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Tag: Live Music

LilFest’s Fall Music Series – Jim Post’s “Mark Twain and the Laughing River”

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The Uptown Theatre in The First Street Community Center of Mount Vernon, Iowa is pleased to be hosting award-winning singer/songwriter/actor/historian/musician & Mark Twain interpreter, Jim Post as he performs “Mark Twain and the Laughing River” on October 8th @ 7:30 pm.

The LilFest Fall Music Series premiers its first music and theatre show.  Inspired by the little-known fact that Mark Twain sang tenor; played banjo, guitar and piano; and loved to show off at parties, Jim Post created an exceptional musical experience about Twain’s childhood.

In Mark Twain & the Laughing River, the wit and wisdom of American humorist Mark Twain comes alive as Jim blends his skills as a storyteller, actor, historian and musician to take you through Twain’s youth to his early writing career right up to the point of his first big successes. Twain’s humor takes you from dialogue to song, from stories to historical fact, from laughter to nostalgia. Post has written very effective and melodic folk songs that punctuate the stores, truly communicating Twain’s greatness.

A performer of many stripes, Jim Post wrote and performed the pop duo Friend & Lover’s “Reach Out of the Darkness” which became a Top Ten hit in the summer of 1968. During the ‘70’s and ‘80’s he was a solo songwriter performing at places like in Chicago’s Earl of Old Town and in the great festivals around the midwest and into Canada. He produced the record album Gathering at the Earl of Old Town, which included the first recording of Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans,” later performed by Arlo Guthrie and many others.

Show Details

A winner of The American Library Association Award.

“Mark Twain and the Laughing River is nothing less than brilliant, and each sentence and song is a gem.” (Smithsonian Institution)

“Jim Post is one man tour de force – part musical, part drama and thoroughly entertaining.” (Washington Post)

Note: BYOB with purchase of Uptown Theatre Sippy Cup

Cost: Suggested contribution for the Concert $20.00.  Subscription Sponsorships for the series, @ $100 each ensure center front section seating.
TICKET/SPONSORSHIP QUESTIONS: Nancy Emrich Freeman, 847-256-0000

For further information, additional photographs, interview arrangements:  www.JimPost.com or mail to: [email protected]

The LilFest Series at Uptown Theatre in the First Street Community Center brings worldwide quality performances to an intimate concert setting. These artists follow in the footsteps of performers like Nathan Bell, Chad Elliott, Phil Heywood, Radoslav Lorković, Guy Mendilow, Claudia Nygaard, James Lee Stanley, Eric Taylor, The Sweet Potatoes, Lucie Thorne and The Yearlings. Deeply rooted songs and stories of passion and power for our modern lives.

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Concert and Dance – The Stompers Play After Homecoming

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Friday evening, September 30 beginning at 9 pm, come listen and dance to ‘The Stompers’ performing in the Gym of the First Street Community Center.

The Stompers band are Iowa’s Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame recipients and the 2016 Alumni Association’s Community Impact Hall of Fame winners. Playing 60s music that all ages will enjoy!  After the Homecoming Game, come have some fun and listen or dance to some of The Stompers members playing right here in First Street Community Center’s gym where they will be playing.

Open to all, no charge.

picture of The Stompers from the 1960's

ABOUT THE STOMPERS

The Stompers band, with members Bill Bauman’66, Steve Edwards’65, Brian Harman’69, Greg Harman’65, and Randy Harman’68, are this year’s Community Impact recipients.

Jo Clark’64 says in her nomination “Before there was a Mount Vernon High School Alumni Association, there were the Stompers. This group of MVHS graduates is more than a senior citizen high school rock ‘n’ roll band. The Stompers have served as a bond between Mustangs since 1963. The Stompers returned to Mount Vernon every fall for over twenty years, bringing people from all over the United States for their performances. Classmates who hardly knew each other in high school often become friends at a Stompers Reunion Concert. The music is important, but not the most important thing in these gatherings. The spirit and camaraderie of the room trumps all. The Stompers will tell you they don’t sound like they did in the 60s, but you never hear anyone complain. To many of us, it’s almost like a fall evening at Manny’s Corner on Main Street in 1963.”

