To quote Shakespeare, “We few, we happy few...” Well, we happy couple of hundred people who got to see the Barnstar! member concert are still humming those tunes – some bluegrass, some not so much – and still smiling at charming quips from the band.
The Snowden Auditorium was chock full of WUMB members singing along, clapping and stomping and sometimes shouting out loud. Barnstar! has just put out its debut CD C’mon! (thanks in large part to an Iguana Fund grant) and is still building an audience so this was the biggest crowd they’ve played to so far. Just wait... those of us who were there may have witnessed history!
As always at WUMB member concerts, members brought guests (I brought my husband Rick and Craig, a pal since 7th grade who was in town), and lots of folks connected with good friends they have made just through their WUMB membership. Patriot Ledger blogger Sue Scheible was among the many who weren’t sure whether she’d like bluegrass, but trusted WUMB to put on only the best. Here’s a link to her review: http://www.patriotledger.com/topstories/x517521090/VIDEO-Barnstar-huge-hit-at-UMass-WUMB-member-concert - complete with a video clip from the show.
Zack Hickman (bassist) formed the band in the organic and typically Boston/Cambridge manner. He hung out at the Cantab lounge bluegrass jams where he met up with Taylor (mandolin) and Jake (fiddle/mandolin) Armerding. They wooed songwriter/guitar slinger Mark Erelli and they were off. You can’t have a bluegrassish band without a banjo and – lucky us! – Charlie Rose came to town via Chicago and Kansas, the cities not the bands. Zing!
Hosting a daily show sharing music on WUMB is a privilege. Hosting a member concert is a thrill! Tune in on February 15 at 6:30pm to hear exactly how the C’mon! CD got its name and listen to some sizzling arrangements of songs from diverse sources, and I mean diverse! Tommy James & the Shondells, Paul Simon, and Dawes, for example. You’ll even witness the invention of a new verb! You’ll find out why anyone who talks or writes about Barnstar! uses so many exclamation points.
-- Marilyn Rea Beyer (!)
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