Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Time to Leave
We both agreed that we'd love to live in Clonakilty and this is why it took us several hours to gather the where with all to actually leave. We made excuses to stroll through town one last time before getting in our Volkswagen Golf rental car and heading out towards Killarney.
Before we left, I steered us into DeBarra's Pub one last time and fortunately the proprietor, Ray Blackwood was there. We got into a pleasant discuss about the history of the pub which has been in Ray's family for a couple of centuries. In fact he was raised in the apartment above. More about that later.
Before we left, I steered us into DeBarra's Pub one last time and fortunately the proprietor, Ray Blackwood was there. We got into a pleasant discuss about the history of the pub which has been in Ray's family for a couple of centuries. In fact he was raised in the apartment above. More about that later.
Sunday, The Final Day
It is so difficult to truly describe what it is like to be here in Ireland but I must say if my attitude holds it is going to be difficult to want to return to the States. I am writing this using our bed as desk while seated on one of the wooden chairs in our room. We have the window wide open allowing sunshine and a pleasant Irish breeze to fill the spaces around us. John is gently practicing some mandolin. So I have musical accompaniment for my literary efforts.
Our first commitment today was actually one that focused upon guitar. I attended Richard's second workshop, where I proved how little time I had spent playing Falling Slowly in the past few weeks. I had run through it a few times recently but I knew I had lost my comfort with the piece. Richard has a different take on the left hand fingerings in some areas and they make more sense then what I had worked out. I plan on incorporating those into my playing of the piece. It is the usual process of breaking one habit to replace it with another. We took advantage of shopping at the Centra shop(a little grocery chain in Ireland) and picked up some survival munchies. I enjoyed eating the Irish Eating Apple that I chose to include in my treats.
Later in the evening we attended a concert by John Spillane, John and I tremendously enjoyed this powerful performer who plays guitar and sings in both English and Irish. It was an education and when the concert wrapped up I made a point of complimenting John and thanking him for teaching this American a little about Irish music and attitudes.
Our first commitment today was actually one that focused upon guitar. I attended Richard's second workshop, where I proved how little time I had spent playing Falling Slowly in the past few weeks. I had run through it a few times recently but I knew I had lost my comfort with the piece. Richard has a different take on the left hand fingerings in some areas and they make more sense then what I had worked out. I plan on incorporating those into my playing of the piece. It is the usual process of breaking one habit to replace it with another. We took advantage of shopping at the Centra shop(a little grocery chain in Ireland) and picked up some survival munchies. I enjoyed eating the Irish Eating Apple that I chose to include in my treats.
Later in the evening we attended a concert by John Spillane, John and I tremendously enjoyed this powerful performer who plays guitar and sings in both English and Irish. It was an education and when the concert wrapped up I made a point of complimenting John and thanking him for teaching this American a little about Irish music and attitudes.
A bit of a respite
In the late afternoon, Richard and Beverly invited us to join them at the their apartment lodging on the beach for a bit of down time. We watched people stroll along the beach with their dogs, the tidal waves build, and horses run through the grassy pastures along the tops the cliffs Beverly put together an excellent meal on the fly and it was simply nice to put our feet up and regroup before heading back down into the fray of the evening's events. John and I spent the rest of the evening checking out some performances until we made it back to our room at the Emmet and collapsed in utter exhaustion.
Saturday at the Clonakilty International Guitar Fest
Today began with the gathering of guitar playing souls attempting to break the Guinness World Record. This event took place in Emmet Square located directly in front of the entrance way of our hotel and overlooked wonderfully the windows of our second floor room. In fact, I set up my video camera to overlook a portion of the area to get moving record of this unique event.
We worked our way down to the square at around 11:30 am and meandered through the progressively growing crowd that consisted of folks of all ages and guitar persuasion. One observation John and I have made is that the Irish are so genuinely friendly. They are easy to engage in conversation even if the varied accents are at times difficult to decipher. If you engage with someone they treat you as a friend. In fact during the world record attempt we again met Richey, he was the accordionist we listened to during our first evening in Clonakilty. Richey was photographing the event and he did take some shots of John and I together. Currently John has grown out his mustache and is styling it as a handle bar. He also was wearing his favorite hat a brown derby. John’s appearance did attract some attention and I caught a few other cameras swinging his direction.
