Thursday evening, I traveled to Xenia OH to rehearse with the Wilberforce University Choir. I was hired to play electric Bass Guitar for their "Motown Hits" performance at the outdoor Fraze Pavilion in Kettering OH. They will be opening for the Ohio Players. The Choir is quite good and I was most impressed with their young but very talented director, Jeremy Winston. The songs were very easy and the bass parts interesting. I really enjoyed the practice and the rehearsal time went quickly. The next day I went to the Fraze at 5 for a sound check and short run through. The Ohio Players took up most of the stage and the Choir was squeezed in together very tightly. The performance was a blast and the audience really responded well. Right after we played it began to pour down rain and the Ohio Players had to wait 90 minutes to get a dry soundboard from Cincinnati to finally perform. I was backstage and found out that the bass player for the Ohio Players was a former band member in the High School Marching Band I directed. He thanked me for teaching him how to play the bass. We had a big laugh about how his teacher was his warm-up band and he was the headliner. I wasn't jealous as my passion has always been teaching and not performance. I was very proud of his success.
The next day I was hired to play the drums for a live radio Show at the Montgomery County Fair. I had to borrow the drums from the former Centerville High School Band Director as the music director for the show doesn't like electronic drums. I have a Roland V-drum electronic set that I love. The day was hot and we only played a total of about five minutes the entire hour. We backed up two songs for the show vocalist and then played a bunch of 20 second spot bumper music before the commercial and show segments. I walked around the fair and was saddened by the lack of live music offered. I did however get to pet a camel!
Sunday I am the MC for the Guitarfest at Stubbs Park in Centerville. This is another outdoor bandshell and I am hoping for good weather. It is in the 90s as I write this, but the forecast is for cooler weather starting tomorrow. The next blog should be a short recap of this event.
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