Murrysville vocalist will parody Pat Benatar song at Gobbler’s Knob on Groundhog Day

A Pittsburgh band fronted by a Murrysville singer will play their parody of Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” at Gobbler’s Knob on Groundhog Day.

The band No More Daisies is one of two finalists selected Sunday for the “Gobbler’s Knob Got Talent” competition. They will play at the Groundhog Day festivities in Punxsutawney at 5 a.m. Wednesday.

The No More Daisies musicians are lead vocalist Jessa Pontier of Murrysville, drummer Chris Ferree of Valencia, bass guitarist Joe Bray of Glenshaw and lead guitarist Sal Durante of Lawrenceville.

Benatar’s 1980 mega-hit is about defiance after heartbreak. In Pontier’s lyrics, Punxsutawney Phil is painted as an unreliable lover: Well you’re a real tough groundhog / With a long history of breaking million hearts every February / That’s OK there’ll be no shadow this year / Your prediction will read “Early Spring Is Near.”

She picked the spunky Benatar anthem because, for one reason, they perform the song already and audiences like it.

“It really pumps up the crowd, and it gets the energy going,” said Pontier, 19, who grew up in the Apollo area. “We thought this would be a great song to rock the crowd at Gobbler’s Knob.”

No More Daisies plays pop-country, rock and Pontier’s original songs. They perform at festivals, wineries, parks and other venues. The band has been doing well as they are completely booked for summer, every weekend, said Jennifer Dietrich, the band’s booking agent.

Dietrich of Kiski Township also is Pontier’s mother.

“To be on the Gobbler Knob’s stage in front of 30,000-plus people is a huge accomplishment and something for them to be proud of,” she said.

Just like her bandmates, Pontier is excited to land the gig.

“This is a rare opportunity that we feel truly blessed to have gotten.”

Additional local artists

No More Daisies isn’t the only local musical act to get in on the festivities at Gobbler’s Knob. The Derek Woods Band will take the stage about 4:45 a.m.

“We’d been interested in doing it, and we played in Punxsutawney a few years back,” said Woods, 33, of Greensburg. “They were looking for a band this year and reached out to us.”

The band will play another set at 6:40 a.m., just after the fireworks and before Phil makes his scheduled prognostication at 7:15 a.m.

Local musicians who have played the gig before had one piece of advice: layer up those clothes.

“The sets we played were limited to about 10 minutes because your fingers kind of stop working,” said Peter Flynn of Reserve Township, who played Groundhog Day in 2020 with the Pittsburgh band The Beagle Brothers. “You can’t play much longer than that.”

Flynn said Groundhog Day in Puxsutawney is unique in plenty more ways than just the temperature.

“There’s a few lights out there, so we’d go out at, say, 3:30 a.m., and play for 100 people,” he said. “Then we go out at 4:30, and there’s now a few hundred. Then we go out at 5:30 a.m., and there’s just thousands. It’s one of the biggest crowds I’ve ever played for.”

Woods is looking forward to it.

“We’re hoping to bring some upbeat energy to the crowd that morning,” Woods said. “We also wrote an original groundhog song as well. I don’t know what we’re in for — I just know it’s going to be cold.”