Kansas Acoustic Arts Association

Wow! The last few weeks have flown by for me. Isn’t life great when there are just too many great things going on, and you can’t be everywhere you‘d like to be.

Our Wichita River Festival concert “Acoustic Arts on the Court” was a grand day with music provided by Broken Silence, Paul Rodriguez, Raleigh Hinman and Nick Wagner, Nikki Moddelmog, DooDah String Band, Reach for the Sky, Medicine Finger (it was great to see these guys out and performing again), and the Bennett Brothers. Scott and Scott (the guys providing our sound that day) did a great job, the weather was perfect, and we just couldn’t ask for a better day.

Acoustic Arts in the Park---- These concerts have proven to be a success. KAAA has been interested in making musical events happen in our public parks for quite awhile.
What better way to introduce our neighbors in the community to the fabulous homegrown talent we have locally than in a family-oriented venue like our public parks. Why, back in the day, concerts in the park were a regular/often daily event. The first three of our concert series featured Nikki Moddelmog, Broken Silence, and Guinn Walker. June 10th was a treat with In the Wake (alt rock/eclectic acoustic), Final Straw, and Uche. June 17th was like a stroll through music history with performances by the Freestaters, DooDah String Band, and Sam Thompson. Thank you to Brian Bailey at www.AcousticAnthology.com and the Wichita Parks Dept. for their efforts to make this a reality. Each Saturday we had over 70 people in attendance, and it is our hope that you will come out and make those numbers increase. Your attendance will help insure the success and continuation of these events. See you there—Aug.26, Sept.2, Sept.9, 1-4 p.m. in Central Riverside Park.

June 17th was also our KAAA picnic, jam and annual meeting. About 50 people attended. Though it was a bit hot we all had a good time with much food, fun, door prizes and jamming until midnight. Thanks to all of you who attended. It was great to see old friends and make new friends.

Our apologies to anyone who was inconvenienced by the cancellation of the Acoustic Crawl. We just weren’t encountering a very good response from Old Town venues. We will work toward more events in the future. Look for a new event coming your way in the fall.

I spoke recently with Lois Seiwert who has been busy making plans with Ye Old Music Shop. She can always use some extra help with these fun-filled events.
The Cowtown Dates are July 1 & 2, Aug. 5 & 6, Oct. 7 & 8, and Education Day -- Fri. Oct. 6. Can you spare a couple of hours to share some hands-on music with kids from 1-99? Volunteering is easy --- just say yes!

Speaking of volunteering…KAAA elections are coming up soon; the ballots will be in the next newsletter. We will have 8 positions open on the board and know we have many multi-talented members out there with gifts to share, and it only takes a bit of your time. YOU can help make great acoustically-inclined things happen. Please consider putting your name on the ballot. If interested, please contact Debbie at mseeley@cox.net or Dulcie at kdguinty@kcisp.net.

Congratulations to Pat Audley at the Artichoke on becoming a Grandpa. You sure can’t tell he’s a proud grandparent by the picture hanging on the wall or the smile on his face!

Uche hosted a great backyard concert recently with the Krash and Terry Quiett – the parking lot was full and a great time was had by all.

We were fortunate enough to catch Medicine Finger at the Artichoke recently. Glad to share the news that Mark Horton is doing well. Great to hear these guys again. They have a fantastic CD out, too. If you haven’t got one yet, it is a must-have. To send greetings to Mark or get your CD, contact Mark at 729 Cliff Dr., Augusta KS, 67010. Also heard about plans for a 2nd fundraiser for Mark and family to help with mounting medical bills for ongoing treatment. This will happen in late Aug.– time and place to be announced. A concert, art show and auction are being planned . If you would like to donate items to auction, a house concert performance for a silent auction, time to help, etc., etc., please contact me at kdguinty@kcisp.net or 316-776-2891 or Dee at netwerkxcreative.com or 316-683-8961.

Word has it that Rik Stevenson is on the way to feeling better these days, too. So very glad to hear that. Send greetings to Rik at recycled@htomail.com or 4723 E. 27th N., Wichita, KS 67220.

Also got word that Kirk Rundstrom is still fighting his battle with cancer and keeping his spirits up. Send greetings and well wishes to Kirk at 314 N. Volutsia, Wichita, KS 67214 or kirkrundstrom@yahoo.com.

The girlfriends and I will be off to the Woody Guthrie Festival in a couple of weeks; looking forward to a great time there and will report back to you.

In the meantime there are many great music-filled events coming up in the next few months, so be sure to check out the calendar of events. Remember we want to hear from you so send us your “Notes on What’s Happening”.

Peace,
Dulcie