From 1963 to 1965, the Stompers stomped. These boys from Mount Vernon toured Eastern Iowa ballrooms, Danceland in Cedar Rapids, DanceMor in Swisher, and more. It all started at Manny’s Corner, an little pizza parlor, just down Mount Vernon’s Main Street from Cornell College. Friends grew to crowds, grew to lines on the sidewalk. As the British invaded, The Stompers grew their hair long. They wore tight pants, ankle boots, and turtleneck sweaters. They sang and screamed and duck-walked across the stage like animals.

Their performances at Manny’s Corner put them on the Eastern Iowa map. Before long, The Stompers had gigs every weekend and on many week nights. They earned $100 to $150 per performance. Their original song ‘I Know’ made it to the local airwaves. Girls screamed at every venue. The Stompers fronted the likes of The Animals, the Everly Brothers, and Chuck Berry.

“I Know” gained a notoriety long outliving the band. “I Know” made it as high as #19 on a number of regional charts. In recent years, “I Know” has surfaced on garage-band-loving stations and is considered by many a collector’s item and has been featured on EBay and on-line garage-band forums such as GaragePunk.com.

The summer of ‘65 brought the release of a second record “You’re Gone” by Greg that peaked at #24 on regional charts

In ‘69, Steve, Greg and Randy along and with young brother Brian Harman joining the band, opened a show for The Paul Butterfield Blues Band at Vet’s Coliseum in Cedar Rapids. This turned out to be the precursor to a series of annual reunions.

In 2006 The Stompers band was inducted in the Iowa Music Hall of Fame.

Here’s some YouTube “videos” with their music:

This event is brought to you by:

Logo for the Mount Vernon Community School District Alumni Association

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Live Music – Highway 151 Band

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Highway 151 Band's logo

Please join us for a night of live music by the Highway 151 Band performing October 1st at 7:30pm in the Uptown Theatre in the First Street Community Center in Mount Vernon, Iowa.

NOTE:  Also appearing is Tony Nickels. The band met him at their last concert and loved him, so they invited him to join them at this concert.

About the Band

a picture of Highway 151 band members

Hwy 151 Band are from the Eastern Iowa area.

They are a group of musicians who have played in numerous bands throughout the area including Stormwatch, Top Side, Westwinds, The Naked Gypsies and the Stompers.

Their three part harmonies are a highlight of their musical sound.  Their instrumentations include acoustic and bass guitar, mandolin, keyboard and percussion.

They cover several decades of music; songs like “Groovin” by The Young Rascals, Van Morrison’s “Moon Dance”, “Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash, and the classic “At Last” by the great Etta James.  They also play our originals like “Got to Be Kind” and “I’ve Got the Change” both written by Dan Hanlon.

Their website is: http://hwy151band.com/

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Live Music This Saturday – Frances Luke Accord – Modern Folk, Americana and More

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Frances Luke Accord – Modern Folk & More – 2016

The First Street Community Center in Mount Vernon, Iowa is pleased to announce that Frances Luke Accord will perform again at the Uptown Theater on Saturday, September 24th. Doors open for seating at 7pm with the show starting at 7:30pm.

This Chicago-based duo will be joined by Ann Arbor folk/singer-songwriter Chris Dupont.

These dynamic performers will be presenting a family friendly “all ages” show.

Tickets: $10 advance/$13 at the door.
You can purchase tickets in advance online here.
You can also purchase tickets by contacting Mike Smith at Bauman’s or Trude Elliott at the First Street Community Center.

