'Wayne' Audience May Have Use for their Tape Decks

Kids who attend Wednesday's Wayne from Maine concert at Birch Meadow Elementary School might find use for their cassette decks. No, not their iPods, not their CD players; their cassette decks.

Wayne Read, also known as Wayne from Maine, said he usually awards one or more Wayne from Maine cassettes as prizes for dancing contests during his show.

"A lot of kids haven't even seen cassettes," he said. "We don't want to make it too serious. The whole thing is done in pure fun… We're not looking for 'Dancing with the Stars' here."

Each song he plays during the one-hour show will include some kind of audience participation, he said, whether it's asking kids to make moose antlers with their hands during 'MoosAchoosetts,' or inviting one child on stage to sing along with 'Clark the Toothless Shark.' He will also distribute percussion instruments including egg shakers and tambourines.

Read, who will be accompanied by percussionist Jimmy James the Koonga-Boonga Man, said he's familiar with Reading. He's played in the town yearly for nearly a decade, he said, and has been running his Wayne from Maine businesses for 17 years.