some quotes from listeners of Counterpoint's first Midwest tour (November 2008):
Windom, MN . . ."an excellent choral group with beautifully blended voices" . . . "the spirituals were fantastic".
Hazen, ND. . ."Hazen really enjoyed these people. Their voices were superb (and) blended so well".
Columbus, NE . . . "wonderful performance".
Centerville, IA . . . "excellent!"
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Prairieland - Chapter Two
There is not much to see here but what you hear makes up for it.! ~
Postmistress, Fairfax SD (population 123)
Highlights from the past few days.
North Dakota - We're following a muddy Ford pickup complete with a cowboy hat bedecked driver across the stark plains of North Dakota, accompanied by Melissa's Cessario Evora music of the Canary Islands. The ambient sounds of Nebraska - grooves in the ribbon of highway - are a memory of yesterday. Although I thought we'd already been traveling through the plains when we drove through Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, the "Welcome to North Dakota" sign's subtitle was "home of the plains" - so, I'll keep you posted on the geographic distinctions I note - so far the difference seems to be the absence of power lines, the occasional tumbleweed blowing across the highway, and the addition of hummocks about 100 feet high dressed in snow. Could have used a ratchet strap to hold the steering wheel against the prevailing northwest wind today, but our driver, Melissa, instead elected to use it as her isometric exercise (always one to capitalize on multitasking opportunities, our sweet Melissa has taken up body sculpting training while driving).
Fairfax, NE - The juxtaposition of two consecutive signs caught our attention. The main road beckoned: "Welcome to Fairfax: home of the fishing holes - FREE!" and a quarter mile down Main Street, where we noticed a small pond off to the right, a hand-lettered sign: "Sewage lagoon - no fishing."
Kearney, NE - We have had standing ovations at six of our seven concerts. More than 4,000 people have heard us sing. We end each program with the encore: "Obey the Spirit of the Lord", featuring soprano Claire Hungerford, in a call and response format. Without exaggeration, we've sung it more than 500 times over the past 8 years, but last night, the Spirit moved Claire and she took us through a cornfield maze of improvisation that surprised all of us, and had the audience immediately on its feet at the last chord. Now, when we get lost in the van we say that we are taking an "Obey the Spirit of the Lord" detour.
Dinner in Winner, SD - Well, lunch at Shirley's diner filled us with more than just burgers yesterday - it was the unadvertised Elvis memorabilia Mecca of the Midwest. Shirley was busy cooking, but her daughter politely explained, "Mom is just a real Elvis fan - that's all."
Pierre, SD - We arrived with a couple of hours to spare before rehearsal and visited the beautiful capital of South Dakota. The architecture from 1889 was breathtaking, especially the four story interior expanse to the dome that revealed lovely paintings, stenciling, roll top desks for each member of the legislature, and magnificent wide marble central staircases. We also found the Governor¡'s mansion, which the rookie member of Counterpoint, 22-year-old Teddy Crecelius declared was BORING (he orders green pepper and pineapple pizza).
Yes, we are learning each other's quirks and one (more) of Nat's (Dr. Nathaniel G. Lew, our Yale graduate, esteemed professor of music) is that he memorizes facts from every town we stay in, seemingly instantaneously, from the ether. Since there is not a competitive bone in my body, I lackadaisically sigh and let the little factoids pass. Nevertheless, one high point of the last few days was discovering a piece of information Nat didn't already know: Barry Manilow's song, "Mandy" is about a dog. (See footnote below *) In case the rest of you are as noncompetitive as me, you may be delighted to know of other things we've discovered that "Natopedia" does not know:
- Most songs of the 70s, including "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" are by Cher.
- South Sioux City residential neighborhoods (which, while driving through, he claimed were on the authentic Lewis and Clark trail, on which we apparently were destined to make all the same mistakes that they did).
- Anything related to cooking potatoes.
