Category Archives: Dads Writing About Kindie Culture

Behind the B3: Oklahoma Tornado Aftermath

Leave a reply

wiser
Staring at the computer screen right now just trying to find words to express how we are all feeling in Oklahoma after yesterday’s devastating tornado. It’s awful, just horrible, our hearts are aching for those who have been affected by what is now thought to be the most destructive tornado in recorded history. My family and I live in Edmond, which is 30-40 miles north of Moore where the tornado hit, so we are all safe and have no damage. But the day before, May 19th, we ourselves were in a storm shelter as a small tornado touched down a half mile away from us (luckily we had no damage then either). Living in Oklahoma my whole life this is nothing new, we grew up with tornadoes and for years have known all about what to do when the sirens go off, but it still never prepares you emotionally for how to deal with this kind of destruction. We watched the whole thing on TV yesterday with all our things ready to go to the shelter again in case it got bad near us, but it never did. We watched as, within an hour, the weather went from almost clear blue skies to a deadly F4 tornado in Moore, destroying everything in its path.

We’ve seen a bad one like this before, on May 3rd, 1999 in almost the exact same place, so we knew as we watched that people were losing their lives. 40-50 minutes and it was over. Then we start to see images of the damage, entire neighborhoods and businesses…..gone. The aerial view looked almost like a giant lawnmower cut a path (up to 2 miles wide at points) all the way through the city. Since then we’ve been glued to the TV, Twitter and Facebook, reposting/retweeting info so friends outside the area will know what’s going on and that we’re okay, and to try and help disseminate helpful information to those in the area as well.

This has been very emotional for everyone around here. I have personally spent a lot of time in the area that was hit as I used to teach music lessons at schools in that part of Moore. In the Sugar Free Allstars I have played at the library in Moore on numerous occasions. One of the worst things for us has been learning that two elementary schools suffered direct hits while kids were still there. Thankfully at one of the schools, Briarwood Elementary, all of the kids have been accounted for. Tragically at the other school, Plaza Towers Elementary, they have shifted from search and rescue to search and recovery, with several children still inside. This is heart wrenching for us as many of the performances we do are in elementary schools just like this for kids the same age as those that are still inside, and there is a good chance that some of the kids at both schools have come to our shows. At home, we’re trying to keep it together so my two-year-old who is mostly oblivious doesn’t worry but there have already been a couple of times today when I’ve been by myself that it’s become overwhelming and I just have to cry…

I do want to make sure and sing the praises for our local OK weathermen and storm chasers: if it were not for their early warnings and up to date reports there is no doubt that there would have been far more lives lost. Now it’s time to gather some things to take to a donation center and try and help as much as we can. These folks need all the help they can get. I am including a list of ways that you can provide aid even if you are not anywhere close. Oklahoma – and our entire country – is full of good people. They have already had to turn away volunteers because so may people are showing up to help. Donation locations are being overwhelmed with goods and monetary contributions. For every tragic story, there are even more stories of survival and hope: teachers covering students with their own bodies, first responders and neighbors rushing to help with no thought for their own safety… Oklahoma is strong. We will survive.

* Donations of $10 to assist those affected by the tornado can be made by texting STORM to 80888 for Salvation Army, texting REDCROSS to 90999 for Red Cross, or by texting FOOD to 32333 for the Oklahoma Regional Food Bank.

* United Way of Central Oklahoma’s Disaster Relief Fund—donations may be made online at www.unitedwayokc.org or by mail to United Way of Central Oklahoma, P.O. Box 837, Oklahoma City, OK 73101 with notation for May Tornado Relief.

* Contributions to the Moore & Shawnee Tornado Relief Fund can be made securely online at www.TulsaCF.org. Donations can also be mailed to TCF offices at 7030 S. Yale, Suite 600, Tulsa, OK, 74136.

For a complete list of ways to help those affected in the May 20th Oklahoma tornado visit http://www.metrofamilymagazine.com/May-2013/Ways-to-Help-Families-Affected-by-the-May-20th-Tornado/

To find loved ones in Moore: www.safeandwell.org

SHARE ARTICLE

Behind the B3: SFA and the String Theory

Leave a reply

wiser
Everyone has a bucket list. We’ve been so fortunate in the Sugar Free Allstars to have already crossed many of the things off on our list – perform in Europe, meet some of our favorite musicians, tour across the country… Then there are those things that aren’t on the bucket list, nor even on a wish list of any kind, because the chances of them happening are so remote that it doesn’t even enter your conscious mind. Crazy things like, oh I don’t know, performing your own music with a symphony orchestra…….oh wait, we got to do that!!!

Okay, in all fairness we’ve always kind of thought it would be pretty cool to perform with an orchestra, I mean, who wouldn’t want to experience that? But you don’t really think it’s going to happen. So how did it? Well to make a long story short here’s how it all began. First we met a guy that works for the OKC Philharmonic at a show we’re playing for the OKC Museum of Art; he loves the idea of us playing with the orchestra and passes the idea along. Then we hire a woman who plays in the OKC Phil to do some violin parts on our most recent album, she also loves the idea of us playing with the orchestra and passes the idea along. Next thing you know we’re setting up a meeting with the organization’s executive director and when we show up there are SIX staff members in attendance, excited that we are there, listening intently to what we have to say, writing things down and in general TAKING THIS WHOLE THING VERY SERIOUSLY…….at this point the reality of this performance is actually starting to sink in……holy moly…..this is really going to happen.

