California), the doors were closed."
That is until five years ago when when Simon was transferred here by his employer, Sentry Insurance Co. They came out to look the area over in the fall when the trees were ablaze in reds and golds ---a sight they had never seen before --- and fell in love.
Now, Simon and Michelle are both working for teh Kansas City Youth For Christ organization. They have 3 children --- 17 year old Ian, 14 year old Noelle and 10 year old Keith.
Recently, the six members of West Heart traveled to Nashville to record "Living in the Land of Oz and loving it" and the flip side, Ozark Mountain Gold.' The music, recorded on the Boulevard label, is country with a strong rock and roll crossover sound.
It was released December 15 on cassette and compact disc, and is available in Lee's Summit at the Compact Discus store in Deerbrook Plaza. Around the metro area, it is at all Camelot Music and Musicland stores, the Australian Trading Company at Oak Park Mall or by mail order by calling 469-LAND.
Producing the session was Vern Dant, a veteran Nashville songwriter and producer, who described West Heart as having "Alabama-like sound (a) bluegrass edge." Dant's credits include co-writing Aaron Tippin's 1993 RCA release, "I Promised You the World," and Reba McEntire's number one hit single, "Rumor Has It,"which sold over 2 million copies.