Eventually, Richard and Beverly showed and we split our attention between monitoring the progress in the square and getting Richard setup for his gig in the Emmet Hotel. On the stage across the street from Emmet Square, John Spillane began to get everyone geared up for the world record attempt. I enjoyed his unique way of getting all of these guitarists in tune and on the same page. He went through sounding the tuning each string individual and then played a tune in the key of the string. Richard wrapped up his sound check just as the record attempt began. We had just enough time to shift ourselves across the street and join in on the opening bars of Óró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile, an Irish rebel song with which everyone seemed very familiar.
Eventually, Richard and Beverly showed and we split our attention between monitoring the progress in the square and getting Richard setup for his gig in the Emmet Hotel. On the stage across the street from Emmet Square, John Spillane began to get everyone geared up for the world record attempt. I enjoyed his unique way of getting all of these guitarists in tune and on the same page. He went through sounding the tuning each string individual and then played a tune in the key of the string. Richard wrapped up his sound check just as the record attempt began. We had just enough time to shift ourselves across the street and join in on the opening bars of Óró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile, an Irish rebel song with which everyone seemed very familiar.
. Sadly the record was not broken but everyone had a tremendously good time during the process. With this event completed we turned our attention back to the bar and made sure all was well for Richard’s gig. Then Steve Housand, guitarist from The Little River Band, arrived. He and Richard had agreed to play two tunes together so they went off to another room and rehearsed for a bit. 2:00 pm arrived and Richard took the stage and played a fantastic one hour set that was enthusiastically received by a crowd that jammed itself into the tiny bar.
Once Richard’s concert finished, I helped him break down the staging area and pack his gear and we went off to the Parrish Hall where he taught a one hour workshop. I participated in this workshop even though it focused on material I have done previously done. Even so I found my weaknesses on the concepts and came away feeling I need to focus more on timing, one of my stumbling blocks. At least the other participants actually needed even more
help.
help.
After an early evening break we returned to Clonakilty and started another tour of the town with the goal of seeing more of the scheduled performances. Some of the acts we wanted to see drew huge crowds and we could not work our way in to the venues. We did manage to see Jim Murray,Richard Lucey, and Neil Ni Chronin perform at one of the more famous pubs, Shanley's, This was an excellent concert of traditional Irish music. When they took a break Richard picked up the slack and played a few well-received tunes for the audience. In an absolute switch of gears we then went to DeBarr's where an extremely heavy metal and very loud rock band from Japan was producing penetrating rhythms. Electric Eel Shock were raw,rehearsed and provided an auditory jolt to listeners. They were so incredibly loud that my husband and I drifted away after about 30. I truly was worried that my hearing would be damaged. By this time we were exhausted and headed back to the Emmet with the expectation of grabbing a good night's rest. It was the sound of Gypsy Jazz that drew us away from the plan. As we walked past the Clonakilty Hotel we were attracted to dramatically different sound of Van Django, a Gypsy Jazz band from Canada. The atmosphere was far more relaxed within the Clon hotel. Still it was difficult to find seating and we found wall space to lean against and spent better than hour absorbing this intriguing mix of jazz and gypsy style guitar work. We became instant fans.
It has been so incredibly rewarding to have both Richard and Beverly here to steer us in the right directions and to help us make heads and tales of the events. Richard has made a point of introducing me to several people, performers, CIGF organizers etc. They all seem to enjoy the story of how I got here and that I am writing a blog about my experiences. They are committed to having the festival grow and having it be a worthwhile experience for everyone. Two significant performers I have met are Steve Housand, formerly from The Little River Band and John Spillane, an Irish icon of traditional and modern folk tunes. I witnessed, from a distance of less than 12 feet, Lee Renaldo from Sonic Youth create his sonic sculptures using electric guitar and sound effects and watched true Irish traditionalists like Jim Murray perform the music they were born to play.
It has been so incredibly rewarding to have both Richard and Beverly here to steer us in the right directions and to help us make heads and tales of the events. Richard has made a point of introducing me to several people, performers, CIGF organizers etc. They all seem to enjoy the story of how I got here and that I am writing a blog about my experiences. They are committed to having the festival grow and having it be a worthwhile experience for everyone. Two significant performers I have met are Steve Housand, formerly from The Little River Band and John Spillane, an Irish icon of traditional and modern folk tunes. I witnessed, from a distance of less than 12 feet, Lee Renaldo from Sonic Youth create his sonic sculptures using electric guitar and sound effects and watched true Irish traditionalists like Jim Murray perform the music they were born to play.
