A PUBLICATION OF GAYVILLE HALL FALL 2009 • VOL 2, ISSUE 3 The Home of Old Time Music Tickets & Info: (605) 267-2859
FallThe Brings Pop,Gayville Country, Bluegrass, Hall and BeatlesGazette to Hall ayville Hall’s ninth season climax- Kilbride and Dalton Coffey. This is our Ges with eight great, two-hour mu- fast-paced, two-hour extravaganza of sic shows staged on six Saturdays in a old-time popular song, country, blue- row from Oct. 3 through Nov. 7 and on grass, and humor. Crowds continue Nov. 21 and Dec. 5 (also Saturdays), to grow for this show. all starting at 8 p.m.. On October 31 we present We are pleased to kick off these “Planes, Trains and Automobiles: shows on October 3 with “The Public Songs of Travel and the Road,” star- Domain Tune Band’s 30th Anniversary ring the McNeills, Schwebach, and Concert,” starring fiddler Owen - De DeJong. You can expect great coun- Jong and singer-guitarist Nick Schwe- try and popular songs about the road Rapid City’s Abbey Road Band bach with Larry Rohrer on bass, and and rail -- and perhaps even the sur- their special guest, saxophonist C. J. rey and sail. It should be fun. Hall to perform in “A Celebration of Kocher, performing great tunes from The sixth Saturday show in a row, Country Classics” with her parents, the first half of the 20th century -- the on November 7, will be very special. John and Susan McNeill, Nick Schwe- songs that your parents loved. Rapid City’s acclaimed Abbey Road bach and Owen DeJong. Nick and Owen are one of the rea- Band will present “A Celebration of The ninth season at Gayville Hall sons Doug and Judi Sharples started the Beatles.” One of America’s finest will climax on Dec. 5 with a special Gayville Hall. They loved the duo Beatles tribute bands, Abbey Road treat, “A Poker Alice Christmas, with when they first heard them 30 years has opened for Asleep at the Wheel, Brenda George.” Owen and Nick’s ago and like them even more now. The Guess Who, Bobby Vee, The five-piece band and the great country So will you. Kocher, who plays and Grassroots, and Tommy James and singer will team up to perform swing- teaches saxophone at USD, is one of the Shondells. The show should be ing tunes from their eclectic reper- the best musicians around. He’ll bring one of our most memorable ever. toires and seasonal favorites. soprano, tenor and baritone instru- On Saturday, Nov. 21, pianist An- Tickets cost $12.50 at the door or ments. Don’t miss it. nie McNeill Ideker returns to Gayville $15 reserved. Call 605-267-2859. The other reason the Sharpleses started Gayville Hall, of course, was their old friends, John and Susan Mc- Happy 30th Anniversary, PDTB! Neill. Put John and Susan with Nick Tune Band Celebrates 30 Years and Owen and you’ve got...well, Gay- ville Hall’s Fab Four! On October 10 of Playing “The Good Old Songs” the foursome takes on “Waylon, Willie usicians Nick Schwebach and Owen DeJong believe that there are only and the Boys” for only the second time Mtwo types of music: good and bad. The guitarist and fiddler, who play and plans to do them proud. They first regularly at Gayville Hall, strive to play “good music,” whatever genre it may be. presented the tribute a year ago. This Fall, the dynamic duo celebrates the 30th anniversary of the found- On October 17 Mike Hilson and ing of their group, “The Public Domain Tune Band.” Schwebach and DeJong Jay Gilbertson of Yankton join Schwe- have been making good music together for at least 33 years, they say. bach and DeJong for “An Evening of The two met in 1976 or 1977 -- they can’t quite remember which year Old-Time Rock and Roll.” The boys -- when DeJong sat in with The Totally Amazing Bitsko Band, a group playing will explore great old pop tunes from country-rock and rockabilly, of which Schwebach was a member. DeJong was the ‘50s and ‘60s to the early ‘70s that offered a job with the band that night, and thus began DeJong and Schwe- have stood the test of time and still bach’s long association. sound great: songs that don’t have to At the time, the two musicians had been living in the Vermillion area for be played too darn loud in order to be years, but they hadn’t met. Both came to the area in the late 1960s to study at enjoyed...from Bill Hailey and Elvis to the University of South Dakota. Both earned English degrees. Both, oblivious the Beatles and beyond. to one another, worked their way through college playing in area bands. “The Hay Country Jamboree” re- Explains Schwebach: “Back then, you’d make $50 for a weekend of play- turns on Oct. 24 with the McNeills, ing music, and believe it or not, you could pay for most of your college that Schwebach and DeJong, and Dan way. I think it cost about $12.50 a credit hour.” continued on page 2 THE GAYVILLE HALL GAZETTE FALL 2009 • PAGE 2 continued from page 1 Before they met, both Schwe- From bech and DeJong played in the same group in Sioux Falls (at different times) before joining the Bitsko Band. the “Our lives were running parallel, but we had never met. ... Nick and HOUSE I were even in a class together at by Gayville Hall Proprietor Doug Sharples USD, but we didn’t discover that until years later,” says DeJong. Booking Talent, Schedul- As children, Schwebach and De- Nick Schwebach with Johnny Cash’s guitar. ing Shows: Difficult Tasks Jong both grew up in homes where their love of music began. he most difficult tasks for me at “I remember my Grandma would play Turkey in the Straw on the piano,” says TGayville Hall are the booking Schwebach