Mallette Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Shh. This is confidential. Why would one put something confidential on a Forum with nearly 40k members? Well, to start with it isn't all THAT confidential...just not public yet. Besides, you are all my friends and some are more like family...so why not? We'll be permanently in Texarkana by the first week of January. I hope to open the ground floor of our building at 116 E. Broad as the Regional Music Heritage Center in basic performance, listening, and presentation mode by summer. It's mission: "To provide a center for research, education, and performance of the genres of music originating in and evolving from the Texarkana region and to promote public knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the role of the area in the American and world musical heritage." What heritage? To start, the best known Boogie Woogie bass line is the "Swampoodle" bass line. Swampoodle was the red light district of Texarkana from the late 19th century until well into the 20th. It influenced jazz, blues, rock and a young man who took piano lessons from a German music professor not two blocks from that area. His name was Scott Joplin. He took the "ragged" music he heard there, added rules he learned from his teacher, and created Ragtime which is perhaps the only popular music in our history that had strict rules. About the time of his death, another young man was hearing the Swampoodle Boogie Woogie and barrelhouse and eventually incorporated it into his 49 studies for player piano. These are now being compared to the most complex and forward compositions in all history. Each is unique. He studied an approach, then moved on. Those are the core subjects of the RMHC...but hardly all. Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash both spent considerable time in Texarkana on the verge of stardom. One local broadcaster, Uncle Dudley, knew them all and was on the air continuously from 1931 until 1994 which HAS to be something of a record for a single performance run. Otis Williams, founding member of the Temptations, was raised there. Don Henley of the Eagles was raised in nearby Linden and I almost certainly heard his first band at Joey's Teen Night Club as I was a regular visitor in its brief time as a business. There's more, but will leave it there. Point is, the area is rich, rich, rich in American music and it's time to focus on it. We'll be publically announcing the project there sometime after Christmas and I'll be devoting full time to it. It's a 501 3c NPO. If all goes well, sometime next year we'll have the ground floor renovated to its 1917 configuration, a performance piano, a Marshall & Wendell AMPICO player piano as specified by Conlon Nancarrow for his works, and a fully Klipsch Heritage listening area with large screen video for documentaries, YouTube, and lecture use. There will be LP, 78rpm, R2R, and server access for music. My own LP and 78 collection will server to start the library. Another early function will be to work with the Grammy Foundation to become an archiving center for old and rare recordings. I know a 78 freak there with a large collection and a very high level of skill in digitizing them. I've had another local source say he has a "barn full" of 78s. My guess is we'll find more than we can handle. The advisory group for the project consists of very imminent scholars, musicologists, and performers in the areas mentioned about including some names you'd know. Ambitious. Crazy. But what the hell. This idea is about six months old and has taken on a life of its own. What a hoot! Here's a couple of pictures of the ground floor 3D I've worked up so far and one of the front of the residence upstairs with the front wall of the building hidden. Dave 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Great job organizing all that and good luck. Maybe a road trip some day to check it out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 What a great idea! I hope to visit some day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 Grand Opening is targeted for the week of 2 April, 2017, the centennial of Scott Joplin's death. We are planning multiple performances of the Joplin's "Treemonisha" opera by Rick Benjamin and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, Otis Williams and the Temptations, Boogie Woogie with John Tennison, Joshua Rifkin doing his definitive piano performances of Joplin, and Nancarrow performances...possibly other ancillary activities. That, in turn, will be year one of a Scott Joplin International Music Festival to be held that week every year from then on. So, it's my hope MANY forum members will come for the music and good times. With that range of music there is something for everybody. But, as mentioned, I hope to be having "bring your own snacks and music" listening sessions, programmed sessions, lecture/performances, and such at the basic center every week. I'll keep folks posted and let everyone know when they can expect a party. Being forced to party and listen to music several evenings a week is a gig I wish I'd thought decades ago. Better late than never. Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 I really like the live performing music area, I'll bet that will be a popular part of the building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Will definitely be paying a visit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStewMan Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 will there be a justin Beiber or miley cyrus wing? sorry, had to go vomit after writing that.... Congratulations Dave. I wish you much success and happiness. If i’m ever passing through, hope i’ll be welcome to stop by. