Lindsay Schmidt has vocal directed high school musicals (Annie, Footloose, Willy Wonka, and Tarzan), worked with the some youth classes at a local community center, and has been performing in community productions around West Michigan since 2001. Lindsay also traveled with first national tour of “The King & I” as a guardian/child wrangler from 2016-2018. Her husband is a traveling
Continue readingBeyond the Spotlight – Episode 9: Lindsay Schmidt
Since earning her degree in Theater from Calvin College, Emily Diener has been working onstage and off, in numerous community theater productions over the last ten years. Some of her favorite roles include Ursula in The Little Mermaid (Grand Rapids Civic Theatre), Katherine in Freaky Friday (Circle Theatre), Cathy in The Last Five Years (University Wits) and Mother in Ragtime
Continue readingBeyond the Spotlight – Episode 6: Emily Diener
Chris Goosman wears a lot of hats! Some of those include: Audio Jacknife at The Encore Musical Theatre Company, Sound Designer, Intermittent Lecturer at University of Michigan School of Music Theatre & Dance, Technologist at University of Michigan Medical School, and Owner/Chief Engineer at Baseline Audio Labs. Chris Goosman is a Mastering Engineer whose ears, ingenuity, vast industry knowledge, and
Continue readingBeyond the Spotlight – Episode 4: Chris Goosman
Dan Kesterke is Director of Bands at Siena Heights University in Adrian, Michigan. He’s also a very busy freelance clinician, drummer, and percussionist, who plays in several cover bands of various genres, a jazz quartet, and he performs in numerous symphonic and pit orchestra settings throughout southeast Michigan. On a cold, windy Monday morning at the tail end of 2019,
Continue readingBeyond the Spotlight – Episode 3: Dan Kesterke
Hey kids, I’m about to launch a fun new venture – “Beyond the Spotlight”! It’s a podcast where I pull back the curtain and interview folks working in the trenches of the music and theatre worlds, who never really get their chance to shine. We all know about the ‘stars’ who get the attention and accolades. But what about those
Over the last few years, I’ve been focusing more on pit orchestra gigs (musical theater productions) for a multitude of reasons: 40 years of playing in the cover band scene has burned me out It’s a great way to keep up on my reading chops I really enjoy being a member of a larger team working toward a common goal,
So, if you’ve been following this blog for awhile, you know I haven’t posted any new content in over 3 years. There were numerous reasons for that: My concert photography was virtually non-existent Social media began playing a larger role in my communications I honestly felt like I had little to say (that anyone would care about) Over the last
For the last few months, I’ve been seeing the name ‘Charlie Worsham’ pop up in music circles and social media. So, I decided to see what all the fuss was about and checked out his August, 2013 release Rubberband on Warner Bros. Records. Not only did I immediately hear/see what all the fuss was about, but I instantly felt
Continue readingCharlie Worsham – Auburn Hills, MI – 9.18.13
A selection of my favorite images from the October 4, 2012 show at Huntington Center in Toledo, OH. As with the Eden’s Edge photos from the previous post, this Little Big Town set was part of the Rascal Flatts “Changed” Tour of 2012. The full gallery of images can be viewed here. All images ©2012 Jon
Continue readingLittle Big Town – Huntington Center – 10.04.12
Back in about 2007, when my son was in the Music Business program at Belmont University in Nashville, he met a trio of musicians that were relatively new to Music City and needed some demo recordings. He did a few sessions with them over a period of a couple years and shared some of those recordings with me at the