fondly. “She was this very old woman, but she could really play. I re- of shows and the creation of show member her loosening up her hands before she sat down.” schedules. I say schedules plural DeJong’s family also had a piano, which DeJong’s mother showed him how to because in nine seasons I have yet play. But what DeJong remembers most fondly is his mother’s accordion. to create a whole year’s schedule in “It was so loud, I think that’s what I liked most about it,” DeJong laughs. advance, which is what I am presently attempting to do for 2010. At best I Schwebach and DeJong began playing their signature instruments -- the guitar have created spring, summer and fall for Schwebach and the fiddle for DeJong -- early. Schwebach was 13 or 14 when schedules, and I have only been able he got his first guitar and he taught himself to play it by picking out melodies from to do those by the skin of my teeth. popular songs of the time. DeJong’s musical education was a bit more formal; he During our first seven seasons, got his first violin at the age of 9 and studied the classical violin for several years. advance scheduling was not much of Schwebach and DeJong played together as part of the Bitsko Band until the an issue because I was sending out group broke up in 1979. It was then the two formed the Public Domain Tune Band. postcards promoting individual shows The name for the band -- and the inspiration behind the music they play -- came (or two or three upcoming shows) only from two local men whom Schwebach and DeJong say were their mentors. The a week or two in advance. If I did book two credit learning “everything they know” from these “wise men who were like gu- a show long in advance, I would list it rus. We’d just sit at their feet and try to absorb their knowledge,” Schwebach says. in our programs, but I didn’t have to These masters of music were Chet Olsen and Williard Lindstrom, whom De- publish it in an official schedule for the Jong describes as “two sides of a coin.” Olsen, a farmer in rural Wakonda, was year because I didn’t have one. an old-time fiddler and violin maker. Lindstrom was a retired professional dobro This modus operandi started musician who also played the jazz and blues fiddle. DeJong met Olsen when he to change in season eight when we moved to the area in 1969 and clicked immediately with him. stopped sending postcards and start- After DeJong met Schwebach, he introduced him to Olsen and Lindstrom. ed publishing and mailing out this oc- “We would get together and record every conversation,” says Schwebach. casional newsletter to patrons two or “We would sit around playing with them and listening to ‘78s. ... Williard used to three times a year. It is now incum- bent upon me to “get my act together” say, ‘I love those public domain tunes,’ and that’s where the name came from.” by gathering all my musical acts one Schwebach and DeJong have always been the heart of the Public Domain after another in an advance schedule. Tune Band, performing at many venues, just the two of them. In the early years, What I have done from the start Olsen and Lindstrom joined Schwebach and DeJong for gigs when they could. in booking shows has been first of all More recently, musician Larry Rohrer, whom the two know through their other to ask what John and Susan and Nick group, The Poker Alice Band, has played with the Public Domain Tune Band. and Owen already have down on their In 30 years, it’s been a sometimes rough road for the Tune Band, say Schwe- schedules so that I can start planning bach and DeJong. There have been many years since 1979 when Schwebach dates. We started Gayville Hall with and DeJong did not perform as the those four musicians as the nucleus of PDTB. They weren’t always living in the our talent. Other acts and musicians same vicinity (DeJong spent three years like Dan Kilbride, Dalton Coffey, Bren- in Nashville). In the 1980s, they both da George, and the Poker Alice Band took jobs outside music to make ends have since become part of our core meet. But their biggest struggle with the talent pool as well. PDTB was the fact that the “good old During the first four or five years songs” haven’t always been popular. of Gayville Hall, Gaynor Johnson of Today, they say, there seems to be a Canton, who is one of the founders of revival of interest in old-time music. the Sioux River Folk Festival, helped “Today, people are starting to say, continued on page 3 Owen DeJong ‘Hey, this is cool,” Schwebach says. THE GAYVILLE HALL GAZETTE FALL 2009 • PAGE 3 Experience the Beatles “Live” on Nov. 7 red, Monte, Don, and Tony -- the musi- their days at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. From Fcians who comprise The Abbey Road Band members use the same type of gui- Band, a Beatles tribute band -- may not tars the Beatles used, and, through special the look like the Beatles, but they certainly do effects, they are able to make the sound sound like them. match the sound produced by the Beatles The Rapid City-based band, which in the 1960s. Members of the band even STAGE will perform at Gayville Hall Nov. 7, plays have tongue-in-cheek British accents that by Gayville Hall MC John McNeill more than 60 Beatles tunes spot-on. they use on stage as they joke with the Close your eyes, says musician and band audience. Hall “Family” Remini- member Fred Gondzar (the John Lennon Thanks to modern technology, the character of the band), and you’ll hear a band performs songs that the Beatles cent of Family