March 6th, 2010 by jeffshepherd
In the weekend edition of the West Volusia Beacon I wrote about the open mic at the Jeukyard Saloon in DeLeon Springs. It is infrequent when I write that folks send anything acknowledging the coverage. Many people do, but many don’t.
This time I got a beautiful thank you from one of the people I wrote about. Here it is.
I wanted to formally thank you for the wonderful article you penned about the group of us at the Junkyard. You did a wonderful job putting in print what we feel in our hearts about this little place that has caused magic to begin in my world. I finally am going for my dream and your article is a stepping stone which I really appreciate and will use as a spring board to go to a new level in my performing. I hope one day you will get to say, I saw her at the junkyard when she was just getting back into performing….
Thank you so very much. I hope more people who need a stage to start on will read your article and have the courage to show up and they will feel as welcome as I was. Thank you Jeff, from my heart.
Pamela
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February 13th, 2010 by jeffshepherd
What a treat it was to hear the Stetson University Symphonic Band concert last night. Although 98 students were listed in the program, with the various orchestrations, the instrumentation shrunk. Perhaps one of the pieces, Vittorio Giannani’s Symphony No. 3, the band was near full strength.
For Brahms’ Alto Rahpsody the Stetson Men’s Concert Choir added 30 something voices to the sound. It also featured faculty alto soloist Jane Christeson, who sang her part with verve. Listening to this performance was quite a pleasure.
Many (most) of these students must be 19- 22 year olds, still studying their instruments intensively, still able to strive towards the next performance level in terms of months. The ensemble is not at the professional level, but there are certainly some individuals skilled enough to compete with the pros. They are all amazing young musicians.
Of course one of the more mature musicians on this stage, was the band’s conductor, Bobby Adams. He deserves much credit for getting the best from these players.
Another work that really captured my imagination was Jeremiah, aka Symphony No. 1 by Leonard Bernstein. It was so Bernstein! The odd meters and intricate rhythms kept my interest. Some version of this piece will end up on my mp3 player!
Concerts like this are a steal at a cost of $8 for admission. Keep your eyes peeled for your next chance to attend such a performance. Check Stetson University’s web site.
http://www.stetson.edu/calendar/
Tags: local concerts, stetson university, symphonic band music, young musicians
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February 8th, 2010 by jeffshepherd
When this blog was new, I mentioned several events that inspired its creation. Stuff that is now way in the past. My intention was to write about those concerts and shows and kindle some of the good recent memories of the DeLand Original Music Festival, the Frankie V shows, the exhibits at the African American Museum, and the Hand Museum opening, and the Da Vinci re-opening. Now these things are getting harder to remember. Any one out there that wants to help with such recollections, please do! Perhaps I will get to it very soon.
On a more recent note, I must comment on the opening of the newest club downtown; Bonkerz. My wife and I attended the New Years Eve show, featuring Carin McWithey and Carmen Vallone. The club was full! This little place (maybe 600 sq. ft. seating) had more than a hundred people who paid $15 to get a good laugh! DeLand has grown up. Even at the turn of 2010, if you’d have described this scene, I’d have been skeptical. Now if only there were a good listening room, where people would pay similarly to hear quality musical acts.
Well we have a couple fantastic venues that folks can hear quality music; The Stetson University campus offers a great opportunity to hear faculty and student recitals, and ensembles at $8 general admission. And The Athens Theater is bringing in national acts from the $25 range.
I attended the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra’s show a week ago. The theater was nearly full, and the capacity crowd was very well pleased with the show. The 16-piece band comprised of older white guys could really swing!
I hope local (that includes residents and visitors to Volusia and surrounding counties) folks realize the opportunity to experience a better quality of arts and entertainment in this community is very good. To continue this trend we just have to support it.
Tags: arts, comedy, local venues, music
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January 2nd, 2010 by jeffshepherd
It has been more than a month since my most recent post on this blog. That was a long time ago – last decade!
In the weeks prior to my first post came a windfall of activity that inspired this blog; The DeLand Fall Festival of the Arts, The DeLand Original Music Festival, a string of recitals and performances at Stetson, The Florida Museum for Woman Artists opened, Caffe Da Vinci (now called Da Vinci’s) reopened, Hand Museum opened, a new event called Bandtoberfest featured bands playing on the quad at SU, and there’s probably important events that I am overlooking!
I want to go back and cover some of these in more detail later. But for now let’s reflect on a recent event. This morning the Artist of the Month reception at DeBary Hall Historic Site (in the Stable House) featured about 15 paintings by Sean Johnson. This exhibit (called Moments in Time) will be displayed through the month of January. The show can be viewed Tue.- Sat. 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. and Sun. noon- 4 p.m.
This work is a series of paintings Sean has been developing for the past three years. He showed some of them at Caffe Da Vinci’s Tongue and Groove Gallery in November 2007. Johnson has moved on to create a new series of work using pen and ink. Inspired by psychedelic illustrations such as those of Rick Griffin, Sean’s black and white images are detailed, and contain an element of surrealism.
Sean hopes to find a place to show his pen and inks in the coming months. Keep reading this blog or my column “Ad Libbing,” to find information about any of his shows.
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November 20th, 2009 by jeffshepherd
Do you believe in democracy?
If so, then you should appreciate how the name of this blog was determined. It was put to a vote. There were two candidates. Hey, I very well know that there are always more than two legitimate positions on any topic, and there is a better way than the current two-party system. But like a good red-state, blue-state analyses, my poll was all about a choice between the front-runners.
They were Hittin’ the Town and Steppin’ Out. I sent about 40 text messages to those registered voters in my cell phone, and got 22 votes. Not a bad turn-out huh – 55%! However one of those responses didn’t meet the deadline. the unofficial returns were Hittin’ the Town 13, Steppin’ Out 8. The tardy vote was for Hittin’ the Town.
So I feel that this is a good start to a blog that really should count the thoughts and opinions of the people out there reading it and commenting on it. Even if you don’t think the conversation is going anywhere say it, redirect it.
By the way there was one write-in vote, “Get a Babysitter.” Who knows, if there is enough interest, an independant third party could take hold!
Tags: arts, blog name, opinion, voting
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