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by chris earnhart (Pocket) - Apr 01, 2003
Writers in the Round - Not to be missed! What is Writer's in the Round? The question on everybody's lips. Well, recently I was given the opportunity to sit down and e-mail G. Lee, the host of the event. Many may know G. Lee from her band G. Lee & Jet Blonde (I recomment it.) Others may know her from her hosting of the Writer's in the Round, a very neat little set up in which four singer-songwriters get up on stage, telling stories, cracking jokes, and taking turns playing songs. The close environment of the Iron Post seems to emphasize the overall feeling. What feeling? The feeling of belonging, of being at home. I hope that you enjoy the interview as much as I enjoy the event! Chris Earnhart: It'd be best to start off with an easy one. What is Writer's in the Round? (When? Where? Who?) G. Lee: Every Writers in the Round showcases individual songwriters in a format similar to others done in Nashville, Austin, and lots of other cities. Four songwriters sit on stage in a line and basically take turns playing songs in an acoustic format (so far it's been mostly acoustic guitar-with singing of course- but we've also had a percussionist and will perhaps have other instruments in the future). There are times when one performer will sing harmonies or join in on guitar with another, especially if they know each other. There have even been times when we have other musicians sit in - the December show was awesome - the line-up was Robynn Ragland, John Pennell, Bruce "Bruiser" Rummenie, and myself (G. Lee), and several other great musicians sat in: Keith Harden, Peter Roubal, Andy Lund, Dawna Nelson, Kathy Harden. It was very interactive, and that always adds a lot to the show. Writers in the Round occurs once a month at the Iron Post in Urbana, usually the 3rd Sunday of the month (sometimes it's 2nd or 4th Sunday, depending on many factors...), from 9-11:30, hosted by me, G. Lee(and I am also one of the featured performers on some but not all shows - when I host, I play a couple of songs before each set, and then introduce the featured performers, make announcements, etc.). CE: A lot of people don't know much about the Iron Post,how would you describe the environment there? GL: The Iron Post is a very comfortable bar, it has a good energy, or vibe, and people feel very at-home there from what I can tell. The bartenders/waitresses are attentive and friendly, and it's clean - bathrooms are nice and clean, parking is good (free parking all around the area, including the Busey Bank parking lot across the street in the evenings). There's a slightly raised floor area near the windows, which is just across the bar from the stage, and some tables are tall ones the further from the stage you get. This makes it easy for people to see the stage from wherever they are sitting for the most part. Free popcorn is served to all tables, and it's basically just a cool, friendly place. Lots of regulars hang out there, and there are also dart boards. It's an 18 venue, which makes it nice for students who can come. The cover charge is reasonable, usually $3.00 average. This was a scattered description... Oh yeah, the stage is a fairly decent size, PA provided, and Paul Wirth, the owner, tries to get a real variety of live music, local, regional, and national, to play at the club. CE: Do you think that kind of environment adds to WITR? If so, why? GL: I think it's the perfect environment for this event because people can be comfortable, you can see the stage, it sounds good, and, again, you can be admitted if you're 18 or above whereas some places require that you are 21 to enter. The people who come to the WITR are extremely respectful and attentive - really come to listen. It's a nice size place for this type of event, not too big, not too little. The ventilation is pretty good too, so it doesn't usually get too smoky in there. CE: How do you pick the people who will be in each event? GL: I started out just asking people I knew with whom I was comfortable playing (the first one was me, Angie Heaton, Brandon T. Washington, and Brendan Gamble in June 2002). Then I compiled a list of singer/songwriters using people I know and taking suggestions from others in town who are involved in the music scene. There are 4 featured performers per night, and I try to get 2, or at least 1 "popular" local person who will bring some people in, then I give less known people the other slots to give those people a chance to play for a good crowd. Also, I try to give the show as much variety as possible when putting people together; musically as well as a 50-50 male-female split when possible. I try to give anyone who is interested a chance to play a show. There have been a couple of cases where it just didn't work out for various reasons, but I do my best. I also have been getting people from other areas for some shows - New Orleans, Austin, Nashville, Bloomington, IN, Chicago, St. Louis, etc. Some of these people found me through jpfolks.com where there is a posting about WITR (thanks to my friend Gary Pirtle, who also designs and helps distribute posters for the event). Others, such as Hilary Scott from Columbia, MO, were found by my friend Dennis Jordan from Borders (he's in touch with a lot of musicians and also goes on the internet to help find people who would be good for WITR) - I couldn't do this alone, that's for sure! And also, Paul Wirth (owner) sometimes recommends people, such as Danny Santos from Austin, TX and Kristi Kjeldsen (local) for the shows. I get emails from people who were referred to me by various