A sticker affixed to the sound shield surrounding Veronica Kiger's drum kit boasts:

"Female drummers do it better!"

I had an opportunity to check out Veronica's band, the BootHill Gang, at a benefit concert at the Greene County Fairgrounds on Saturday, and that sticker is on the money. She's a dynamo at the kit (just as she told me she'd be), pounding out rhythms you'd expect from a big, brawny guy instead a rather petite young lady. Hearing her stoke up the opening beat to the Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women" was enough to make anyone get up and start moving his or her feet.

She's a powerful drummer, and she's also a powerful vocalist, really belting it out in her best Martina McBride style - not an easy feat, considering she has to keep time back there while singing. I guess that's why you don't see all that many drummer/vocalists (remember, Phil Collins pretty much gave up the drum kit when he decided to become Genesis' lead singer).

Veronica is the self-professed "baby of the group" for a band that's been around, off and on, since the early '80s, built around the core of singer/front lady Dee Eisiminger and guitarists Tink Eisiminger and Gary D'Angelo. On Saturday, they put on a fun, high-energy performance that ran the gamut from country to classic rock to a very entertaining version of the old disco hit "Play That Funky Music," sung by new bassist Alex Volex.

Keep an eye out for the BootHill Gang playing around the band's native Waynesburg. Not only do they play a good show, but they're some of the nicest musicians you're going to meet. (And if you mention you play music yourself, they just might ask you to sit in for a tune or two.)

PHOTOS at the Fairgrounds: 1) Veronica; 2) Dee; 3) Gary; 4) Tink