Friday, September 17, 2010
The First Full Day of Festival Activities
I am writing this at some time past midnight Irish time. This little town is still quite awake. We arrived back at our hotel a few minutes ago and I thought I had better recap today's events before they become a indecipherable blur. This morning started with a relaxed pace. We slept in until around 10am, just enough time to get up and catch a breakfast here at the hotel. The Emmet serves a full breakfast as part of our fee. John has been taking full advantage by ordering a cooked meal and I have been opting for the the granola, yogurt and tea instead.
Richard had a gig teaching young people at the local Community College. Therefore we did not connect with he and Beverly until later in the evening. John and I did another stroll around town. Since it is so different from home we have been really enjoying just soaking in the atmosphere. There was a farmer's market in full gear today and it featured fresh locally caught fish. I recognized the flounder and that was all. Also there was a table full of cheeses of an incredible variety. Had we been hungry it would have been tempting. One of the featured performers of the festival, Gareth Forsyth, was playing music at the farmer's market. He is an excellent guitarist and vocalist and we enjoyed him enough to make a point of catching his pub performance this evening as well. John and I were very impressed with his playing and surprised to see how under-appreciated he seemed to be. He worked hard to entertain and it seemed everyone aside from ourselves ignored him while he played at the pub. The farmer's market folks listened more intently.
Last night Lee Ranaldo, from the Sonic Youth, opened the festival with a ticketed concert at DeBarra's Folk Club. We passed on his show, primarily because we need to control our spending. During our afternoon stroll we stopped into DeBarra's. This was our first look inside the epitome of Irish pubs. The walls inside are a veritable museum of music memorabilia, photos, instruments, and various decorative motifs. This is the pub that all other pubs wish they could be. We spoke briefly with a gentleman, whom I later learned was Ray Blackwell, one of the festival organizers. His parents are the proprietors of DBarra's Folk Club. We asked Ray whether the Ranaldo show went well. He said it was brilliant, more like a sonic artwork and a perfect way to open the festival. This left us feeling a bit empty for having missed it. According to the schedule for today, Ranaldo was due to lead a seminar at the parish hall across the road from our hotel so we headed over there for the 7pm start time. Again we were greeted with news that this seminar was a paid event and again it was not within our budget. Ray was collecting admission and since we had walked over there I figured at least a bit of friendly conversation was in order. I mentioned that I learned about the festival from Richard Gilewitz. Ray knew Richard and said "Oh yeah, you two can go on in, Richard told us that he had a couple of friends here and he's put you of the guest list and he is expected to show up after doing his sound check. What a pleasant surprise and completely unexpected! From everything I have discerned, Ray is the main "Go-To" guy for the festival.
Now for the seminar. Lee uses an electric guitar, a blue Fender Jazzmaster, to create a myriad of sounds. This guitar's cosmetic condition definitely reflects the artist's unconventional playing techniques. If this guitar were a child, Ranaldo would be arrested for child abuse. During the seminar which was a concert for the most part, he rarely played his electric guitar traditionally. The guitar was strung up by a cord and it dangled freely from the ceiling. With the guitar in this position, he used a violin bow to coax a variety of tones and sounds form the strings. At points he punctuated the sonic earscape by gently and not so gently banging the back of the guitar with the frog of the bow, producing a variety of sounds depending upon the intensity and location of the attack. He had several effects pedals and while the guitar groaned and droned he would coax even more sound from the instrument by manually adjusting, activating and deactivating the effects pedals and the amplifier. At times he propelled the dangling guitar into a circular spin around his stage area. I was impressed that he did not get smacked by the rotating instrument as he prowled the stage area.
Once released from its bondage he held the guitar by the body and trailed the headstock across the top of the amp, then across the floor resulting in a fresh barrage of sounds. He jammed a screw driver under the strings at the ninth fret, putting a new kind of tension on the strings and took advantage of this secondary bridge saddle to create a new texture of tones by playing above and below the screw driver bridge. This display of experimental music continued uninterrupted for about 40 minutes. He eventually pulled it to an end to field questions from attendees. He shared that he had a hard time quitting because the acoustics in the building were phenomenal.
