WEST HARTFORD YOUTH MUSIC SHOWCASE - WHYMS - June 9th - 2018

West Hartford Youth Music Showcase, also known as WHYMS, is run by a few talented teenagers to promote musicianship and creativity for area youth.

It is planned for June 9th, 2018 at West Hartford’s Blue Back Square. The show will run from 11:45 am to 8:30 PM this year and will host 13 youth acts ranging from piano soloists to 6 piece rock bands.

Brennen Ravenberg, age 16, a talented guitarist who has been gigging out from New York to Boston for the last four years wanted to give others his age the opportunity to perform in front of a crowd. He reached out to his band-mate, Kallen Mac Colbert, age 15, an experienced percussionist, to see if this could happen with the gear they already own and perform with.

Early in 2016, these two kids, then ages 12 and 11, both of West Hartford, distributed flyers, told musician friends about what they were planning and got the word out. They reserved downtown, West Hartford's Blue Black gazebo stage on the same day that Celebrate West Hartford was happening, hoping to increase foot traffic.

These 2 kids put together amps, sound boards, with lots of power strips. They enlisted the help of some parent’s trucks and trailers, designed some logos, and made some banners, all on a limited budget. Some West Hartford businesses were even asked to help pay for the printing of flyers and the boys included coupons for those businesses on their flyers! They wanted at least 5 or 6 acts to play that afternoon. The response was overwhelming and they finalized the schedule with a whopping 14 acts. This included acapella groups, Indie duos, jazz trios and even a Rock band from as far away as Boston journeyed in…and the June, WHYMS 2016 was born.

For WHYMS 2018 – the boys continue to build upon experiences with their rock band, GRaviToNiK. They have been performing in from of large and small crowds all over New England and hauling gear for 4 years. Brennen and Kallen both say: “There have been some venues that have a “pay to play” policy, whereas the band needs to sell tickets or pay 100s of dollars to perform. GRaviToNiK does not pay to play and neither should our musician friends…if people want to be entertained, they’ll come to see us…and they have”. The duo wants WHYMS to always be free. Free to perform and free to watch.

“The drums, amps, speakers and mics are all top quality gear and we include it all” –says Brennen. “We turn the Blue Back gazebo into what looks like a stage, with sound deadening carpet, a back-drop and a load in / load out area”

Kallen chimes in: “We know what it’s like to have to trek gear around back-stage tripping over wires and drums…We want smooth change-outs between acts, and we’re showing other bands that this can really be done without headaches”

Brennen adds: “BUT, you have to be on-time and follow the a few rules; start, when you say you’re gonna start, and end when the schedule says – these are common courtesy rules to make for a successful show – some bands already get it, others are learning the respectful side of performance!”

The 2018 lineup is complete and includes the following acts: Tuesday Band, Connectic Sound, Casper Watson, Cotton Mouth, J-Dee, Sarah and the Sundays, Mariah Roberto, Infinity ends, Triniti White, The Incidents, Jasmine Dang, Band2, and the day ends with GRaviToNiK going on at 7 pm.

Come, cheer on these kids, and be part of the crowd they deserve!

If you are a musician, business, or just love the idea of WHYMS and promoting good musicianship in our local youth? - Feel free to reach out to westhartfordyouthmusicshowcase@gmail.com for how you can get involved.

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