Artist websites:
Frances Luke Accord: http://franceslukeaccord.com
Chris Dupont: http://www.chrisdupontmusic.com

Here are two YouTube videos with these talented performers:

About The Artists:
Frances Luke Accord is an independent Chicago-based duo hailing originally from South Bend, Indiana. Both dedicated multi-instrumentalists and attentive songwriters, Nicholas Gunty and Brian Powers distinguish their music with genre fluidity, organic acoustics and buttery harmonies. Although prevailingly a modern folk band, FLA sips copious inspiration from Americana, jazz, soul and rock.

Since forming during their senior year at the University of Notre Dame, Frances Luke Accord’s multifaceted, genre-bending approach to music has marked a boundless evolution. In December of 2012 the duo released their first record, Kandote, a not-for-profit, intercultural collaboration with the Barefoot Truth Children’s Choir of Kkindu, Uganda; an endeavor that continues to support the primary education and musical aspirations of the choir. Bringing their newfound appreciation for world/folk music to the bustling urban epicenter of Chicago in the summer of 2013, the duo has quickly garnered increasing local and regional attention for their captivating live performances and stunning self-produced releases, including the Queen for Me EP (April 2014), Veronica (October 2014), and Live @ Strobe (April 2015).

Frances Luke Accord’s music can be described as dreamlike and philosophical, haunting and whimsical. Their melodies evoke a noir film, a Spanish folktale, an enigmatic egoeye. However you pin it, something in the music is turning heads. Whether evidenced by their artist endorsement with Godin Guitars or recent $16,294 Kickstarter campaign to fund their debut full length album, Fluke (due out May 20th, 2016), Gunty and Powers’ compositions take the listener by the ear, pull the rug from beneath her feet, and leave her deliciously airborne. Listen.

What The Critics Are Saying:

‘While Simon & Garfunkel may be no longer touring, Powers and Gunty are more than talented enough to take their place.’
– Quinn Delaney, PlaylistHQ

Frances Luke Accord gave a stunning show. They are consummate musicians, with an endearingly charismatic stage presence. Their songwriting ranges from ethereal soundscapes to engaging pop folk, all performed with unerring, sensitive and expressive vocals. One never looks at the clock during their performance. In fact, time seemed to speed by with our audience crying out for not one but two encores! Like fine wine, this duo is only going to improve with age. Dont miss the chance to catch them on their rise up.
– Sandra Thompson & Sam Tuthill, Acorn Theater

About Chris Dupont:
A letter arrives in a handmade envelope…

I’ve been to hell and back again, it says. Thank you for inspiring me, and helping me achieve a sense of peace that years ago I thought would never happen.

Letters like these tend to find Ann Arbor-based singer/songwriter Chris DuPont. His ruminations on inner peace and personal growth infuse his newest album, Outlier.  Faced with the new challenge of becoming a father, DuPont bares his own difficulties with family and his own sense of belonging.

Full of his trademark vulnerability and candor, Outlier is a confession and an absolution in one.

With influences ranging from classic American songwriters like James Taylor and Tom Waits, to artists like Tycho and Philip Glass, DuPont’s sophomore effort has its roots in folk music, and its branches spreading wide across conventional genre divides. In Outlier, the classic eloquence of the 70s collides with a present-day catharsis; classic Americana themes become married to contemporary notions of self-care, and speaking your own truth. Throughout the whole work, DuPont’s focused baritone remains a constant, bringing a steadiness and reassuring cohesion in the midst of the albums at-times heavy themes.

Outlier wades deep into DuPont’s head. It is simultaneously loud, soft, angry, forgiving, danceable and upbeat, cinematic, sweeping, and immersive. His inimitable guitar style incorporates techniques from a wide array of disciplines, including body percussion, harmonics, and looping.

Chris is endorsed by Godin guitars.

Chris was a finalist at the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in 2013, and has shared stages with a host of Midwest acts, as well as national acts Edwin McCain, Brendan James, Needtobreathe, and Lucius.

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