Open Mic, March 18, 2017

Home School Students Perform

“It’s great to see so many young people participating in our show,” said host Taylor Hoch as she opened the Arts Center’s performing arts and open mic show on Saturday, March 18th. She began the show with “The Saga Begins,” a Star Wars parody by Weird Al Yankovic that is sung to the tune of “American Pie” by Don McLean. Next she performed an original song entitled, “Ireland Bound”, that she wrote with Sarah Weeks and Kameron Jones. Hoch ended her set with another original song entitled, “Yesterday’s Epiphany.”

Caroline Bonner, and 11th grade student in the home school program came next to perform tow piano solos, “Think of Me” and “Music of the Night,” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. She finished her set with Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.

Bonner’s brother Ian Bonner followed her to the stage to perform three more piano solos that included “Treasure Island,” “The River Train,” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” Selena Leimer, another home school student, played “Let It Go” from Disney’s Frozen on the piano.

Pete Crim, a regular performer at our shows, took the stage next to perform “Murder Down on Music Row,” by Larry Shell and Larry Cordle, “Music Box,” and “Long Black Veil,” written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin.

Avant-garde singer and songwriter Thunderbyrd Newman returned again this week to perform two of his original songs entitled, “All We Are Is All We Are,” and “Venus and the Crescent Moon.”

Elliott from Petersberg provided his usual comic relief with humorous camp songs like ‘Irish Ballad (Rickity Tickity Tin),” ‘Dunderbeck’s Machine,” and “Silhouettes.”

Co-host Robert Foster performed three cover songs that included “You’ve Got a Friend,” by James Taylor, “My Favorite Memory,” by Merle Haggard, and “Mr. Bojangles,” by Jerry Jeff Walker.

Singer and songwriter Jon Rosenblum from Huntsville returned again this week to perform three of his original tunes entitled, “Step It Up,” “Love Doesn’t Leave,” and “Stay.”

Arts Center president Ron Hackett closed the show with some of his instrument guitar interpretations. He started with “Jamman,” by Chet Atkins, which is now well known as the theme for the esurance commercials. He followed that with “Puff the Magic Dragon,” by Peter Yarrow and Leonard Lipton, and “Lucky Southern,” a bossa nova written by Keith Jarrett.

Photo courtesy of Ron Hackett