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University Daily Kansan, October 20, 1981
Spare time
Anything goes in 'buffalo grass' band
By DIANE MAKOVSKY Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
Alfred Packer was alive and well and eating his comrades in the 1870s, but the Lawrence band that bears his name is not trying to canonize the only U.S. citizen ever convicted of cannibalism.
Jim Brothers, band member and originator of the band's name, the Alfred Parker Memorial Band, said recently that the name was chosen because, "Nothing we do can be as bad."
Packer ate his five comrades while on a gold-hunting expedition in Colorado after the group got lost in the wilderness. He said he had killed two rangers and one man he had killed the other members of the group.
RICK KRAUSE, harmonia player and
musician of the band, said the band was not just
political, but also a musical one.
"We're more diverse than just being a band."
"Koease said." "We're show-oriented. Anything goes."
The entertainment includes Brothers, washboard player, clogging or "hoofing." Clogging is a kind of dancing that is done to bluegrass music.
The band also uses the limber jack, a little wooden man who, with the help of a band member, dances on a board. The band uses yodeling in performances, and at festivals, it makes its entrance with a small parade that includes a Kansas state flag.
ABOUT THE theatrics, Krause said, "It's
nothing totally off the wall, but then it's not the wallpaper."
The antics may be fun, but the band members in the band because they enjoy music, Karaoke, and singing.
Most of the music the band plays is old timey of the styles that came before bluegrass. But, Krause said, the band also does songs similar to gospel music, Irish trish fiddle tunes and old cowboy
BROTHERS SAID he believed the band was "a kind of cult." Midwest, calling its musical style "buffalo graffiti," said he.
Krause said that some songs lent themselves to fun, light interpretations, but that the band's music was better.
The band has many older fans, and "they don't want to hear a mockery of the songs they grew up with."
The band's repertoire of musical styles requires a variety of instruments.
Perhaps in honor of the band's namesake, it uses the rattlesbones. These two flat wood pieces are held in one band, and by shaking the wrist, they can be thrown out with sound similar to that made when playing spoons.
OTHER INSTRUMENTS include a nose礼服, stand-up bass mandolin, banjo ukulele, harp keyboard, percussion instruments.
"We mostly pay for our playing," Krause said. The band usually plays for benefits.
"We're not in it for the money. Definitely not," he said.
However, the group is not adverse to getting
paid. He said that for one job, the band received
pay for pay for a good dinner and beer for its members.
The lack of paying jobs does affect the band. It does not have a sound system, so it either plays without one or uses whatever is available at the place it is performing.
Five band members work full-time, and two are students. In addition to Brothers and Krause, the members are: Valerie and Mike Miller, Doug Dubois, Jim Huddimont and Pat Olkowski.
KRAUSE SAID the group was pretty informal about its arrangements, and that people who were interested in having the band perform could contact any band member.
He also said that there were times when some band members could not make a performance, and that either the band played without a few members or found substitutes.
Brothers said that he would have liked to apply for a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, before Reagan's budget cuts were effaced. He says the schools and teachers teach its style of music.
Brothers, who has performed with other groups at the Winfield Bluegrass Festival, would be asked to perform. But he said the band needed to perform more and get a larger follow before that could happen.
A few weeks ago, the band played at the Kansas Folk Life Festival in Topeka. It played 45 minutes of encores, Brothers said, and "w when it leaves, so you better come back!"
Harps make heavenly music during regional conference
By SUSAN JEZAK Staff Reporter
The 20 harpists who performed in Swarthout Recital Hall Saturday night as part of the Midwestern Regional Harp Conference are assured a spot in heaven. Each harp had its own voice and together they rose and fell like a choir of angels.
The concert was the culmination of the conference which took place Saturday and Sunday. About 100 people were present to hear the 20-horse ensemble, the 6-horp Kansas University jazz ensemble, and its soloists. Peers performed included classical arrangements, langes and modern compositions.
Fifty to 75 harp enthusiasts from as far away as Colorado Springs participated in workshops and demonstrations at the conference.
The participants were given advice on how to get a job playing the harp, how to prepare for auditions and how to compose their own music. There was advice from students who competed in the harpists' championship. The harpists do until they are able to play full time and a demonstration of a Paraguayan harp.
BUT THE STAR of the conference was undoubtedly Harvi Griffin, a professional harpist who has played all over the world.
playing at the White House 28 times, he gave tips on how to turn professional.
