MissouriLife Articles

Whispers' Sweet Nothings

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 21:24:22 GMT

Sweet nothings are a favorite to whisper on Valentine’s Day, everything from love songs to three little words. Valentine’s Classic Soul at the Fox Theatre at St. Louis will make that romance a bit easier this weekend.

The Whispers, a legendary R&B vocal group, who have performed for more than four decades headline the show. Their albums One For The Money, Open Up Your Love, and Headlights in the 1970s thrust them in to the national spotlight. Their most popular album release, The Whispers, went double platinum in 1980. More recently in 2006, Satin Tie Productions, the group’s newly formed label, released For Your Ears Only, their first independent CD.

Two acts will open the evening. Stephanie Mills, famous for her role in the hit Broadway play The Wiz where she was hailed as “the little girl with the big voice,” has produced several R&B albums, which featured hits like “I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love” and “Never Knew Love Like This Before.” After 7, which debuted in 1989 with their self-titled album, has had hits with “Heat of the Moment” and “Ready or Not.”

All together, these acts represent more than eighty years of soulful R&B. They’re sure to provide a little inspiration to personalize your sweet nothings this year.

Call 314-534-1111 for ticket information.

February 2008 MissouriLifeLines

The Family That Plays Together

Tue, 29 May 2007 18:02:19 GMT

WHILE SOME TWELVE-YEAR-OLD GIRLS worried over boys and trips to the mall, Larita Martin of Versailles concentrated on playing the Dobro and traveling yearround with her family’s bluegrass band, The Martin Family. Now fifteen, Larita plays with professionalism that belies her age, as do her three sibling band mates. Jeana plays the fiddle, Dale the guitar, and Janice handles the banjo. Their father, Elvin, plays the bass, and their mother and their two younger siblings travel with them on a nationwide touring schedule, with the younger Martins home-schooled along the way. The most remarkable thing about this Missouri family is that until a few years ago, none of the children played an instrument. Inspired by a family band at Silver Dollar City in Branson in 1999, they decided to teach themselves to play bluegrass music. “When we came home from Branson, Jeana and Dale pulled my old instruments off the shelf, tuned them and said, ‘We can do this, too,’” Elvin says. Using videotapes as musical instructors, the Martins are selftaught musical impresarios. Since the band’s unlikely beginning, the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music Awards (SPBGMA), a national organization headquartered in Kirksville, has nominated each member for excellence on his or her respective instruments, and Janice Martin is the 2006 SPBGMA Midwest Banjo Player of the Year. As a group, The Martin Family has been SPBGMA’s Instrumental Group of the Year every year since 2004, and in 2006, the Martins are also SPBGMA’s Contemporary Bluegrass Band of the Year. With a growing fan base, the Martins are a bluegrass powerhouse and a closeknit family. “Some families go camping or fishing together,” Elvin says. “This is what we do together, and we love it.” For information and a touring schedule, visit www.bluegrassmartins.com. —Kendra Thomas

Big Bluegrass

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 21:24:22 GMT

At a Big Smith concert, you see college girls wearing cowboy hats and dancing next to people clad in John Deere gear. You see nicely dressed middle-aged folks hootin' and hollerin' along with young neo-hippies. The music is eclectic too, despite the down-home attitude that holds it together. Big Smith, the self-proclaimed 'hillbilly band' from Springfield, moves easily from traditional bluegrass songs to acoustic blues and electric rockers. Sometimes band members sing in a spirit of conservationist protest; songs such as 'Barrel Springs' and 'Quarry Anthem' bemoan the loss of good land to development. Other times, as on '12 Inch 3 Speed Oscillating Fan,' they cut loose with comical, hoedown-style abandon. In between songs, band members banter back and forth, calling each other brother and cousin. They mean that literally. The band consists of five cousins: brothers Mark (acoustic and electric guitars, harmonica) and Jody Bilyeu (mandolin, keyboards, guitar), brothers Jay (drums, percussion) and Mike (electric and acoustic bass, sousaphone, mouth bow) Williamson, and cousin Rik Thomas (mandolin and guitar,). "We've been making music together at family get-togethers since we were little," Mark says. Big Smith officially came together in late 1996. Since then, the band has released two studio albums, one live gospel album, and, most recently, a double-disc album that captures its impressive live performance. Big Smith tours regionally, with regular gigs in Missouri and nearby states, and the band has opened for bluegrass heavy hitters such as Doc Watson and Emmylou Harris. Now, with their own record label, MayApple, based in Springfield, and with plans to tour Colorado and the West Coast, band members are primed to take their native Missouri sound to the rest of the country. "If we do our job," Mark says, "by the end of the night, we've got 'em." For information, visit www.bigsmithband.com. -Chris Blose