Lunchbox Concerts
My friend and collaborator on the Someday Songs project, guitarist Sandy Williams, has invited me on a couple of occasions to participate in a really cool event sponsored by DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. They call them "Lunchbox Concerts," and they host them at their "Music On The Square" performance venue in downtown Greencastle.
"SOMEDAY SONGS" LUNCHBOX CONCERT
In February 2023 Sand and I performed the "Someday Songs" CD tracks and had a great time sharing our stories about the project and about the songs themselves.
"BOB FLANIGAN/THE FOUR FRESHMEN TRIBUTE" LUNCHBOX CONCERT
On October 22, 2024, we will again perform at a "Lunchbox Concert," this time as a tribute to Greencastle native Bob Flanigan, one of the founding members of The Four Freshmen, a post-war vocal and instrumental group that came out of the Jordan Conservatory of Music at Butler University in Indianapolis. There is A LOT to talk about when it comes to The Four Freshmen, and a LOT of it is about how Bob Flanigan's musical talents and determination drove the group forward and helped them achieve such success and worldwide acclaim.
One not-so-well-known (outside of people who are Freshmen fans ore who have a deeper knowledge of vocal Jazz and Pop groups from the past 75 years) facts about The Four Freshmen was their influence on a young Brian Wilson, who would become fixated on the chord progressions and interpretations of Standards Wilson heard in their recordings. Wilson became (his words) "fixated" on The Four Freshmen, and spent an entire summer learning the parts to every song of The Four Freshmen to which he had access. In the book "Becoming The Beach Boys," Wilson writes extensively about how the musical innovations of The Four Freshmen deeply affected his own creativity, and how the sound of The Beach Boys is inextricably linked to the sound of The Four Freshmen.
Here are links to several very interesting videos that feature both Bob Flanigan, founding member Ross Barbour, and Brian Wilson:
https://youtu.be/E1KagX4UR3w?si=Wb6dOqmEDlv5ioru • The Four Freshmen (and Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys) on BBC 2012.
https://youtu.be/XnjmGuiQBdA?si=2dxxICBDL2iKRQYy • WLRN Broadcast (with some earlier Don Barbour & Bob Flanigan footage in the first few seconds), broadcast in NYC April 2000.
https://youtu.be/qLPqOBL0NAY?si=HKsdlC5ekhw-aGEu • Great tribute/montage of images and songs as a tribute to Ross Barbour and Bob Flanigan.
https://youtu.be/JM2OJzeGfFk?si=ZyvzaU7AQ7aP2xru • A Conversation with Bob Flanigan, Sun City Center, May 2009.
https://youtu.be/dSWj9LTWLSM?si=pkyLso7C8_5rJEdH • The Four Freshmen on CBS Sunday Morning 1994.
Special Thanks to Jared Jernigan
Greencastle Banner Graphic reporter Jared Jernagan was kind enough to interview both Sandy and me for these Lunchbox concerts, and his articles about them are (at this moment, anyway) still available online. Here's a link to the more recent article: https://www.bannergraphic.com/story/3056297.html