Wednesday, September 21, 2011

The Sound Of Silence

It has never happened before. Setting up the sound equipment for a program is a chore but it's just part of the gig. But this time after hooking up all of the cords and plugs and cables, there was no sound coming from a couple of mics and the single plugged-in uke. We had just used it all last week so we were pretty certain the equipment itself was okay.

It more likely had something to do with the spaghetti-like pile of cords piled at the bottom of the main mic. Something was not hooked up right. But finding the problem when you're watching the clock tick down until it's time to start is nerve-wracking. 

Thankfully Simpsonville First Baptist Church has an audio-visual professional on staff who happened to be in the event space. And the Yesterukes' own sound pro got there just before it was time to start. And because they were there, it was all untangled and corrected and the show went on without a hitch. 

After the music (and a standing ovation) so many people came up to tell us how much they had enjoyed the music. One lady told us, "You all are wonderful. We've never had anything like this for a program before." That would be because there is nothing like the Yesterukes! So glad they enjoyed us and have already booked up for next year.



And there is great hope that next time, we will be ready, diagram in hand now, to get it all done right. The first time.



The Sound Of Silence, Simon & Garfunkel, 1964



Wednesday, September 14, 2011

On The Road Again

The Yesterukes are back! After a very long summer break, we hit the road again bringing songs and memories to the good folks at Fairview Baptist Church. We had new songs in our set list and some new equipment to make things run smoother. Thank goodness there was at least one Yesteruke who knew how to hook all of this up!


And once again, we were well fed. 


The group here numbered over 100, including one beautiful lady who was celebrating her 95th birthday.


The Yesterukes sounded as good as ever, receiving a standing ovation and a request to return another time.


The Yesterukes trade in music and memories. Last night as we were packing up after the program a lady came up to talk to us. She said she had listened carefully as we were singing one of our standard songs, Sixteen Tons. She grew up in W. Virginia where her father was a coal miner. She told us, "As I sat and listened to this song, I thought....they could be singing about my dad. Pretty much every word of that song was true for him." Powerful memories.



On The Road Again, Willie Nelson, 1980