Got the answer to one of my recurring questions, "Why are so many acres of corn not yet harvested?" Yesterday one of the concert patrons told me farmers are penalized at the mill if the corn has moisture content of greater than 15% , regardless of whether it's used for cattle feed or ethanol.
**Notable store names**
Gas 'n Git
Keep-U-Neat Cleaners and Beauty Salon
Sooper Dooper Market
Jackie's Kurl Shack
**Local signage**
Highway sign outside O'Neill, NE ~ Attention: Telecopier Permits Required
Ramkota Hotel of Pierre ~ For your convenience, we have rags available for your use. We ask that you please do not use our good towels, hand towels, or wash cloths to clean your guns, boots or dogs.
**From the local papers**
Voices of the Sandhills (SD) - Introducing Mike Vaughn, the Singing Cowboy Pastor, or, to be more accurate, a minister of the Lord, who sings country western gospel music.
Kearney Daily (NE) - Sauerkraut casserole may be what's for dinner tonight.
The Mobridge Tribune (ND) (obituaries) - Edith Traversie danced with Lawrence Welk at age 17, a highlight of her younger years. In addition to being a mother to 15 children, Edith was a homemaker.
Mary Lou excelled as a breadmaker. She was especially noted for making the most wonderful fry bread and lima beans.
** Recent random comments made in the two vans **
- The rolling hills of NE have so much more character than the flat, flat plains of IA.
- A unison cry of glee spontaneously erupted as we caught sight of a field of itty bitty baby bison
- Oh! A Japanese car! (North Dakota had by far the most Buicks per capita of any state).
- There's a long load of poop in that truck!
- Hey - that looks like the turn: a straight road that goes to nowhere! - "What's that?" "It's a combine." "What's that?"
- My camera only takes pictures of the dashboard.
- It's a good thing we have mile markers so we know we're actually moving.
- Hey look! A tree!
Footnote:
* In the interest of full disclosure and the need to be VERY precise, at least as far as the Natopedia is concerned, I double-fact-checked my proclamation that the song Mandy was about a dog. I was wrong. Laurie Wheeler, a member of the Barry Manilow, International Fan Club for 30 years, and Owner and Co-Moderator of the All4BarryManilow Group set me straight. First, the original title of "Mandy" was "Brandy," and Scott English and Richard Kerri wrote it. Scott English says that Brandy was about a dog in the booklet included with Barry Manilow's "The Complete Collection" Box Set. But Laurie found out how that story began. During the year Scott had his eight minutes of fame with his own rendition of "Brandy," a reporter awakened him at 7:00 A.M. He wanted to know who "Brandy" was. Scott recalls he would have said anything to get rid of him, so spat out the first thing that came to mind. "It was about a dog like Lassie and I had sent her away. Now you go away!" and hung up on him. So now, you know "Brandy" was not written about a dog at all.
Postmistress, Fairfax SD (population 123)
Highlights from the past few days.
North Dakota - We're following a muddy Ford pickup complete with a cowboy hat bedecked driver across the stark plains of North Dakota, accompanied by Melissa's Cessario Evora music of the Canary Islands. The ambient sounds of Nebraska - grooves in the ribbon of highway - are a memory of yesterday. Although I thought we'd already been traveling through the plains when we drove through Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, the "Welcome to North Dakota" sign's subtitle was "home of the plains" - so, I'll keep you posted on the geographic distinctions I note - so far the difference seems to be the absence of power lines, the occasional tumbleweed blowing across the highway, and the addition of hummocks about 100 feet high dressed in snow. Could have used a ratchet strap to hold the steering wheel against the prevailing northwest wind today, but our driver, Melissa, instead elected to use it as her isometric exercise (always one to capitalize on multitasking opportunities, our sweet Melissa has taken up body sculpting training while driving).
