Iowa? That's where people have names like Shadric!
From the Small World dept...
Isn’t it gratifying to know that some of the folks you meet along the way, turn into long-term friendships and associations?
When working in the world of Iowa arts in the 1970’s, The Iowa Arts Council assembled an aggregation of visual artists, musicians, dancers, puppeteers, poets, sculptures and storytellers. Called the Touring Artist Team (TAT), the goal of TAT was to bring a variety of hands-on arts experiences to small communities. If you lived in a hamlet with a population of 1,500 souls or smaller….Hurray!! The Touring Artist Team will come to your town.
I met puppeteer and storyteller Monica Leo on the team. 40 years later we’re doing our best work ever together. I also met Shadric Smith a cowboy/country songwriting musician on the tour in 1983.
Dr. Jazz Meets Billy Buffalo
Since we were the two musicians together on The Touring Artist Team, it seemed like a good idea to perform together. His composition, Yankee Cowboy was a perfect entré for us and soon the team Dr. Jazz Meets Billy Buffalo came to life.
Swingin’ American music is a universal language, one we shared with folks all over Iowa. Shadric’s Yankee Cowboy, or my Jazz Is An Inside Joke were original songs of ours that would reach across so-called musical boundaries.
So, what’s the connection between Shadric’s Colorado band in the 80’s and my experience almost 15 years later in California?
In 2010 I was teaching American Roots music at ma.org in San Rafael, Ca. One of our neighbors, Mary Anne Mitguard, a visual artist, held a home-gallery exhibition. She and her husband Jon, (an exceptional steel guitar player) only lived four doors away so it was a good way to get better acquainted.
After the exhibition, when telling Jon and Mary Anne about my Iowa roots, she spoke up offering: “Iowa? That’s where people with strange names like Shadric live!”
Shocked, I blurted out in amazement…”I KNOW SOMEONE IN IOWA NAMED SHADRIC!” and in that instant we figured out that there is, indeed, only ONE Shadric Smith who lives in Fort Dodge AND who played in a Colorado band with our steel guitar-slinging neighbor Jon Mitguard.
Shade now lives in Florida (dang it!) He rides herd on a nice little substack of his own from down there.
Jon Mitguard was a great resource for me. He introduced me to Dana Rath the leader the Modern Mandolin Quartet whom I invited into my American Roots Music classes to speak on the history and heritage of the mandolin.
Over the years, Shadric Smith and I performed at places as disparate as the Blanden Art Gallery in Fort Dodge to the “Peoples Presidential Forum” an event hosted and produced in 2020 by Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and People’s Action.
Do yourself a big favor and Check out my friend and collaborator Shadric Smith Lots of great Iowa music to check out there.
A Note To Subscribers I’m glad that substack is offering a way for Shadric and I to bring more of ourselves to a relationship with those who appreciate our work. We’re not in a big hurry, we still make our music in small batches and thankfully so far your financial support for our work comes to us in a timely and transparent fashion. Thanks Substack, we appreciate that you seem to appreciate us.
Shadric is an Iowan in Florida but don’t hold that against him. It’s a common malady I hear. =-/
Great story old friend. Thanks for sharing! Now we need to make some more music together!
Dr. Jazz, baby. Iowa’s Renaissance man.