All Things University City: Summer Music Scene

(Original publication in the UCCA Newsletter, July 2013)

UC’s summer scene is upon us and we begin to experience some familiar sights, sounds and smells that comes along with this outdoor season.

The first days after school let out, I saw a sight of what I feel is a childhood must do - the lemonade stand. Well, I was on my way to an appointment and didn’t have time, but on my way back home, I made sure to stop by the stand where Madison Menvielle, Hope Denison, John Denison, and Tyler Morton were showing signs of early entrepreneurship; selling not only lemonade, but also orange juice, and candy. Good for our neighborhood kids, and make sure to stop by and encourage any that you see.

In UC, the sounds of summer includes the many bands we get to listen to during the outdoor Summer Concert series at Standley Park. What I love is the local connection, as a number of the bands have UC residents as band members. UC’s got Rick Kerns with Teaser (July 12), Greg Zinser with Relative Minors & Friends (July 21), and Greg Pardue with two bands, Roadhouse (August 4), and Forecast (August 25). Come out and enjoy our local’s music, and it’s free courtesy of our local Standley Rec Council.

During the day, the UTC Mall also offers their Plaza Unplugged series of musicians that perform Wednesdays through Sundays, 12:00 to 2:00, in the central court. Performers include Blu Gruv, ZB Savory, Sonia Rao, Josh Domingo, and Matt & Jasmine Commerce. More info can be found on their Facebook book, and these are also free events.

The UC Library gets in on the music act too. They’re offering a Bluegrass Concert on July 31, at 6:30; the Villa Musica Women’s Chorus, August 13 at 6:30; and for the kiddos, Hullabaloo, July 17 at 1:00.

The UC library is also host to a club which has a special meaning to me -- The Accordion Club meets the 2nd and 4th Saturdays from 9:30 to 11:30. Why? As a youngster, my grandparents had visions of a grandchild prodigy who may one day grace the stages of the Lawrence Welk show. I was that grandchild, and the accordion happened to be the instrument of choice. Needless to say, I never got on that stage. Could be the fact that the accordion always seemed bigger than me. But I got some nice pictures taken, and my accordion is collecting dust in my living room. Yes, I still have it, and I used to play a mean Edelweiss.

I’m glad to know we have much more talented youth in UC. We had quite a talented bunch who performed in the pit orchestra of the CYC Theatre production of Les Miserables shown at the Lyceum Theatre. Local UC student musicians included: Allie Pilkington, Spencer Pilkington, Lee Hagaman, Yooka Kim, Kimia Nouri, Jessica Hall, Jenna Hom and Michael Baddour. Congrats to these talented musicians, who maybe will be performing at one of our local concerts one day.

In the meantime, we look forward to hearing the sounds at our Fourth of July Celebration to officially kick off the summer. I’ll see you all there, and afterwards we’ll be heading off for a traditional BBQ, where the delicious smells of summer keep me out of a bikini.