Fairfax, NE - The juxtaposition of two consecutive signs caught our attention. The main road beckoned: "Welcome to Fairfax: home of the fishing holes - FREE!" and a quarter mile down Main Street, where we noticed a small pond off to the right, a hand-lettered sign: "Sewage lagoon - no fishing."
Kearney, NE - We have had standing ovations at six of our seven concerts. More than 4,000 people have heard us sing. We end each program with the encore: "Obey the Spirit of the Lord", featuring soprano Claire Hungerford, in a call and response format. Without exaggeration, we've sung it more than 500 times over the past 8 years, but last night, the Spirit moved Claire and she took us through a cornfield maze of improvisation that surprised all of us, and had the audience immediately on its feet at the last chord. Now, when we get lost in the van we say that we are taking an "Obey the Spirit of the Lord" detour.
Dinner in Winner, SD - Well, lunch at Shirley's diner filled us with more than just burgers yesterday - it was the unadvertised Elvis memorabilia Mecca of the Midwest. Shirley was busy cooking, but her daughter politely explained, "Mom is just a real Elvis fan - that's all."
Pierre, SD - We arrived with a couple of hours to spare before rehearsal and visited the beautiful capital of South Dakota. The architecture from 1889 was breathtaking, especially the four story interior expanse to the dome that revealed lovely paintings, stenciling, roll top desks for each member of the legislature, and magnificent wide marble central staircases. We also found the Governor¡'s mansion, which the rookie member of Counterpoint, 22-year-old Teddy Crecelius declared was BORING (he orders green pepper and pineapple pizza).
Yes, we are learning each other's quirks and one (more) of Nat's (Dr. Nathaniel G. Lew, our Yale graduate, esteemed professor of music) is that he memorizes facts from every town we stay in, seemingly instantaneously, from the ether. Since there is not a competitive bone in my body, I lackadaisically sigh and let the little factoids pass. Nevertheless, one high point of the last few days was discovering a piece of information Nat didn't already know: Barry Manilow's song, "Mandy" is about a dog. (See footnote below *) In case the rest of you are as noncompetitive as me, you may be delighted to know of other things we've discovered that "Natopedia" does not know:
- Most songs of the 70s, including "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" are by Cher.
- South Sioux City residential neighborhoods (which, while driving through, he claimed were on the authentic Lewis and Clark trail, on which we apparently were destined to make all the same mistakes that they did).
- Anything related to cooking potatoes.
Got the answer to one of my recurring questions, "Why are so many acres of corn not yet harvested?" Yesterday one of the concert patrons told me farmers are penalized at the mill if the corn has moisture content of greater than 15% , regardless of whether it's used for cattle feed or ethanol.
**Notable store names**
Gas 'n Git
Keep-U-Neat Cleaners and Beauty Salon
Sooper Dooper Market
Jackie's Kurl Shack
**Local signage**
Highway sign outside O'Neill, NE ~ Attention: Telecopier Permits Required
Ramkota Hotel of Pierre ~ For your convenience, we have rags available for your use. We ask that you please do not use our good towels, hand towels, or wash cloths to clean your guns, boots or dogs.
**From the local papers**
Voices of the Sandhills (SD) - Introducing Mike Vaughn, the Singing Cowboy Pastor, or, to be more accurate, a minister of the Lord, who sings country western gospel music.
Kearney Daily (NE) - Sauerkraut casserole may be what's for dinner tonight.
The Mobridge Tribune (ND) (obituaries) - Edith Traversie danced with Lawrence Welk at age 17, a highlight of her younger years. In addition to being a mother to 15 children, Edith was a homemaker.
Mary Lou excelled as a breadmaker. She was especially noted for making the most wonderful fry bread and lima beans.
** Recent random comments made in the two vans **
- The rolling hills of NE have so much more character than the flat, flat plains of IA.
- A unison cry of glee spontaneously erupted as we caught sight of a field of itty bitty baby bison
- Oh! A Japanese car! (North Dakota had by far the most Buicks per capita of any state).