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MookieStl Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Dave, it is good to hear your brainchild is still on track (pun intended)! Sounds like a great retirement plan. The only advice I would give you is something most if not all of us learned in high school - history = boring & music = fun. If you mix in enough music, you can make history entertaining as well. About a month ago, I was visiting my daughter in Seattle and we made a quick trip to the EMP, a museum dedicated to pop culture, because I wanted to see the Jimi Hendrix exhibit. The exhibit was concentrated mostly on his touring and had plenty of interesting tales to tell, and items to display (guitars, clothing, carry on bag....) It was all great but the music was missing. Background stuff and some head phones with misc. sound bites. Good but not great. There was also a Nirvana display that was a better presentation but still mostly putting on head phones for music bites. Then there was the JBL room (can I say that here?) it was a huge (100 ft?) video screen with a superb sound system. They were playing locally recorded studio sessions and it was wonderful. I could only imagine how much better my Jimi "experience" would have been if they put his exhibit in that room and played more of his signature style. Who knows, I might have found the history lesson entertaining. Also with music, I would go back many times to enjoy. The history, once was enough. Best of luck with this project. Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 will there be a justin Beiber or miley cyrus wing? sorry, had to go vomit after writing that.... Congratulations Dave. I wish you much success and happiness. If i’m ever passing through, hope i’ll be welcome to stop by. Steve I hope you did vomit. Otherwise it is still inside you, eating away your soul.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStewMan Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 will there be a justin Beiber or miley cyrus wing? sorry, had to go vomit after writing that.... Congratulations Dave. I wish you much success and happiness. If i’m ever passing through, hope i’ll be welcome to stop by. Steve I hope you did vomit. Otherwise it is still inside you, eating away your soul.... i haven’t vomited in over 25 years; but, i found another way to purge those thoughts from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Shh. This is confidential. Why would one put something confidential on a Forum with nearly 40k members? Well, to start with it isn't all THAT confidential...just not public yet. Besides, you are all my friends and some are more like family...so why not? We'll be permanently in Texarkana by the first week of January. I hope to open the ground floor of our building at 116 E. Broad as the Regional Music Heritage Center in basic performance, listening, and presentation mode by summer. It's mission: "To provide a center for research, education, and performance of the genres of music originating in and evolving from the Texarkana region and to promote public knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the role of the area in the American and world musical heritage." What heritage? To start, the best known Boogie Woogie bass line is the "Swampoodle" bass line. Swampoodle was the red light district of Texarkana from the late 19th century until well into the 20th. It influenced jazz, blues, rock and a young man who took piano lessons from a German music professor not two blocks from that area. His name was Scott Joplin. He took the "ragged" music he heard there, added rules he learned from his teacher, and created Ragtime which is perhaps the only popular music in our history that had strict rules. About the time of his death, another young man was hearing the Swampoodle Boogie Woogie and barrelhouse and eventually incorporated it into his 49 studies for player piano. These are now being compared to the most complex and forward compositions in all history. Each is unique. He studied an approach, then moved on. Those are the core subjects of the RMHC...but hardly all. Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash both spent considerable time in Texarkana on the verge of stardom. One local broadcaster, Uncle Dudley, knew them all and was on the air continuously from 1931 until 1994 which HAS to be something of a record for a single performance run. Otis Williams, founding member of the Temptations, was raised there. Don Henley of the Eagles was raised in nearby Linden and I almost certainly heard his first band at Joey's Teen Night Club as I was a regular visitor in its brief time as a business. There's more, but will leave it there. Point is, the area is rich, rich, rich in American music and it's time to focus on it. We'll be publically announcing the project there sometime after Christmas and I'll be devoting full time to it. It's a 501 3c NPO. If all goes well, sometime next year we'll have the ground floor renovated to its 1917 configuration, a performance piano, a Marshall & Wendell AMPICO player piano as specified by Conlon Nancarrow for his works, and a fully Klipsch Heritage listening area with large screen video for documentaries, YouTube, and lecture use. There will be LP, 78rpm, R2R, and server access for music. My own LP and 78 collection will server to start the library. Another early function will be to work with the Grammy Foundation to become an archiving center for old and rare recordings. I know a 78 freak there with a large collection and a very high level of skill in digitizing them. I've had another local source say he has a "barn full" of 78s. My guess is we'll find more than we can handle. The advisory group for the project consists of very imminent scholars, musicologists, and performers in the areas mentioned about including some names you'd know. Ambitious. Crazy. But what the hell. This idea is about six months old and has taken on a life of its own. What a hoot! Here's a couple of pictures of the ground floor 3D I've worked up so far and one of the front of the residence upstairs with the front wall of the building hidden. Dave I am assuming, and will help come to fruition of course, that the oldtimer room will also be ready... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 Dave, it is good to hear your brainchild is still on track (pun intended)! Sounds like a great retirement plan. The only advice I would give you is something most if not all of us learned in high school - history = boring & music = fun. If you mix in enough music, you can make history entertaining as well. About a month ago, I was visiting my daughter in Seattle and we made a quick trip to the EMP, a museum dedicated to pop culture, because I wanted to see the Jimi Hendrix exhibit. The exhibit was concentrated mostly on his touring and had plenty of interesting tales to tell, and items to display (guitars, clothing, carry on bag....) It was all great but the music was missing. Background stuff and some head phones with misc. sound bites. Good but not great. There was also a Nirvana display that was a better presentation but still mostly putting on head phones for music bites. Then there was the JBL room (can I say that here?) it was a huge (100 ft?) video screen with a superb sound system. They were playing locally recorded studio sessions and it was wonderful. I could only imagine how much better my Jimi "experience" would have been if they put his exhibit in that room and played more of his signature style. Who knows, I might have found the history lesson entertaining. Also with music, I would go back many times to enjoy. The history, once was enough. Best of luck with this project. Mike That's precisely the kind of input needed. It will be a challenge. The exhibit/experiential components won't start to happen until after April, 2017. That's both a matter of wanting to seriously get a BOAT LOAD of input into how to do this in better ways than so many of these types of "museums" offer. My advisors, who really are some world class minds, have had some great thoughts already. But...what do they really know about the predominant local population and the nature of the traffic through Texarkana? So, we will take a LOT of time to figure that out...as well as be writing grant after grant to get money to do it. As I mentioned, we'll start with regular listening sessions that aren't very formal with performances, presentations, and such as we can get them. I hope for this to build a core of local support. One step at a time while soliciting ALL the advice we can get. Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Dave, it sounds great! How much seating are you envisioning for the informal music area? The reason I ask... there is a small performance place here in Chattanooga that seats maybe 75 at most (I always forget to count), with some great artists coming down from Nashville, Knoxville, Atlanta, Ashville, NC. I saw Three Ring Circle there, and they were like ten feet from us. Here they are in Nashville.... Getting excited for you. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 Sort of figuring on filling in the exhibit areas from the front back as money and resources allow. That will mean the mezzanine can be used as a stage and the chair place in front. While you could get quite a few more in in there at the moment, I think the acoustics and site lines allow for maybe up to a 100 for the first couple of years. Once the space out front is in use, seating will be limited to 50 at most as shown on the mezzanine itself. That will be adequate for listening sessions, small performances, and lecture/performances. There is a wonderful set of buildings two blocks west on Broad called the Silvermoon that has been restored beautifully and has a full commercial kitchen and a performance hall good for 200 people or so if we need a larger space. For the really big stuff, like Treemonisha or the Temptations, there is wonderful Perot theater a couple of blocks also that seats 1500 nicely. Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Sounds like a very ambitious project that will keep you busy for a while. It would be a good day trip from DFW area visitors once you get it up and running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStewMan Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 maybe Bruce will bring his Taylor to town and give you a performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 (edited) Dave, Even space for 50 would be nice for a performance. Nice that you can scale up and stay in the neighborhood, too. maybe Bruce will bring his Taylor to town and give you a performance. NOT going to happen. I started to practice again a few weeks ago. Trying to get in some time every day, but I just don't have the energy for it. Bruce Edited December 2, 2015 by Marvel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted December 2, 2015 Moderators Share Posted December 2, 2015 That is really awesome, looking forward to checking it out. Don't forget about Huddie and Cotton Fields. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 Huddie is a BIG part of the region story. Cotton Fields is part of the 96 pieces of music I've identified so far with Texarkana in the title or lyrics. That's more of a sideshow. Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted December 3, 2015 Moderators Share Posted December 3, 2015 I just read this, I had put it off until I had time to read it. Congratulations it sounds like a long time dream come true, and I think your right, it's going to take on a life of it's own. Reading what you said about the local music history reminded me of some of the things Rodney was telling me. Now he was talking mainly about country bands and musicians many who are local to the area, way less than 100 miles. It is a long list of some very popular musicians, I had no idea that area was so rich in talent. And like Bruce said, it's great that there is bigger spaces close by that could be used for for other events if needed, that's perfect. The other thing to remember was similar to what we talked to Rodney about as far as renting out the Lake house eventually to generate some income as a getaway rental. That area as well as Texarkana is within a few hour drive from some good size populations with other sites family's may want to plan a few days around. Many times when we plan a trip we try to look at everything that can be done with day trips from a central spot. Sounds like a great idea and I know you have been thinking about this for a long time, i hope it works out perfectly. After everything settles down after the new year I would be happy to do what I can to help, we will talk later. Congratulations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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