Milford Fine Arts Center, Milford, CT
Friday, 26 March 2010
Updated Monday, 31 October 2016
Updated Monday, 31 October 2016
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| In March 2010 the Ken Lelen Combo played for the Milford CT Fine Arts Council, which hosts a coffeehouse series in this former train station. |
Our concert at Milford Fine Arts Center was the high point of Ken Lelen Combo’s Spring 2010 tours. We performed for 85 people in a Performance Coffeehouse — an all-acoustic venue located in a former train-station waiting room that was outfitted with 100 chairs set around 15 tables.
The room was a long rectangle topped by a high ceiling. With a simple stage at one end and reception area at the other, we didn’t need a sound system. We could see everyone in their $15 and $20 seats and everyone could see and hear us.
Unlike our audiences at retirement communities, our audience at Milford Fine Arts Center was not retirees looking to take a nostalgic bath in old songs. Here, the audience was the typical mixed-age group who frequent acoustic music clubs and offer musical programs by singer-songwriters or folk and traditional singers.
To our pleasant surprise, the crowd at Milford Fine Arts Center was eager to hear ragtime, jazz and swing. They also wanted to hear vintage acoustic guitars made in the same era as the music and catch info nuggets about Tin Pan Alley and the characters who once dwelt there.
Playing for a warm and friendly crowd on a Friday night, the concert went well for us. sang 18 songs in two 45-minute sets. I displayed and played five vintage guitars, including a 1933 Martin OM-18 once owned by Carl Sandburg. There were refreshments at the break in a separate area and free CDs on the tables for club members and their guests. After the concert we relished in the familiar hub-bub of people on the stage visiting me or Matt with questions and comments or grabbing a look at the guitars.
In all, everything worked well. So, our thanks to William Meddick, director of the Milford Fine Arts Center, Laura Garrity, head of the acoustic-music club's coffeehouse committee, and a powerhouse of committed volunteers.
Here are the guitars played and the songs performed at Milford Fine Arts Center:
1938 B & D — Groton 1
The room was a long rectangle topped by a high ceiling. With a simple stage at one end and reception area at the other, we didn’t need a sound system. We could see everyone in their $15 and $20 seats and everyone could see and hear us.
Unlike our audiences at retirement communities, our audience at Milford Fine Arts Center was not retirees looking to take a nostalgic bath in old songs. Here, the audience was the typical mixed-age group who frequent acoustic music clubs and offer musical programs by singer-songwriters or folk and traditional singers.
To our pleasant surprise, the crowd at Milford Fine Arts Center was eager to hear ragtime, jazz and swing. They also wanted to hear vintage acoustic guitars made in the same era as the music and catch info nuggets about Tin Pan Alley and the characters who once dwelt there.
Playing for a warm and friendly crowd on a Friday night, the concert went well for us. sang 18 songs in two 45-minute sets. I displayed and played five vintage guitars, including a 1933 Martin OM-18 once owned by Carl Sandburg. There were refreshments at the break in a separate area and free CDs on the tables for club members and their guests. After the concert we relished in the familiar hub-bub of people on the stage visiting me or Matt with questions and comments or grabbing a look at the guitars.
In all, everything worked well. So, our thanks to William Meddick, director of the Milford Fine Arts Center, Laura Garrity, head of the acoustic-music club's coffeehouse committee, and a powerhouse of committed volunteers.
Here are the guitars played and the songs performed at Milford Fine Arts Center:
1938 B & D — Groton 1
Lady Is A Tramp © 1937
Pennies From Heaven © 1936
Love Is Here To Stay © 1938
I’m In The Mood For Love © 1935
1912 Grauso
— Auditorium
Nobody Knows You Down & Out ©
1923
After You’ve Gone © 1918
Ain’t Misbehavin’ © 1929
1925 Maurer
— Style #493
Georgia On My Mind © 1930
Dream Little Dream Of Me © 1930
Rising Sun Blues © 1934
1938 B
& D — Groton 1
I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm © 1937
_______________ BREAK _______________
1938 B
& D — Groton 1
Abilene © 1963
My Dream For You © 1998
Sunny Side Of The Street © 1930
1937
Kalamazoo — KG-21 (Floyd Riggs)
Glory Of Love © 1936
Somebody Else Is Taking My Place © 1937
Paper Doll © 1915
1933 Martin
— OM-18 (Carl Sandburg)
Peach Pickin Time in Georgia © 1932
1936
Sovereign — OM
You Are My Sunshine © 1940
Tennessee Waltz © 1948
1938 B
& D — Groton 1
Don’t Be Ashamed Of Your Age © 1947
On A Slow Boat To China © 1948
Sit Right Down, Write Myself Letter © 1935
Goodnight, Irene © 1936
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© 2010 by Kenneth Lelen — All Rights Reserved
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