sources, and I keep an updated list of all contacts for this event. I also like to have people play together who know each other and can interact on stage musically and also conversationally - makes it more casual and also more interesting/entertaining. CE: Who have been some of the past local performers? GL: (not in a particular order) G. Lee Brendan Gamble Angie Heaton Brandon T. Washington Paul Kotheimer Eleni Moraites Bruce Rummenie Mac Sampson Robynn Ragland Jackson Luke Boyce Andy Lund Kate Hathaway Danny Santos Nick Rudd Joni Laurence Adam Schmitt Anjali Larry Gates Brandy Johnson Ryan Groff John Pennell Ellen Rosner Jack Neilson Kim Rutledge Kristi Kjeldsen Hilary Scott Michael Bielski CE: You've just recently had the first percussionist at one of the "episodes," so are there any plans for interesting little things like that in the future? GL: Yes - I'd like to, but no definite plans as of yet... CE: Now that we covered the what, I want to talk about the why. How did this come about? Why did you start WITR? GL: Dawna Nelson set one of these up at the Embassy when she was working there over a year ago - the line-up was Adam Schmitt, Brendan Gamble, Robynn Ragland, and myself, G. Lee. The response was amazing, and Dawna set another one up at the Iron Post but at the last minute needed help finding a couple of people to fill in... so I helped out in that regard, and then suggested that we have one of these monthly at the Iron Post. Dawna was happy to turn over the responsibility of organizing the shows to me, and as the host/coordinator, I also get to basically choose when I play as opposed to hosting. Peter Roubal offers his services to run sound, gratis, and Paul Wirth (owner) has been great about letting me handle the booking. Occasionally he has suggestions or has someone coming through that he'd like to have play at a show (Danny Santos and Karen Mal from Austin, for example, are coming to play at the April 13th show, as arranged by Paul). In a nutshell, the idea to have a Writers in the Round in Urbana I have to credit to Dawna Nelson! (As I said, these types of showcases have been going on in other cities for quite a while - it's not an original idea...) CE: What made the singer-songwriter something that you wanted to promote (or honor)? GL: Well, being one myself, and the fact that I really enjoy playing with other songwriters as well as going out and hearing original music, both bands and solo artists, I thought it would be a really fantastic thing to continue having the event on a monthly basis in town. Paul Wirth at the Iron Post was willing to let me organize/coordinate/host the shows, and it gives me a chance to meet lots of other songwriters (we often end up trading shows in other venues, etc. - others would say the same - and just making contacts/networking - that's what it's all about). I really enjoy when I play with people I know and we can work out harmonies or guitar playing on each other's tunes at times; it also makes it more fun for the audience. I also wanted to make the public aware that we have some wonderful songwriters here in C-U (as well as surrounding areas), and create a way for interest to spread - and it definitely it spreading! CE: Are you happy with the way things have gone so far? GL: Absolutely. And Openingbands.com people coming out to shows and spreading the word has been really great and helpful. Turnouts continue to get better and better. Tables are always full, and the audience is extremely attentive. Feedback has been very positive as well from everyone I've talked to. CE: What are your future plans for WITR? Anything that isn't too secret for us to know about? GL: Mainly I'd just like to continue hosting/coordinating it and seeing it grow more and more, attracting more public interest and more people who want to play from here and all over the place - so songwriters can be heard. I want every show to be PACKED! We do have a 1-year anniversary show coming up June 22 - not sure what yet, but I want to do something special for this show. CE: Hmm...I think I've covered everything, so I have just a few more traditional questions: Vanilla or Chocolate? This is a very important question to which everyone should know the answer. GL: Chocolate - without a doubt. CE:Finally, if you were a super-hero, what would your name be, and what would your costume look like? GL: I don't think anyone has ever asked me that!! Hmmm.. Maybe I would be "Animal-Girl" or something like that, - and I would save suffering animals all over the world. My costume would be all man-made materials, but something black and cool with big clunky shoes and some kind of mask...I'd have to be able to fly too and have some magical powers. That's all I can come up with on short notice! I'd have to put more thought into it. CE: I hope I got everything. Is there anything that you would like to add? Any words of wisdom for us? Thanks for taking the time to do this, and I'm looking forward to the future installments of WITR! GL:Here's the next show: April 13th (Sunday): Danny Santos (Austin, TX) Karen Mal (Austin, TX) Becca Koester (Effingham) Adam Wolf (Champaign-Urbana's very own...) Fin. You can contact G. Lee for yourself at g_lee_4@yahoo.com or check out her website. Writer's in the Round truly is an event worthy of your attention if you are a fan of music. And I don't know anyone who isn't a fan of music in some way. I have been going since September 2002, and I have yet to either go to one that I did not like or meet someone who disliked their own adventures at Writer's in the Round. Go out and say you tried something new. Have fun, good luck, and good bye for now! |