After some of the initial details are worked out we take a few days figuring out a set list….I mean here is a chance to have some of our songs arranged for a symphony orchestra so it was important to pick songs that we thought would benefit and be enhanced by orchestral arranging. We settle on a mix of: a couple of tunes we do on a regular basis, along with a few that aren’t performed as often, and one that we had never performed live. Our good friend and fellow Okie who now lives in Brooklyn was selected to arrange the orchestra’s parts and we spend several months discussing ideas with him, going back and forth, tweaking the orchestrations until they are just right.

buy vardenafil generic buy vardenafil no prescription over the counter

All the while we are keeping in contact with the Phil’s general manager and PR officer to coordinate logistics and promotions. It was definitely a unique experience spending months and months preparing for just one show as we are accustomed to playing several shows in a week, very often several shows in a day.

As the date for the show closes in we begin to do local TV spots, sign off on the arrangements, have final meetings with the general manager, arranger and conductor, select our wardrobe and polish our dance moves (you heard right, dance moves).

buy premarin online buy premarin no prescription no prescription

Then the day arrives, we have promoted more heavily than ever before, invited everyone we knew and prepared in every way we could possibly think of. The morning of the show we have a 2 hour rehearsal with the orchestra (the only rehearsal we do with them……yikes!) and work out some last minute kinks. We relax for a couple of hours, have some lunch then it’s showtime. In the months since all the preparation began I always wondered if I would be nervous before the show. There was a moment when the overture began (yeah, we even had an overture – pretty sweet, huh?) that I got butterflies but they passed and it was replaced with excitement. From the moment we walked on the stage and had close to 1,000 people going nuts for us…it was on! Everything went pretty much exactly as it had played out in our heads, which is a very rare thing. The show could not have gone more smoothly, and from the beginning to the end of the concert I’m sure that everyone in the room that day would agree that it was a very special experience for all involved.

So there you have it, our first ever symphony show, what an amazing time it was.

buy amoxicillin generic buy amoxicillin no prescription over the counter

I proceeded to get sick the evening after the show, guess my body finally let down….just thankful it didn’t happen any sooner. We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to perform with a symphony again, but no matter how many times that may happen there will never again be a first time, it was truly a once in a lifetime event and I’m so thankful that I had the opportunity to experience it from Behind the B3…….

SHARE ARTICLE

Behind the B3: On the Road Again

Leave a reply

wiser
**CAPTAIN’S LOG: SATURDAY, JANUARY 18TH 2013, 2330 hours**

I found the simple life ain’t so simple, when I jumped out on the road – VH

No truer words have been spoken Mr. Roth, no truer words indeed. As a matter of fact I’m on the road with Sugar Free Allstars at this exact moment – heading east on I-40 toward Gallup, New Mexico where we will be playing the last show of a 10 day tour that also included Phoenix, Arizona and Los Angeles, California – so it’s only fitting that I should be thinking about the challenges of touring. Touring is hard physically, mentally and emotionally, but if you want to expand into new markets and build a fanbase outside of your home area you have to do it. It’s fun and exhausting all at the same time. It can be something of a paradox because when you’ve been at home for a long period of time you start itching to get back out on the road, but as soon as you’re on the road you just want to get it all over with and come home. You miss your family, your home, your friends, sleeping in your own bed, home cooked meals, but it’s really fun exploring new places, meeting new people, playing for new fans and old fans you haven’t gotten to see in a while.

Until I had to do it, I never realized just how much work goes into booking a tour. Months of preparation went into putting together this one and it only lasted 10 days. You have to find your venues, make contact with their talent buyers, work out dates that make sense with routing, negotiate a fee, confirm and/or contract the shows, promote the shows (through all social media, emails, reaching out to friends/family in each town, sending posters, etc, etc) and when that’s all done you have to find places to stay while on the road. It is a lot of work and there is never a guarantee that something won’t go wrong along the way, whether it’s issues with the touring vehicle (an all-too-common issue for most bands), shows falling through, band member illness, or any number of problems.

Sounds like more trouble than it’s worth right? Well maybe on paper, but the experiences and benefit gained from touring usually outweigh the amount of work that goes into putting them together. Because we have so many friends, family and fellow Kindie artists that are willing to help in any way they can, it makes all the work so much easier. Just a few examples are: on this tour we didn’t have to worry about having a place to stay in L.A. for our first several days there because our great friend and fellow Kindie musician Heidi Swedberg opened her home to us and even cooked several amazing meals! The venue we played in Santa Monica, McCabe’s, was recommended to us by another good friend and awesome Kindie musician Lucky Diaz – it was through his introduction and referral that we were able to build a relationship with the venue (I also got to catch part of a Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band show at The Grove while in town and man, they rock so hard!). Our new friend and family musician Birdie Mendoza organized a potluck get together with other musicians including David Tobocman where we all got to enjoy great food and make music together. We also met Mista Cookie Jar as well as Rodney Lee from Groove Kid Nation for the first time at our McCabe’s show, and ALL the family musicians mentioned thus far helped promote our appearances – the Kindie community really is like none I’ve experienced before and we thoroughly enjoy all of the personal and professional relationships we have developed on this journey!

So we’re closing in on home and about to finish up this westward run that we’ve been on for the last 10 days. As difficult as it can be to put together and be gone for so long it, was worth it on this trip. We had fantastic shows everywhere we played, moved some merchandise, made some new fans – basically what you hope all tours turn out to be like. That being said, we are so ready to be home and not in a moving vehicle for a good while. But before long we’ll be back out there again, maybe somewhere close to you! Until next time, that’s life on the road from Behind the B3…..

 

SHARE ARTICLE