- There's a long load of poop in that truck!
- Hey - that looks like the turn: a straight road that goes to nowhere! - "What's that?" "It's a combine." "What's that?"
- My camera only takes pictures of the dashboard.
- It's a good thing we have mile markers so we know we're actually moving.
- Hey look! A tree!
Footnote:
* In the interest of full disclosure and the need to be VERY precise, at least as far as the Natopedia is concerned, I double-fact-checked my proclamation that the song Mandy was about a dog. I was wrong. Laurie Wheeler, a member of the Barry Manilow, International Fan Club for 30 years, and Owner and Co-Moderator of the All4BarryManilow Group set me straight. First, the original title of "Mandy" was "Brandy," and Scott English and Richard Kerri wrote it. Scott English says that Brandy was about a dog in the booklet included with Barry Manilow's "The Complete Collection" Box Set. But Laurie found out how that story began. During the year Scott had his eight minutes of fame with his own rendition of "Brandy," a reporter awakened him at 7:00 A.M. He wanted to know who "Brandy" was. Scott recalls he would have said anything to get rid of him, so spat out the first thing that came to mind. "It was about a dog like Lassie and I had sent her away. Now you go away!" and hung up on him. So now, you know "Brandy" was not written about a dog at all.
Friday, November 14, 2008
from Marybeth: Prairieland Chapter One:
Flat, beige, straight, and overcast.
Those paying attention noticed a new adjective in the subject line. A bend in the road takes on a whole new level of excitement out here. We’ve traveled through Iowa (Des Moines), Minnesota (Worthington), Nebraska (Columbus), and South Dakota (Yankton). This chapter contains the highlights so far (it’s short).
Yesterday we got in the white Dodge Grand Caravan, spied Nebraska 200 miles away, and then spent the next 4.5 hours driving toward it. We had our largest concert crowd ever in Columbus NE (1260 people in the audience – sold out) – not bad for a town with a total population of 21,000! We’ve now arrived at the cow capital of South Dakota: Yankton. En route, we experienced a momentary confluence of color, curves and altitude: a red barn appeared at a bend where Highway 81 had a perceptible rise.
My favorite Midwestern store names so far: the Latte Lizard (a drive-through coffee shop), the ubiquitous the Kum and Go (a convenience store chain); ShopKo (the Midwest Kmart), and the Buggy Bath (car wash).
Random comments made in our van:
That is an interesting silo.
I wonder why they harvest their corn like that?
THAT is a golf course!
I must confess the Midwest is surprising me with more cultural diversity and spice than I had ever imagined. Our first night, in search of sustenance, we cruised the strip near our hotel, turned away from the 75 minute wait at the Ground Round (everyone in town had gotten there ahead of us), and ventured into downtown Worthington, MN in search of “the Mexican restaurant”. We could not find it – but the downtown pipes country and western music from its streetlight speakers, and while doing a hoedown to keep warm we discovered an Ethiopian Restaurant where we were the only patrons. We ordered one of everything on the one copy of the menu available and were treated to spicy beef, fiery chicken and various vegetable dishes accompanied by fresh njera (rolled up, spongy bread that doubled as our silverware).
Yes, we are having fun and laughing often. I will be in touch again before the end of the week (it takes a few days to store up enough information to send). Your questions and comments are welcome if your curiosity is piqued by any of this chapter.
Much love,
Marybeth
p.s. Mom Reese’s Pittsburgh saying: “go outside and blow the stink off!” came to mind as I spent 90 minutes walking the perimeter of Lake Okabena in a 35 mph gale - the home of the 2008 Windsurfing National Championships. A heron and I were the only life forces in evidence. My first of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes …. only 9,999 to go….
Those paying attention noticed a new adjective in the subject line. A bend in the road takes on a whole new level of excitement out here. We’ve traveled through Iowa (Des Moines), Minnesota (Worthington), Nebraska (Columbus), and South Dakota (Yankton). This chapter contains the highlights so far (it’s short).
