Concerts Help Foster Local Pride
By Nandini Jayakrishna
WEST WARWICK — Doris M. Legault, 71, remembers the evenings when the sidewalks of downtown Arctic teemed with people. She remembers the pre-mall era when the latest stores lined its streets. And she thinks of the days when people often came together for festivals and food, for music and dance.
But Wednesday night, the West Warwick native got a glimpse of old times as she and her husband, Gerard, 78, sat in lawn chairs by the Main Street gazebo and listened to live old-time country music.
The evening, featuring Rhode Island group Zee’s Country Band — formerly The Harwoods — was the second in the town’s free summer concert series.
More than 150 people, young and old, gathered with chairs, chips and drinks to listen to their favorite songs. They swayed, clapped and tapped their feet. Children rolled around on the grass, danced and blew bubbles. Drivers of passing cars couldn’t help but turn to look.
“It’s a way for the community to get together,” said Donald L. Carpenter, 69, who has lived in the town for about 30 years and attended many concerts at the gazebo.
“I’m really happy here,” he said.
The concert series began, with three shows, in the summer of 2001, said Warren R. Rensehausen, the town parks and recreation director. This year’s eclectic eight-show lineup — this week’s performance was the second — mostly includes Rhode Island bands that play oldies, country, pop, folk, blues, swing, jazz, classical rock and Irish music every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
Still to come are Atwater & Donnelly, July 16; Gemini, July 23; Jen Minuto, July 30; Tall Heights, Aug. 13; John Connors and the Irish Express, Aug. 20, and Bandstand Revue, Aug. 27.
“It’s a nice piece of Americana,” said West Warwick Town Council President Edward A. Giroux, who has enjoyed many of the concerts in past years. “There’s a great attendance by the seniors in the area and they’re able to walk to it in many cases.”
Support for the series this year comes from Centreville Bank and other local sponsors. The average cost per band is about $350, Rensehausen said.
The bands are picked through a process called block booking sponsored by the Rhode Island Recreation and Park Association. In January, nearly 20 communities get together to choose the bands they want to host. The more communities choosing the same band, the lower their respective expenses.
Rensehausen said his main goal is to get quality music for the lowest price.
The town just finished installing restrooms near the gazebo, using federal Community Development Block Grant money, Rensehausen said.
Next week’s performers, husband-and-wife duo Elwood Donnelly and Aubrey Atwater, of Foster, will treat concertgoers to traditional American folk music.
In a career spanning 20 years, the couple have performed in 35 states and in England and Ireland. Their repertoire includes songs that date back 50, 500 and even 1,000 years from Scottish, Irish, African and Native American traditions.
“It’s a heritage kind of music,” Atwater said. “It reminds us as Americans of our heritage.”
One of the oldest songs the duo may perform next week is called “The Devil’s Nine Questions,” telling the story of a woman who outwitted Satan by solving his riddles. In another song, a dying mother tells her daughter to lead a good life by shying away from dancing and playing cards.
The duo will also perform original songs and play several instruments including harmonica, guitar, banjo, mandolin, mountain dulcimer and limberjacks — small wooden dancing puppets from the Irish tradition.
Atwater, who will perform American step dancing, said the diversity of their songs, with themes ranging form love, betrayal and murder, to battles, politics and labor issues, appeals to varied audiences.
“The topics go way beyond what we hear in American pop [music],” she said.
But another group also set to perform in the concert series for the first time would probably disagree.
Paul R. Wright, 22, and Tim P. Harrington, 20, who started their acoustic pop band, Tall Heights, two years ago, say that though they sing about love and the emotional ups and downs of relationships, they also write songs on varied themes — burning environmental issues and the struggles of artists like themselves.
And though their genre is more contemporary, the two are confident their music will appeal to the town’s older residents.
“It’s not like we’re a loud, noisy rock band,” Wright said. “Even the older generations will see that the overall sound is appealing.”
“I think that to enjoy our music all it takes is an open mind,” Harrington agreed. “It’s easy to listen to and it’s fun.”
The Sturbridge, Mass., natives, who sang together in high school, perform extensively in New England. In March, they had a concert in Milan, Italy, where Wright taught for a year after graduating from Dartmouth University.
Returning bands such as the oldies band Bandstand Revue and John Connors and the Irish Express, have a large following in the area, Rensehausen said.
For Doris Legault and many like her, the concerts are a chance to show their pride in the town that has been their home for decades.
“We’ll support anything that comes here,” she said with a smile. “It doesn’t matter what they play, we just enjoy music. We don’t want to miss this.”
“You see so much bad in the world that something like this is just a joy,” she added.
West Warwick
Laura Colomb whispers to friend Jack Smith during the concert.
Foreground left to right, Sabrina Verrechia, 12, her mother, Jan Verrecchia, and friend Fran Scullin, all of Johnson, applaud Nightlife during the band’s performance July 2. The Providence Journal / Kris Craig
Jack Smith and Laura Colomb head with their lawn chairs to West Warwick’s downtown gazebo for a recent Wednesday concert, part of a community-sponsored summer series. That evening the featured band was Nightlife. This week, Zee’s Country Band performed. The Providence Journal / Kris Craig
The band Nightlife performs at the West Warwick gazebo on the evening of July 2. From left the members are Les Fuller, on guitar, Eric Ingraham, on drums, and Mike Verrechia, on bass. njayakri@projo.com / (401) 277-7090
Originally published by Nandini Jayakrishna, Journal Staff Writer.
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