VOCAL Showcase June 2009

Showcase 215  was a big night for music and an incredible display of VOCAL talent.  A fantastic crowd showed up to hear the wonderful performances by Dave Pollard with Triad and to hear the unique sounds of Bill Wellons.

Each month, VOCAL hosts at least two original artists on the showcase stage at Ricbrau’s TapHouse.  Come join us each 3rd Monday of the month at the TapHouse for the company of some fine songwriters and performers along with some of the best micro-brew and fine culinary creations.  Don’t forget to check out the VOCAL podcast each month on the blog.

The evening’s MC was John Ellis, who began the festivities with his rock-and-roll song ‘In My Place’ about the person who enters a relationship without ever giving it a chance.  After the completion of the performance, the crowd responded with a great cheer and enthusiastic applause.

After John’s performance, the evening was turned over to Bill Wellons who performed a solid set of piano based songs, some sad and mournful, and some of them upbeat and fun.  The song ‘Best Friend’ had a wonderful line ‘…I’ll get the leash…we’ll go out walkin’ just you and me…’ reminded me of one of my old friends who has passed.  ‘She’s Still My Baby’ had a great feel to it as Bill’s fingers tickled the ivories and the song said ‘…she says she’ll kill me, but she ain’t killed me yet’.  The mood then turned to reverent contemplation as Bill reflected on the stories of some elderly persons in ‘The Old Folks Home’.  Top tapping and a more joyful spirit took over as Bill played ‘Heartsick Blues’.  Bill closed out with a hot little instrumental ‘Lickity Split’ that had somewhat of a Ragtime sound to my ears.  Thanks so much to Bill for a wonderful performance.  You can learn more about Bill at his recently launched website www.billwellons.com .

Then, without much delay, our featured performer Dave Pollard took the stage with fellow performers Dale Payne and Vickie Payne as the trio Triad.  And from the first song of the set ‘Processional (Joyce’s Theme)’ to the last, Triad gave the crowd an incredible performance.  Dave is a wonderfully creative musician on the acoustic guitar, producing interesting riffs or melodies that add a lot to the song’s sound.  Combining his guitar skills with the talented accompaniment of Dale and Vickie Payne, Triad produces a full, rich sound that captures the audiences heart and imagination.  The vocal abilities of the trio were on dispaly in the second song of the set ‘Lucky’, which had some amazing vocal harmony.  ‘Rock Me in the Cradle’ from Dave’s CD Ocracoma,  was a welcome favorite for me, bringing back memories of other Dave Pollard performances.  ‘Church of the Mind’ is from the CD Perfect Poetry, and is an inspirational song about being able to believe what you believe wherever you find yourself.  ‘Leavin’ Town’ is another instrumental from Perfect Poetry, which was followed up by a Dale Payne creation ‘Dear Ann Marie’ a tender ballad that included wonderful vocal harmony by the trio.  Dave’s song ‘Reach Out Your Hand’  was written for his sister at a time when he wanted to encourage her to reach out to people for support.  Triad closed out the night with ‘Pictures of You’ and ‘Goodbye’ – one from each of Dave’s two CD releases.

Be sure to check out Dave’s website www.pollardmusic.com for appearances and contact info.

Thanks one more time to Dave Pollard and Dale Payne for running the evening’s sound stage.  We wouldn’t be what we are without volunteers, so thanks to Matt Manion for his continued assistance with showcases, Larry Cody for the table tent cards and Matthew Costello for photos, web development and the Podcast audio production.  And what would a performance be without an audience?  So thanks to all who turned out to support our performers!  We’ll see you next month!