We exited prior to the conclusion because we needed to head across town to The Venue in the O'Donovan Hotel. Our next stop was the Acoustic Forum which featured five guitarists including Richard. Each musician took turns playing a tune through two rounds and then sadly the time was up. More on this event in the next edition.
Part 2
The artists who participated in the Acoustic Forum were Kevin McNally who played classical and tradtional Irish tunes, Jim Murray, who also played tradtional Irish music, Sarah Cockery, who played fingerstyle and sang American folk style music, Paul Buckley who played American Blues standards and Richard Gilewitz who chose to play Walbert's "Dance" and Fahey's "Spanish Two Step". They did a round robin format where took turns playing a tune and talked about their influences. Each performer played two tunes and the time was much too quickly used up.
After the forum we took another stroll around town to check out the music scene. We attempted to see Eric Bell and Guests but this venue was completely jammed with people. Then we walked down to the The Wrastler where Gareth Forsyth was playing. He was recommended by Richard and Beverly. In contrast this venue was only sparsely populated. Gareth played his heart even though most of the people there ignored him. John and I discussed amongst ourselves about how frustrating this has to be to a musician. Being a novice, I am not certain how I would handle the situation. With my own angst about performing in public, I might actually be better off if everyone ignored me.
Richard had a gig teaching young people at the local Community College. Therefore we did not connect with he and Beverly until later in the evening. John and I did another stroll around town. Since it is so different from home we have been really enjoying just soaking in the atmosphere. There was a farmer's market in full gear today and it featured fresh locally caught fish. I recognized the flounder and that was all. Also there was a table full of cheeses of an incredible variety. Had we been hungry it would have been tempting. One of the featured performers of the festival, Gareth Forsyth, was playing music at the farmer's market. He is an excellent guitarist and vocalist and we enjoyed him enough to make a point of catching his pub performance this evening as well. John and I were very impressed with his playing and surprised to see how under-appreciated he seemed to be. He worked hard to entertain and it seemed everyone aside from ourselves ignored him while he played at the pub. The farmer's market folks listened more intently.
Last night Lee Ranaldo, from the Sonic Youth, opened the festival with a ticketed concert at DeBarra's Folk Club. We passed on his show, primarily because we need to control our spending. During our afternoon stroll we stopped into DeBarra's. This was our first look inside the epitome of Irish pubs. The walls inside are a veritable museum of music memorabilia, photos, instruments, and various decorative motifs. This is the pub that all other pubs wish they could be. We spoke briefly with a gentleman, whom I later learned was Ray Blackwell, one of the festival organizers. His parents are the proprietors of DBarra's Folk Club. We asked Ray whether the Ranaldo show went well. He said it was brilliant, more like a sonic artwork and a perfect way to open the festival. This left us feeling a bit empty for having missed it. According to the schedule for today, Ranaldo was due to lead a seminar at the parish hall across the road from our hotel so we headed over there for the 7pm start time. Again we were greeted with news that this seminar was a paid event and again it was not within our budget. Ray was collecting admission and since we had walked over there I figured at least a bit of friendly conversation was in order. I mentioned that I learned about the festival from Richard Gilewitz. Ray knew Richard and said "Oh yeah, you two can go on in, Richard told us that he had a couple of friends here and he's put you of the guest list and he is expected to show up after doing his sound check. What a pleasant surprise and completely unexpected! From everything I have discerned, Ray is the main "Go-To" guy for the festival.
Now for the seminar. Lee uses an electric guitar, a blue Fender Jazzmaster, to create a myriad of sounds. This guitar's cosmetic condition definitely reflects the artist's unconventional playing techniques. If this guitar were a child, Ranaldo would be arrested for child abuse. During the seminar which was a concert for the most part, he rarely played his electric guitar traditionally. The guitar was strung up by a cord and it dangled freely from the ceiling. With the guitar in this position, he used a violin bow to coax a variety of tones and sounds form the strings. At points he punctuated the sonic earscape by gently and not so gently banging the back of the guitar with the frog of the bow, producing a variety of sounds depending upon the intensity and location of the attack. He had several effects pedals and while the guitar groaned and droned he would coax even more sound from the instrument by manually adjusting, activating and deactivating the effects pedals and the amplifier. At times he propelled the dangling guitar into a circular spin around his stage area. I was impressed that he did not get smacked by the rotating instrument as he prowled the stage area.
