Open Mic, April 15, 2017

Last Show of the Season

“What a great way to end our third season of performing arts shows at the Arts Center,” said Arts Center president Ron Hackett. “We plan for eight acts in a show, and we managed to run ten acts tonight.” Host Taylor Hoch, who started the show four years ago at the Karma Bakeria, and Hackett both gave up their slots to get everyone who signed up on stage that night.

Co-host Robert Foster kicked off the show with three cover songs. Foster’s smooth voice and delicate fingerpicking are always appreciated by the audience. He performed “Early Morning Rain,” by Gordon Lightfoot, “Whiskey and You,” by Chris Stapleton, and “Illegal Smile,” by John Prine.

Next up was one of our regular performers. Pete Crim plays guitar and sings country and gospel cover songs. Tonight he performed “Someday,” “Give My Love to Rose,” by Johnny Cash, and “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” a Christian hymn written in 1855 by Joseph M. Scriven for his mother in Ireland while he was in Canada.

There were a lot of first time performers that night. The first was Truman Vinson. Vinson plays guitar and sings his original songs. Tonight he performed “Last Rodeo,” “Surprised Dead Man,” and “Alaina’s Song.”

David Watson from Winchester, Tennessee came next and performed three of his original songs while playing guitar. Regina Childers, another first time performer, sang background vocals. Together they performed “Angle of Mercy,” “One Smoke,” and “Miner’s Gold.”

Another first time performer, Geoff Roehm from Sewanee, Tennessee, performed next. In addition to writing and singing his own songs, Roehm also builds guitars, and he played one of his tonight. Roehm performed “Barnyard Dance,” “Like So Many Others,” and “Owl and the Pussy Cat.”

Childers returned to the stage as the star performer with Watson playing the supporting role as guitarist. Childers performed “Across the Great Divide,” written by Robbie Robertson, “If You’ve Got Leavin’ On Your Mind,” written by Wayne Walker and Webb Pierce and performed by Patsy Cline, and “When You Say Nothing at All,” a country song written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz and performed by Alison Krauss.

After a four first time performers, one of our regular performers, Jon Rosenblum from Huntsville, Alabama, took the stage. Rosenblum is a songwriter, but chose to perform three covers songs for our show. Those songs were “In a Week or Two,” written by James House and Gary Burr, and recorded by Diamond Rio; “All I Want is You,” the final song on U2's 1988 album, Rattle and Hum; and “Young Gun” by Bon Jovi.

“This show has always been about performing arts and not just music,” said Hackett as he introduced poet Samantha Posey. “We are always happy to include all types of performing arts, and Samantha has recited her original poetry at a number of our shows,” said Hackett. Posey’s selection of original poems included “More Than This,” “Holy Communion,” and “My Better Half.”

Elliot from Petersburg returned for another round of his humorous camp songs that frequently include audience participation. His selections for the evening included “Little Annie,” “Lulu’s Back in Town,” and “Camp Granada.”

ThunderByrd Newman closed the show with three of his original avant-garde songs. Tonight he chose to perform “Far Away,” “Those Days are Gone,” and “You.”

As the show ended, one member of the audience commented on the remarkable talent in our community and their appreciation for the Arts Center providing a venue for this talent to perform.

The performing arts show is a bi-monthly event that runs from October until April each year. The show closes during the summer because attendance drops dramatically and there is no air conditioning in the gallery. The next show will be on Saturday, October 7th. We will make announcements about this show in the Elk Valley Times and on our website beginning about two weeks before the show.

Several members of the Arts Center’s performing arts group will be performing at the courthouse gazebo on May 19th at 5pm as we kickoff Main Street’s Live After Five event. Singer and songwriter Greg Mitchell will join guitarist Ron Hackett to kick off the show. Blues guitarist Jay Jernigan will join singer and songwriter Taylor Hoch for the second act. The third act is still in development and will be announced later.

The Arts Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting all types of art in our community. They are located at 303 Main Ave. South in Fayetteville. Anyone who wants to support the arts in our community is welcome to join. For more information, please visit the Arts Center website:

http://www.flc-artscenter.com/

Photo courtesy of Ron Hackett