Griffin conducted a masterclass workshop for harpists who are or want to be professionals. Calling on his vast experiences, which include
"You must think money," he said. "Money and appearance are very necessary to being a professional. My first harp teacher, Velma Froude, told me. 'Don't play for your own church for free. Harvi. You get money. You can play for play free for your own church and not others.'"
Griffin's reputation is primarily as a pop
paintist, but he plays classical, clayspoil, jazz and
bass.
"Who would have thought 10 years ago that harps would be playing country western? But if you want to eat, you play country on your harp," he said.
GRIFFIN ALSO talked about problems of playing in cocktail lounges and clubs, technique and the importance of joining the musicians union. He practiced three to 10 hours a day and takes his harp with him to avoid being away from it for more than a day. The hours of practice were evident when he played several sonics for the audience.
"Just remember, this harp travels a whole bunch," he said. But his mastery of the instrument overcame the harp's out-of-tuness as he glided from "Satin Doll" through a Gershwin-Betheow medley and "You Needed Me" to "Send in the Clowns."
He guided nervous semi-professionals through pieces they had chosen, giving supportive advice and encouragement.
"As Velma said, 'You smile when you make mistakes, or in the case of Harvi, you downright grin,' "' Griffin said.
on campus
TODAY
THE CAMPUS RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVE,
sponsored by the Panhelenic Association and
the Interfraternity Council, will be from 9 a.m. to
3 p.m. in the Kansas Union Ballroom.
THE PEACE CORPS will present a film, "The Toughest Job You'll Ever Love," p. 74 in p. 405 of the magazine.
THE CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CHRIST will meet at 7 p.m. in the Jayhawk Room of the
THE TAU SIGMA STUDENT DANCE CLUB will meet at 7.m. in 242 Robinson Center.
THE ART EDUCATION ASSOCIATION will meet at 7:30 p.m. in the Lawrence Art Center, 1546 W. 27th St., New York, NY 10019.
THE STUDENTS ANTI-NUCLEAR ALLIANCE will present a Non-Violence Training Workshop at 7:30 p.m. in the Walnut Room of the Union.
THE CAMPUS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
He will be held. Study and fellowship at 7:30
n.p.m. (Monday-Friday).
THE DEATH AND DYING SUPPORT
GRANT CENTER
Lawrence Catholic Center, 1813 Cressen Rd.
TOMORROW
THE UNIVERSITY FORUM will feature Dick Wright, associate professor of music history, at 11:45 in the Ecumenical Christian Ministries Center, 1204 Oread.
THE BIOLOGY SEMINAR will feature Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University, speaking on "The Population Biology of Euphydres Butterflies," at noon in the Forum Room of the Union.
The Kansan welcomes announcements of events on campus or sponsored by campus groups. Availability of space dictates the number of announcements that will be run each day. Submit announcements to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Flint Hall.
Drawing by Jim Brothers
British actors to dramatize Hardy
Three performers affiliated with the British Broadcasting Corp. will give a series of dramatic presentations based on the poems and novels of the English author, Thomas Hardy, at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Forum Room of the Kansas Union.
The presentation, called "An Evening with Thomas Hardy," will feature a presentation by Desmond Hawkins, a celebrated author and lecturer, of illustrations from some of Hardy's novels and a presentation of Hardy's poems by Douglas Leach, a specialist in the novel art of Hardy's novels, and Pauline Wynn, an author of many English radio plays and documentaries.
The performance, in two sections about 50 minutes each, was originally designed for literary festivals, arts centers and colleges in England such as the Bath Festival, the Charnwood Arts Festival, the Hardy Society's arts Council of Great Britain and several tours sponsored by the Arts Council of Great Britain.
Leach, who worked from 1963 to 1968 as a full-time announcer and news reader at the
BBC's Bristol Studios, has recently done television commentaries and other broadcasts in a series of poetry programs for the BBC.
Hawkins, who worked for the BBC from 1945 to 1970, has presented the Hardy program to colleges and arts centers in England and has written several books on the subject. He also presented a number of television films and has lectured widely. He won the Society of Authors Radio Award for the best dramatization in 1976 and also in 1978 when he presented "The Woodlanders" to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Hardy's death.
Wynn has written various radio plays and documentaries for the BBC and has toured for the Arts Council in Great Britain in "An Evening with Thomas Hardy."
The program, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the departments of English, speech and drama and radio, Music and Library. The library and the radio station KANU-F.M.
Tau Sigma
Annual Dance
Symposium
Oct. 24, 8:30-5:30
Room 242 Robinson
See you there!
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