Once released from its bondage he held the guitar by the body and trailed the headstock across the top of the amp, then across the floor resulting in a fresh barrage of sounds. He jammed a screw driver under the strings at the ninth fret, putting a new kind of tension on the strings and took advantage of this secondary bridge saddle to create a new texture of tones by playing above and below the screw driver bridge. This display of experimental music continued uninterrupted for about 40 minutes. He eventually pulled it to an end to field questions from attendees. He shared that he had a hard time quitting because the acoustics in the building were phenomenal.
We exited prior to the conclusion because we needed to head across town to The Venue in the O'Donovan Hotel. Our next stop was the Acoustic Forum which featured five guitarists including Richard. Each musician took turns playing a tune through two rounds and then sadly the time was up. More on this event in the next edition.
Part 2
The artists who participated in the Acoustic Forum were Kevin McNally who played classical and tradtional Irish tunes, Jim Murray, who also played tradtional Irish music, Sarah Cockery, who played fingerstyle and sang American folk style music, Paul Buckley who played American Blues standards and Richard Gilewitz who chose to play Walbert's "Dance" and Fahey's "Spanish Two Step". They did a round robin format where took turns playing a tune and talked about their influences. Each performer played two tunes and the time was much too quickly used up.
After the forum we took another stroll around town to check out the music scene. We attempted to see Eric Bell and Guests but this venue was completely jammed with people. Then we walked down to the The Wrastler where Gareth Forsyth was playing. He was recommended by Richard and Beverly. In contrast this venue was only sparsely populated. Gareth played his heart even though most of the people there ignored him. John and I discussed amongst ourselves about how frustrating this has to be to a musician. Being a novice, I am not certain how I would handle the situation. With my own angst about performing in public, I might actually be better off if everyone ignored me.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
We have arrived in Clonakilty
Wow it was truly an adventure today. I managed to get us from Dublin to Clonakilty and I don't think I did any damage to the car, maybe a few brush scratches. These roads are wild! Narrow and twisting like a deranged python. They invite aggressive shifting, slowing as you approach a corner then accelerating powerfully as you pull out of the corner. A corner that wasn't blind was the exception. I probably angered a few locals because I didn't throw caution to the wind. On most sections the speed limit is the equivalent of 60 mph. Roads and curves like these at home would be posted at no more than 40 and down to 15 on some of the curves. I have to do all the driving here because, honestly we really couldn't afford renting the car and adding another driver would be even more expensive. I survived the day and have become fairly comfortable with driving on the left but not completely so. It is anything but natural yet. The British car club folks at home would love these roads. Well even though we arrived unscathed, I am quite mentally exhausted from being on edge for every moment of the drive. I do not know how long it took. We didn't keep track of our leaving time. We left some time in the morning and arrived in Clon sometime in late afternoon. I believe we had the Garmin set to avoid tolls and we did just that. It did guide us through Dublin although and that proved to be a true baptism in managing the left hand driving thing.
Most of the day was cool and beautiful. Clouds moved briskly over head, shutting and opening the curtains on the sun. Brisk breezes from the ocean energized this activity and we got a little peek at the sea in the distance at one point. It is on our agenda to make our way down to the oceanside. Clon is an incredibly picturesque town, it's got a touristy side but not tasteless as many American tourist traps seem to be. It is a lived in town, the streets are filled with shops that cater to providing one's daily needs. As John and I strolled through a number of streets we did not see a single souvenir shop. There are posters up advertising the CIGF in most shops. I'm sure if Richard hasn't seen them yet he will be pleased to see that his name is placed in a prominent position. Somehow I have to manage to acquire at least one of these posters. Richard is doing two workshops and a performance. Ironically and conveniently his performance will be based at our hotel, The Emmet Hotel. There is another workshop I want to attend on accompanying Irish music sessions. We will be skipping the paid concerts, too expensive at 20 euros each person, each show. Neither of the featured performers are within my taste so this isn't much of a sacrifice. We stopped for a small dinner of soup at the Phoenix Bar. John Spilane is scheduled to perform at the Phoenix on Sunday and I would love to see him. He is a guitarist, duh, and a vocalist. I asked one of the locals if it gets pretty busy during this annual festival. One of the gents said "Yes it gets mental !" Packed to the gills. He said he's been considering putting a stick on the end of a cereal box, then adding some strings and participating in Saturday's attempt at breaking the world record of the most guitarists playing the same song at one time. He said he wouldn't play a real guitar because the poor guitar would need therapy after he got a hold of it. Last year there were 800+ participants. This is going to happen in the town square which is directly across the street from our hotel and overlooked by our room. When I tried to play guitar today my playing felt mediocre at best. I think I may be tired because even with jet lag, my playing was better yesterday. I immediately thought of how difficult it must be for a performer like Richard to jump into a show after spending a whole day traveling and getting from point A to B and then dealing with the pressure of putting on an excellent show. Epic fail on my part. Make a note: teenage girls of every nationality seem to have one thing in common. They are boisterously loud bunch. Currently the square is literally filled with teenagers, if this continues late into the night, we will not be getting much sleep. Where did all these kids come from? Do they have school in the morning? It seems as though they have suddenly materialized. Well I'm wrapping this up to get in some more practice.