Yesterday we got in the white Dodge Grand Caravan, spied Nebraska 200 miles away, and then spent the next 4.5 hours driving toward it. We had our largest concert crowd ever in Columbus NE (1260 people in the audience – sold out) – not bad for a town with a total population of 21,000! We’ve now arrived at the cow capital of South Dakota: Yankton. En route, we experienced a momentary confluence of color, curves and altitude: a red barn appeared at a bend where Highway 81 had a perceptible rise.
My favorite Midwestern store names so far: the Latte Lizard (a drive-through coffee shop), the ubiquitous the Kum and Go (a convenience store chain); ShopKo (the Midwest Kmart), and the Buggy Bath (car wash).
Random comments made in our van:
That is an interesting silo.
I wonder why they harvest their corn like that?
THAT is a golf course!
I must confess the Midwest is surprising me with more cultural diversity and spice than I had ever imagined. Our first night, in search of sustenance, we cruised the strip near our hotel, turned away from the 75 minute wait at the Ground Round (everyone in town had gotten there ahead of us), and ventured into downtown Worthington, MN in search of “the Mexican restaurant”. We could not find it – but the downtown pipes country and western music from its streetlight speakers, and while doing a hoedown to keep warm we discovered an Ethiopian Restaurant where we were the only patrons. We ordered one of everything on the one copy of the menu available and were treated to spicy beef, fiery chicken and various vegetable dishes accompanied by fresh njera (rolled up, spongy bread that doubled as our silverware).
Yes, we are having fun and laughing often. I will be in touch again before the end of the week (it takes a few days to store up enough information to send). Your questions and comments are welcome if your curiosity is piqued by any of this chapter.
Much love,
Marybeth
p.s. Mom Reese’s Pittsburgh saying: “go outside and blow the stink off!” came to mind as I spent 90 minutes walking the perimeter of Lake Okabena in a 35 mph gale - the home of the 2008 Windsurfing National Championships. A heron and I were the only life forces in evidence. My first of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes …. only 9,999 to go….
Monday, November 10, 2008
Who's on the road!
The road crew consists of sopranos Claire and Marybeth, altos Melissa and Linda, tenors Nat and Teddy, and basses Brett and Eric, along with Robert of course, and the indefatigable Louise!
Hopefully we'll get an update from the road soon; how's the weather out there, all?!
roger
Hopefully we'll get an update from the road soon; how's the weather out there, all?!
roger
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Minnesota!
We have a faux pas du jour tour item: Turns out Brett brought two pairs of right shoes, his ubiquitous Birkenstocks!
We ate at the Queen of Sheba, an Ethiopian restaurant in downtown Worthington, Minnesota. The downtown seems fairly dead, as sprawl has taken over out of town with box stores, Pizza Huts, etc.,--everyone was at the Ground Round on the strip on a Friday evening.
Instead, we were the only diners at this restaurant, where one cook made all 8 dishes on the menu for us, and we ate family style, on a oilcloth clad table with Al Jareera news in the background. It was wonderful.
Our first concert tonight, in nearby Windom. Bob has called a rehearsal for this afternoon, for some polishing. The acoustics right by the pool are great, but he'll probably insist on a real room!
Linda
We ate at the Queen of Sheba, an Ethiopian restaurant in downtown Worthington, Minnesota. The downtown seems fairly dead, as sprawl has taken over out of town with box stores, Pizza Huts, etc.,--everyone was at the Ground Round on the strip on a Friday evening.
Instead, we were the only diners at this restaurant, where one cook made all 8 dishes on the menu for us, and we ate family style, on a oilcloth clad table with Al Jareera news in the background. It was wonderful.
Our first concert tonight, in nearby Windom. Bob has called a rehearsal for this afternoon, for some polishing. The acoustics right by the pool are great, but he'll probably insist on a real room!
Linda
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