Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 6, 1991 TAG: 9102060262
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BECKY HEPLER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Those are all goals for Idlewilde, a musical production company based in the New River Valley and carving a niche in the world of children's educational entertainment.
The four members, Edwin and Sandy Lacy of Floyd and Joe and Cathey Bassett of Blacksburg, are all thoroughly steeped in music, having picked up instruments at an early age and never put them down.
All had played in bands and wanted a life that included music. The question was, how to survive in the mine field that is the musical business.
Cathey Bassett had worked with special education students for eight years and was successful in using music to help children learn. It seemed this was an area that offered interesting performing opportunities and the chance to discuss issues important to the members of the group, such as Appalachian culture and environment.
Today, Idlewilde offers assembly programs and classroom workshops in addition to performing family and community concerts. While its primary market is children, the group has found good reception from adult audiences.
"I think everyone enjoys the opportunity to be innocent and a little silly," Sandy Lacy said.
The group writes most of its material, the songs colored by smooth harmonies, bright images and good humor.
"People think that since you're performing for children, that the music has to be simple, but that's not true," Edwin Lacy said. "Our music is just as complex as any we've ever written."
"Children need simplicity to understand, so we use everyday images and things they know," Sandy Lacy said. "But we also try to offer different levels. In our song, `Shoes,' we sing about how everyone has different shoes that let them do different things, so why don't we try walking around in someone else's shoes. The song ends with the line that we're all the same at night because we all take off our shoes."
The assembly programs include songs and lots of participation from the children, including writing a song.
"It's part of the whole language approach," Cathey Bassett said, "to teach children that they can do anything."
"I think one of the most important concepts about the Appalachian heritage is that it shows that music is not just for the professionals or people with lots of training," said Sandy Lacy.
Besides the creative songwriting workshop, the group also offers workshops in environmental awareness to motivate children to take part in conservation, cleanup and recycling.
A workshop on American heritage explores the different cultures that shaped our development and an Appalachian Traditions workshop explores the values and lifestyles of the area.
Idlewilde also offers a professional development workshop for teachers, which shows how to integrate music into the rest of the curriculum.
"We've designed these programs to fit within the standards of learning guidelines that techers use," Cathey Bassett said.
Unfortunately, the current economic climate has cut into the group's bookings.
"One of the first things to be cut in a school budget facing fewer funds are the arts and music programs," Edwin Lacy said. "It just means we all have to be more creative in finding ways to make this pay."
Even with the cutbacks, schools are paying attention. Idlewilde has performed in several schools, including Montgomery and Wythe counties.
"We've all been in bands before, and we know how hard it is to make a go of a musical life," Edwin Lacy said. "So we decided we were going to put in plenty of planning and attention to detail on this band so it would really survive."
The economy has meant a conservative approach to a "pay as you go" recording project that is taking longer than they would have prefered.
"We've recorded three of the 14 songs that will go on the album," said Joe Bassett, who completed his teaching degree last spring but has put off classroom plans for the band. "As soon as we get more money, we'll record some more."
In the meantime, the group has booked concerts and other performances, including dates at Mountain Lake Hotel.
Idlewilde also will perform Feb. 24 at South Main Cafe in Blacksburg in a benefit concert for the New River Valley Environmental Coalition.
While the group's music has an Appalachian folk base, it calls on other musical traditions, such as jazz and pop. Joe Bassett plays guitar, fiddle and mandolin; Sandy Lacy plays standup bass, penny whistle and sometimes saxophone; Edwin Lacy plays banjo; Cathey Bassett plays guitar, hammer dulcimer and even a Slinky. "I think a song like `Shoes' obviously needs something that walks," she said.
by CNB