Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 30, 1994 TAG: 9410040049
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Donna Alvis Banks
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The drums will be thundering and the horns will be blasting Saturday at Christiansburg High School when the third annual "Blue Demon Classic" gets under way at 11 a.m.
The event, a competition for local high school marching bands, features 17 units from around the region. The young bands will be judged on drum majors, guard sections, marching styles and - last but not least - music!
This is your chance to get caught up in the high-stepping spirit of the season.
The Christiansburg High School Band Boosters will sponsor the competition. Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for kids 12 and under and $1 for high school students with ID cards.
The money raised will be used to support the marching Demons in their efforts to buy uniforms and instruments and to plan a band trip this spring.
THE WORLD ON A STRING: The Audubon Quartet, Virginia Tech's Quartet-in-Residence was the first American quartet ever to visit the People's Republic of China. That was in 1981.
Since the quartet was formed in 1974, it has performed all over the United States, as well as in Europe, the Middle East, South America and the Caribbean.
Fortunately for us, the group performs right here at home several times each year.
This weekend, the musicians will give two concerts at Squires Recital Salon. The first is at 8 p.m. Saturday and the second at 3 p.m. Sunday. You'll want to come early, though, because Clyde Shaw, cellist, will give a lecture 45 minutes before each performance.
The program resumes the quartet's two-year series of concerts comprising the complete string quartets of Beethoven.
In addition to Shaw, the group features violinists David Ehrlich and David Salness and violist Doris Lederer.
Tickets, available at the box office in Squires Student Center, are $7 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens. All tickets are general seating (no problem, since all seats in the recital salon are good ones). For reservations, call 231-5615.
AN AUTUMN TRADITION: The Narrows Business and Professional Association is putting on its sixth annual fall festival Saturday in downtown Narrows. The organizers promise fun, food and music in the streets, starting at 10 a.m. and going on until 4 p.m.
This year's festival will pay tribute to the community's biggest employer, Hoechst-Celanese.
"Hoechst-Celanese has been such an integral part of our hometown for over 50 years, we wanted to honor them and their people for enhancing the quality of life here," noted Narrows Mayor Don Richardson.
Tours of certain areas of the plant will be given Saturday, and the company also will have exhibits illustrating its environmental commitment. Shuttle buses will pick up passengers in downtown Narrows and take them to the plant on U.S. 460 for the tours.
The downtown area is where you'll find live entertainment, arts and crafts vendors, games for children, fire engine rides and lots of goodies, including free root beer floats.
For more information about the celebration, call the Narrows town offices at 726-2423.
MUSIC FROM THE GUT: Like Bob Dylan, Todd Mack says his music is "...not necessarily soothing or pretty. It's music from the gut. It's folk music."
Mack, who has been a popular solo performer in Atlanta since the 1988, recently went on tour with his newly released album, "Looking for Leon." The album is a collection of 12 original songs with folk and rock influences.
Mack is one songwriter who still tells stories in his lyrics.
"Lyrics are important in rock or folk especially because so much of that is rooted in singing," he said in an interview for Creative Loafing, a weekly newspaper in Atlanta. "I think if you're going to sing, why not try and put a little thought into what you're saying?"
As a vocalist, Mack has been compared to Neil Young and Gordon Lightfoot. His lyrics weigh on the heavy side, dealing with such topics as love, religion, disillusion and political issues.
Musically, his songs are centered around acoustic guitar with the addition of harmonica, fiddle, bass and congas.
You can catch Mack tonight at The Balcony on College Avenue in downtown Blacksburg. He's performing at 10. A $3 cover charge gets you in.
IAMBIC EXCITEMENT: Guess what's coming to Blacksburg? The "Poetry Slam!"
Called a "Sudden Turn for the Verse" in a recent Newsweek headline, the slam actually started in Chicago a decade ago. The first contest was held at a bar called the Green Mill Tavern.
Since then, the competitive poetry readings have been spreading out across the country. The slams bring out the best - and the worst - of rhymes.
Julia Delbridge, a graduate student and instructor at Radford University, is organizing the first Blacksburg slam. It's happening Sunday, starting at 8 p.m., at South Main Cafe.
Delbridge names the Lollapalooza in Denver, the Poetry Alive Festival in Asheville and the Iroquois in Roanoke among the places she has read poetry.
"Slams are a very exciting, not-so-new approach to poetry," Delbridge explained. "The biggest difference between a slam and a reading is that in a slam, the poets compete and the audience is encouraged to be free with feedback."
Delbridge said local folks are welcome to come and read their poetry, judge the readings or just watch and listen Sunday night. For those who want to participate, sign-up will be available at the door. The cover charge is $2.
Delbridge will serve as master-of-ceremonies at Sunday's slam. Jeffery McDaniel, a poet and performer from Washington, D.C., is the guest artist. McDaniel's work has appeared in a couple of major literary publications and he has toured and performed all over the country.
RAIN OR SHINE: The picnic will go on ... and so will the show!
The Shawsville Ruritan Club is having its third annual "Jazz in the Country" concert and picnic Sunday at the Shawsville High School football field. Members of the community are invited to bring blankets, lawn chairs and picnic dinners for the old-fashioned gathering.
Shawsville native Butch Taylor is the featured musician. The entertainment starts at 7 p.m. after the picnicing at 6 p.m.
Admission to the concert is $7.50. All proceeds go toward high school scholarship and village beautification projects sponsored by the Ruritans.
If it rains, the fun moves inside Shawsville High School - picnic in the gym, concert in the auditorium.
by CNB