Band live Beatles concert unfold in front of you. themselves could not perform live. ayville Hall is well into its ninth sea- “We sing the Beatles note for note,” “We do ‘The Long and Winding Road,’ Gson now. All business ventures says Gondzar of the Abbey Road Band, which is a song with a lot of orchestral face daunting challenges to become which has been together since 2001. sound, including a 30-piece string sec- successful. Many don’t make it. Enter- “We sing with their inflections and emo- tion. The Beatles recorded this in the stu- tainment enterprises have a particularly difficult time of it. It’s an uphill battle tions. We have paid careful attention to dio and never performed it live,” says Gon- for them, and very often people with their stances and how they actually per- dzar. “Today, we can bring the song live to a love for entertainment are so starry- formed on stage. ... When we’re up there the audience, thanks to technology.” eyed they have little understanding of performing, I want the audience to feel The group uses electronic keyboards business. like a 22-old John Lennon is standing in through which real instruments were re- But here we are, in our ninth sea- front of them [instead of the 61-year-old corded at one time. Using this recorded son, and it’s our best so far. That’s Gondzar].” sound then allows The Abbey Road Band because Doug and Judi Sharples with The group wears matching outfits to perform complex Beatles songs from daughter Riva Jane have both a heart reminiscient of what the Beatles wore in late in the Beatles career, Gondzar said. for the stage and a business-wise de- termination for success. The combina- From the House: The Challenge of Scheduling Shows tion has brought Gayville Hall a long continued from page 2 become increasingly an old-time country way. There were some lean times, and the learning curve is still being experi- us by passing our name on to regional music venue. enced. But this is a healthy venue, and and national folk musicians on tour. He I like some variety in our shows looking ahead brings more of a smile helped us nab many great musical acts, however. That is why I created “The than a furrowed brow. including my all-time favorite, the great Hay Country Jamboree” in order to offer Over the years we’ve gained a real songwriter, singer and pianist Mike Crav- variety within the theme of old-time mu- sense of family with our audiences. er, as well as the renowned Robin and sic. It is also why I plan to try to book New folks fit in quickly, too. The music, Linda Williams and Their Fine Group, jazz, Dixieland, and old-time American the decorations, and the non-alcohol who graced our stage twice. popular song occasionally. I would love and non-smoking environment all lend In recent years, I have booked local to celebrate the music of Nat King Cole to Gayville Hall being a very pleasant musicians primarily. They regularly draw and Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Tony place to spend a Saturday night. The better crowds than touring national and Bennett, and others at Gayville Hall. call goes out, “Y’all come!”, and y’all regional acts and cost less. I always ask Finding musicians who are willing or pre- have been a’comin’. We couldn’t be John if he has any new ideas for shows. pared to do it is the hard part. How about happier. Under John’s influence, and possibly Woody Guthrie? Bob Dylan? Any tak- Susan and I like the sense of fam- also that of our patrons, Gayville Hall has ers? Give me a call. ily that’s here. We’re family oriented. From the Stage: McNeill Family Band Brought Years of Joy Our little two-person band is what’s Nick and Owen will be in the band that left of our family band. Our three chil- continued from From the Stage column night, too. It’s a show called “Country dren grew up in our family band. Annie music much anymore. I think they got Classics”. You’ll enjoy this show a lot as played piano and saxophone; Matthew enough to last them for a while yet. we go back and dust off some great old was the drummer; and Jane played pi- Annie, however, comes down from country favorites. ano. We spent a lot of time in our old Minneapolis to Gayville Hall once or There is much scheduled at Gay- Ford van driving to many places to play. twice a year to join her mother and father ville Hall for the fall and early winter of It went on for all the years the kids were for a show, and that’s a special time for this year. The calendar is also forming still at home. When I traded the van for us. She keeps her skills up, and plays for our tenth season, beginning in March, a newer one, it had 336,000 miles on it. the Hall’s beautiful grand piano. She’s 2010. Make a note to be a part of the The children are in different parts of scheduled to be on the Gayville Hall family here as often as you can. The call the country now, and they don’t play stage on November 21 with her parents. is going out to you: “Y’all come!” continued at left O
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Gayville Hall PO Box 249 Gayville, SD 57031 (605) 267-2859
Gayville Hall’s 9th season continues with eight great shows this fall!
Don’t Miss the Beatles “Live” at Gayville Hall Nov. 7! WHAT’S
INSIDE: GH’s 9th season continues...... 1 30th Anniversary of PDTB...... 1 From the House by Doug Sharples...... 2 VISIT: From the Stage by John McNeill...... 3 Beatles Tribute Band coming to GH...... 3 www.gayvillehall.com Fall Show Schedule...... 4 for updated show information.