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Home sweet home
(by Kara Krekeler - April 16, 2008)
Almost every Tuesday night for the last 15 years, a local musician has taken the stage at the Sheldon Concert Hall as part of the venue’s Notes From Home concert series.
But on Thursday, April 24, the series will celebrate its 15th anniversary with a concert featuring a line-up of Notes From Home favorites playing a variety of musical genres, including gypsy jazz, folk, bluegrass and Irish music.
“We tried to get a good representation of everything we’ve presented,” said Dale Benz, director of operations for the Sheldon and organizer of the Notes From Home series.
He said it wasn’t easy choosing from the more than 750 performers the series has hosted over the years, but eventually he narrowed it down to the Hot Club Caravan, Hanser-McClellan Guitar Duo, St. Louis Irish Arts, Kim Massie, pianist Peter Henderson, Lisa Campbell and John Hall.
The concert will also feature a performance by John McEuen, a founding member of the Grammy-winning Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. While he’s not a St. Louisan, McEuen has performed many times at the Sheldon and will be recording the concert for broadcast on his XM satellite radio show, Acoustic Traveler. Benz said that the show has about 500,000 listeners and will assure that the Notes From Home anniversary show will reach a national audience.
A ‘self-perpetuating’ project
Benz said that the series was born out of a simple desire to give St. Louis musicians the same opportunity to perform at the Sheldon that visiting performers have long enjoyed.
In the early years, Benz would go out to clubs and other small venues to seek performers for the series. He said that he wasn’t sure at first how long the series would run, but it turned out to be a “self-perpetuating” project that, as far as he can tell, is the longest-running series of its kind in the Midwest.
“I was worried about how long we’d be able to do this. There are only so many musicians in St. Louis,” he said. “But it won’t ever stop. We’re not running out of talent.”
After the series was about four or five years old, leaders of the local music community began calling Benz with their recommendations. Since then, he hasn’t had any trouble filling the calendar and often has more people waiting than he knows what to do with.
“If I took all the people who want to do a show, I could probably book [the Sheldon] through February,” he said, adding that he’s currently booked through October. “And the beautiful thing about St. Louis is that I can’t think of any sort of music that isn’t represented here.”
Benz said he can’t pick a favorite moment from the more than 600 Notes From Home shows he’s seen personally, but said that he is constantly amazed by the quality and talent of local musicians.
“I’ve seen more music than you can shake a stick at, and one of the best shows I’ve seen in 20 years at the Sheldon was a local performer,” Benz said, adding that he’d prefer not to play favorites by divulging who that performer is.
A growing mission
Initially the goal of the Notes From Home series was simply to present local talent at the Sheldon. But over the past 15 years, the series has grown to become a way for performers to raise money for their favorite charities, a practice Benz said has really grown within the last few years.
“Out of the 60 concerts we do each year, probably 20 of them are fund-raisers,” he said, adding that the Notes From Home series has raised around $250,000 over the years for a variety of local charities. “There is so much talent and so many requests for fund-raisers that we have to do them on off days. This is a pretty good way to get money for a cause.”
Benz said he’s also made it a mission of the series to present up-and-coming musicians. About eight years ago, Benz began seeking out 10- to 20-year-olds who could easily make a career in the music industry. With high-quality music schools such as Webster University, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and even local high schools such as East St. Louis’ Lincoln High, Benz said he’s never had trouble finding amazing young performers.
“Time and time again, I am blown away by these kids,” he said, adding that he often keeps tabs on the young performers as they grow up. He said he recently talked to one of the first young musicians he presented, a jazz drummer, who is now a percussionist for the R&B superstar Beyonce.
Benz said he hopes to continue bringing the best St. Louis musicians, young and old, to the Sheldon for years to come.
“As long as the Sheldon lets me keep doing it, I’ll keep producing the series,” Benz said.
The Notes From Home 15th Anniversary Concert takes place at 7:30 p.m. April 24 at the Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd. Tickets are available by calling 534-1111 or by visiting www.thesheldon.org. For more information call 533-9900.
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