Most of the day was cool and beautiful. Clouds moved briskly over head, shutting and opening the curtains on the sun. Brisk breezes from the ocean energized this activity and we got a little peek at the sea in the distance at one point. It is on our agenda to make our way down to the oceanside. Clon is an incredibly picturesque town, it's got a touristy side but not tasteless as many American tourist traps seem to be. It is a lived in town, the streets are filled with shops that cater to providing one's daily needs. As John and I strolled through a number of streets we did not see a single souvenir shop. There are posters up advertising the CIGF in most shops. I'm sure if Richard hasn't seen them yet he will be pleased to see that his name is placed in a prominent position. Somehow I have to manage to acquire at least one of these posters. Richard is doing two workshops and a performance. Ironically and conveniently his performance will be based at our hotel, The Emmet Hotel. There is another workshop I want to attend on accompanying Irish music sessions. We will be skipping the paid concerts, too expensive at 20 euros each person, each show. Neither of the featured performers are within my taste so this isn't much of a sacrifice. We stopped for a small dinner of soup at the Phoenix Bar. John Spilane is scheduled to perform at the Phoenix on Sunday and I would love to see him. He is a guitarist, duh, and a vocalist. I asked one of the locals if it gets pretty busy during this annual festival. One of the gents said "Yes it gets mental !" Packed to the gills. He said he's been considering putting a stick on the end of a cereal box, then adding some strings and participating in Saturday's attempt at breaking the world record of the most guitarists playing the same song at one time. He said he wouldn't play a real guitar because the poor guitar would need therapy after he got a hold of it. Last year there were 800+ participants. This is going to happen in the town square which is directly across the street from our hotel and overlooked by our room. When I tried to play guitar today my playing felt mediocre at best. I think I may be tired because even with jet lag, my playing was better yesterday. I immediately thought of how difficult it must be for a performer like Richard to jump into a show after spending a whole day traveling and getting from point A to B and then dealing with the pressure of putting on an excellent show. Epic fail on my part. Make a note: teenage girls of every nationality seem to have one thing in common. They are boisterously loud bunch. Currently the square is literally filled with teenagers, if this continues late into the night, we will not be getting much sleep. Where did all these kids come from? Do they have school in the morning? It seems as though they have suddenly materialized. Well I'm wrapping this up to get in some more practice.
just a quick note
I have spent my first day in Ireland. Spent most of it in the motel working on jet lag. Today the real adventure begins. I knew renting a car was going to be expensive but my goodness this is incredible and unfortunately it met my expectations. If you are thinking about movng to Ireland be prepared to spend at least $3000 a year on auto insurance. This is a definite argument for using public transportation. My husband is with me and it is great to have his company as we partake in this adventure.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Lots of passed time
It has been awhile since I have posted to this blog. The beginning of the school year certainly forces a change of focus. Organizing and implementing curriculum for my art classes and preparing for the next big step in my fellowship journey are on my mind regularly. At school, New Prairie High School in New Carlisle, IN, the year has begun on a positive note and NP UNplugged, the acoustic music club that I have sponsored for the previous two years is on it's way to growing. This club has a small core of students who are devoted and enthusiastic. They are all seniors and it is essential that the torch gets passed to equally interested underclassmen who will help keep the flame burning. I have floated the idea of starting an Open Mic aspect to the club and the kids are excited about that facet. In October, we will plan for our first meeting devoted to giving kids the opportunity to perform for a small audience.
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