Hartland High School Singer to Open Concert for Dick Siegel & The Brandos

senior Samantha Parks' career goal is to become a math teacher, but she'll be living out what could be the start of bigger dreams this Saturday singing on stage of the venerable as the opening act for Dick Siegel & The Brandos.

"I've never opened for anyone before," said the shy 18-year-old Parks, who already has been performing at various open mic locations including in Hartland, on WCXI-AM in Fenton and in Frankenmuth. "I'll probably be nervous, but it's going to be really cool and I'm excited. It's always nice to watch other performers and pick up some tips."

Parks, who classifies her sound as folk-pop, will perform a 30-minute set and has six of her original songs lined up for the event. She'll be followed by the act headlined by Siegel, an Ann Arbor musician for more than 30 years and member of the Detroit Music Hall of Fame. He'll be joined with his new band members, Dave Roof and Brian Delaney.

"Brandos is also a wonderful musician. He is a slice-of-life musician," said Barb Weisenburg, organizer and one of the founders of the Kettle Coffee House concert series. "I know I bought one of his CDs 'cause he had a great song about a waitress and my daughter was a waitress at the time. He has a good feeling about what is going on in the world today. There is humor and some commentary on what is going on around him."

Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door, with those 11 and under free of charge. Participants who attend will also be supporting the Gleaners food bank as 10 percent of the concert profits will go to support the charity.

Saturday's event is one of the last Kettle concerts for the year. The nonprofit works to bring music to the community in a safe, affordable and fun atmosphere.

"We wanted to keep live music alive," Weisenburg said. "And also create an affordable and fun family event, so 11 and under are free. It's good entertainment for the whole family."

Weisenburg is pleased to include Parks, whose voice she described as heartfelt and touching. "Samantha is a wonderful songwriter and singer," she said.

In her performances on WCXI that can be seen on YouTube, Parks said she wrote one song about her grandfather and another that was inspired after reading the first book of the Twilight teen vampire series.

"I don't have all that much drama in my life," Parks said about inspiration for her song lyrics. "So I write from other people's experiences, and definitely my own feelings, too. But you take from their emotions and you almost feel how they're feeling. My songs aren't necessarily love songs, but more about life in general, just things that everyone goes through."

Yet not everyone goes through the things that Parks has over the past few months. Even though her mother had always encouraged her to sing in front of people, Parks explained she was shy growing up and would only sing for people she knew. After finally agreeing to sing vocals for a songwriter friend at an open mic night earlier this year, Parks was able to overcome much of her shyness and was asked to keep coming back.

"My first real performance was the talent show and then at the Celtic Kettle," Parks said. "That was the first time Barb saw me. They were very supportive. I was so surprised that anything would come of that, but so now we have all these different options."

Parks is also excited about meeting her first famous act in the form of Dick Siegel & The Brandos.

"It was always just a pipe dream, but it just keeps building," she said. "Everywhere I go there's someone who sees you and all of this helps me so much with my performing. I'm still shy, but it's definitely not like it was before."