Marie working on art project

The last week of August is typically “downtime” for we piano teachers. I  usually keep busy with gardening and some home repairs and paintings.  This year I am organizing an Art Exhibit.

Yes, I said Art Exhibit.  There will be a dozen artists joining me at the Bay Leaf Cafe in Spearfish, SD.  I’ll be hanging the artwork on Monday, August 31, so by lunchtime you should be able to view it. 

For refreshments, special deals and live music come on up on Friday, Sept. 4, from 4-6 p.m.  The live music will be our own piano tuner Curt Bauer.  Many folks get a tiny taste of his remarkable talent when he tunes their home piano.  Now you can hear him play for a couple of hours.  Not to mention - see some great art and eat delicious food.

WHAT: CONNECTED - a celebration of art

WHERE: Bay Leaf Cafe, 126 West Hudson, Spearfish, SD

WHEN:  The whole month of September.

Special event:  Artists’ Reception, Friday, Sept. 4, 4-6 p.m.

    If you rise with the dawn and walk into the garden, you will find some fresh flower bud with a shining bit of dew glistening in the first light.  A beautiful moment, but you have to be ready or you’ll miss it.

   The audience at Black Hills Piano Gallery had such a moment this Saturday, August 8, when 16-year-old Ariel Pocock took the stage.  She appeared in a simple, navy sundress with oversized, white buttons, long brown hair tucked behind her ears to reveal  single-strand dangles, little yellow sandals on her bare legs….a simple hello…. and then she took over the stage.  

     The first number was restrained, but then she kicked off that little yellow sandal and started to stomp that  primary beat with one foot and a secondary with the other.  The old standards were fresh and new with her mastery of the keyboard and pleasant voice.  While singing her voice can reach down into the husky, contralto range like an ol’ gal who’s “been there and done that”,  but her speaking voice still has the ever-upward lilt of an American teenager. 

     Chatting with Ariel and her family afterward, I discovered that she will be returning to Washington state to start her driving lessons.  Driving lessons ?  This girl can handle a strange crowd in another city, with two other musicians she practiced with ONCE, and noodle her way around some impromptu improvisations……and she doesn’t drive yet?? 

    Well, let me tell you,  if pianos were automobiles, this girl could drive a stick-shift with 3-on-the-tree and never bat an eyelash.

    In Rapid City we usually see/hear musical phenomenons at the end of their career (witness all those tired ol’ rockers at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally).  This was a chance for us to see someone at the beginning of a career.

Don’t take my word for it…check out this Youtube link:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx7KM4apb9A

I’ll be able to say “I knew her when”.  Thanks Ariel!