2018-19 Guide To Yellow Springs

45 Y e l l ow S p r i n g s N ews the Guide to YelLow Springs y 2018 - 1 9   Born and bred —  y  local musicians find fame y Anne Harris The Chicago, Ill.-based roots and blues fiddle player and singer/songwriter Anne Harris grew up in Yellow Springs, the daugh- ter of Olga and Bob Harris, who moved from Dayton to the village in the late 1960s. According to Harris, it was the diversity and open-mindedness of the community, along with its strongly emphasized arts and music, that influenced her as a young musician. Harris learned the “grace of ensemble playing” through youth orchestra director Shirley Mullins, studied violin with Mary Schumacher and learned musical theater and performance from Becky Brunsman. “This triumvirate of strong, inspiring women were absolutely critical in sparking, challeng - ing, and supporting my emergent art and self expression,” Harris wrote in a recent email. After moving to Chicago in the ‘90s, Harris crafted her own unique style, drawing from influences as diverse as blues, folk, funk, rock, classical, Celtic and beyond. She has written and produced six independent records, in addition to touring and recording with famed blues musician Otis Taylor for nine years. Her most recent album, “Come Hither,” was released in 2015 and a new record of acoustic fiddle music will be released in early 2019. She also scored and is starring in a short indie film by acclaimed director Mark Schimmel called “The Musician,” which will be released in late 2018. Ann Rabson Born in New York City, well-known blues musician Ann Rabson grew up in Yellow Springs, where she discovered a love of blues and became a professional musician at age 17, playing both piano and guitar. Later, Rabson found fame as a member of Saffire— The Uppity Blues Women. Rabson moved to Yellow Springs with her parents and brother in 1953 when her father got a job in the Antioch College math department. Rabson’s mother, Alice, worked as a researcher at the Fels Institute. Rabson attended the Antioch School and graduated from Bryan High School. During her distinguished career that took her around the globe, Rabson received mul- tiple nominations for a W.C. Handy Award as Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year. In 1998, her first solo album, “Music Makin’ Mama,” was nominated as Album of the Year in both the Traditional Blues and Acoustic Blues categories. Rabson died in 2013. She is pictured here performing at the 2009 AACW BluesFest. Pop Wagner A folk singer, fiddler and self-described “cowboy poet,” Pop Wagner has traveled the world since 1968 sharing his music and tall tales. He has appeared frequently on public Radio’s “A Prairie Home Companion.” Growing up in Yellow Springs, Wagner’s parents gave him his first guitar at age 14. He played folk, blues and rock with other locals and attended performances at Kelly Hall at Antioch College by Josh White, Dave Van Ronk and John Hammond. Wagner, a 1967 graduate of Yellow Springs High School, returned to the village in the summer of 2017 for his 50th class reunion and performed at the Little Art Theatre with the regionally based Corndrinkers, a five-member old-timey stringband. Wagner, who now lives in Minnesota, has won several awards including a North- ern Lights Arts and Music Award, Min- nesota Community Television Award and a British Gramophone Best Opera of the Year Award. His brother, Bodie Wagner , is also a suc- cessful folk performer, and played with the great folk singer and labor organizer, the late Utah Phillips. They are the sons of the late Paul and Betty Wagner. J.J. Yates Drummer and sound technician J.J. Yates lived in Yellow Springs for 25 years. Yates played with several national acts, including Piney Brown, Branford Marsalis and Kool and the Gang, with whom he traveled around the world for 10 years. A graduate of Central State University with a music education degree, Yates directed the Paul Robeson Cultural and Performing Arts Center at Central State for 13 years. At Antioch College, he helped to install a recording studio and was frequently a sound technician at events at Kelly Hall. Yates also helped to organize and performed at the first African American Cross-Cultural Week in 1991. He currently lives in his hometown of Cincinnati. 1 Download and stream movies, music, books and magazines for free through your library. Join the YSLA. Your support pays for“extras” that make our library especially engaging. To joinYSLA, send $5 plus any donation you’d like to make to: Yellow Springs Library Association c/oYS Community Library 415 Xenia Ave. 352- 4003 | www.greenelibrary.info www.rumpke.com PLEASE RECYCLE PAPER PLASTIC BOTTLES & JUGS GLASS BOTTLES & JARS ALUMINUM & METAL CANS CARTONS A proud partner in Village recycling