This is probably the news-iest article I have ever done for the Free-Lance. I mean it was okay, right? I am being modest enough, right?
Unfortunatly you don’t get to here my wonderful musings and fact-pinions (opinions of mine that are right and therefore facts) on music like in my reviews. But I know these guys. They’re cool dudes.
Local bands, local charity– the cuteness factor alone would have to win me some kind of fans.
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/082008/08212008/404197
Three young bands put their talents to good causes
Date published: 8/21/2008 By John Kovalchik
From 1971′s Concert for Bangladesh to last year’s Live Earth, benefit concerts built on the idea that celebrities can use wealth and fame to benefit particular causes have thrived.
Yet even on a smaller stage, it’s possible to make a difference in our own community. Kids Jamming for Kids was spawned from the idea of another Fredericksburg charity music show called Santa Jam. Brittany Frompovich, a music teacher in the area, took Santa Jam’s idea of donating to homeless shelters and applied it to her own students playing the music they have learned from her in a concert atmosphere.
Thus, Kids Jamming for Kids was born. Although it is still young, the small organization made the large donation of 240 pounds of food to the local food bank with its first show. For KJFK’s next show, it has decided to create an alliance with another nascent charity group in Fredericksburg called Guitars Not Guns. The idea is somewhat similar to Vh1′s Save the Music Foundation, which gives musical education to underprivileged children in urban settings. Guitars Not Guns takes guitar-savvy volunteers and has them give lessons to at-risk kids.
With these two organizations working together, not only will the organizers of Saturday’s show at Four Winds Campground (off U.S. 17 south in Rappahannock Academy) be collecting nonperishable food items, they will also be donating the money collected from a $5 entry fee to Guitars Not Guns.
The event will feature a diverse group of kids jamming their hardest to provide a positive outlet for Fredericksburg youths. The bands performing are No Sign of Mourning, playing bluesy classic rock; Anything Ceol, jamming to Celtic rock; and The Red Light Effect, playing their brand of experimental indie.
“I definitely think it will be a unique show,” said Dylan Vasey, the guitarist and lead singer for The Red Light Effect. “I’ve never played a gig with this big a tie with a well-known charity organization.”
So come out and enjoy some music and the last great days of summer by dancing around outside–and as an added plus, you will be helping out a wonderful cause.
John Kovalchik is a rising sophomore at Stafford High School.
