Mark Shepard’s DrumSongStory

Posts Tagged ‘NJ’

UCCCA stands for Upper Catskill Community Council of the Arts and I’ll be performing DrumSongStory for their “Family Fun Day” on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 2:00 PM. at Wilber Mansion, 11 Ford AVe, Oneonta, NY 13820 Admission is FREE! For more info call UCCCA: 607-432-2070

Check out the full flyer below.

Couldn’t let Halloween go by without some kind of story…haven’t recorded some of my favorite scary stories but this one will work. Don’t really think of it as scary but it does involve shape shifters and a skeleton woman. Ultimately it’s really about healing and transformation… have a listen now or download it to your mp3 player for later. It’s from my Breathing Underwater CD / Program

Leave me a comment below!
Happy Halloween!

Pictures from a recent family concert performance of Mark Shepard’s DrumSongStory at Church Street School in White Plains, NY.

Program Theme: “Beyond The Borders: Drums, Songs and Stories Celebrating Cultural Collaboration”

Introducing the Frame Drums

Mark performs “Curiosity” a “DrumSongStory” where Mark plays the drum, sings and tells a story all at the same time.

Mark Shepard plays “Bob the Big Drum” with the assistance of a young audience volunteer

Mark Shepard demonstrates some cool Djembe techniques to a young audience volunteer

You can Play the song here. Right click the download link to save it to your computer

 

 Music Is A Bridge by MarkShepard: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Music is a Bridge | February 2008 | Song #380

I look at you and see different
You look at me and see the same
I look at you and see magic
You look at me and see the world explained
Out of the fog and distance
We can find a way to dance
Out of the cold and darkness
We can find warmth and happiness

Refrain:
Music is a language
That connects us like a bridge
Meet me in the middle
Meet me at the edge
Music is a story
That connects us like a thread
Meet me in the middle
meet me at the edge

If you sing with words
That I don’t understand
Still my heart will comprehend
Whatever’s been torn or broken
Music always helps to mend
Whatever is too straight or rigid
Music always helps to bend
Our love of music makes us friends
Our love of music makes us friends

Refrain:

If you are alone, far from home
(Still the song remains)
Whatever you’ve lost or broken
(Still the song remains)
If you’re a stranger
In strange land
(Still the song remains)
Won’t you join me
In the melody?
(Still the song remains)
Now let’s add
A little harmony
(Still the song remains)
La la la la la
(Still the song remains)
Nu Waba Walangi
Chi Mazi Maya Tu Gatta
Still the song remains

Refrain:

You look at me and see different
I look at you and see the same
You look at me and see magic
I look at you and see the world explained

Commentary: I wrote this song while visiting a friend in San Francisco. It was commissioned by Bill Rodman for the Letters To Daddy Musical. The story I was given for the context was that the main character of the musical has just gotten into trouble for something at school. As a result she ends up in the principals office where she meets a new girl. The new girl is an orphan from Uganda, Africa who has been adopted by an American family. The two have nothing in common…except their love of music.

The larger idea here is that we can find cultural connections in a lot of ways. Music is one of the best. Irish musicians are using African percussion, African drummers are including the Irish tin whistle. And on it goes.

To hear more of my songs visit: MarkShepardSongs.com

- Mark Shepard, New Haven, CT

p.s. please “digg” or “stumble” or “Facebook” or Twitter this okay?

p.p.s. Follow me on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/MarkShepard

A Traditional  African Folktale That Explains

• How Drums Came To Be

• Why Leopards Aren’t Vegetarians

• Why Monkeys Live In Trees
  

• AND…
  

• Why You Never Mess With A Drummer’s Drum Without First Asking Permission…

 

 Monkey & Leopard: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This story is featured in two of my DrumSongStory Programs: Trickster Tales and The Talking Drum.  It can also stand alone as a humorous and refreshing 20 minute keynote that is guaranteed to liven up the most serious corporate conference.

This telling was recorded live at an elementary school with several audience volunteers assisting me on Djun-djun, Djembe, and “Bob the Big Drum”.

To book this program now call 1-800-378-4971 or e-mail mark[at]markshepard.com

See what other DrumSongStory Programs are available for:

• Schools, Family Concerts
• Colleges, Universities
• Corporations, Non Profits, Conferences

This is a series teaching how to make many of the cool sound effects instruments I use in my DrumSongStory programs. I will be updating these posts with video as well. I welcome your photos and videos, links and suggestions. These very simple instruments can also be made as part of a team building process for organizational and corporate groups who are interested in innovative ways to break the ice and build connections and community while having fun.

I’ve also held instrument making workshops just before a performance of Drum Of The Elephant King so that the participants can be an integral part of the show.

Here’s a small audio sample so you can hear how I use these instruments in my DrumSongStory programs:

 

 Cool Sound FX from Elephant King: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Part One: How To Make A Rain Stick (Kid Quality)

Ages: 7 and older.
Time Needed: Approximately one hour for basic work. More time to decorate.

Materials:

1. Cardboard Tubes.
   a. Simplest – paper towel rolls.
   b. Best sounding – 24″ Postal Tubes with a diameter of 2″-2 1/2″. (they usually come with end caps and can be ordered 50 at a time).
2. Nails one quarter inch shorter than the diameter of your tube.
3. Hammer.
4. Tape – Masking, duct, clear packing, or contact paper.

How To Make It:

1. Draw a spiral along the length of your tube.
2. Hammer nails along the spiral approximately one finger width apart.
3. Fill with popcorn, rice, beans etc.
4. Cap ends
5. Cover nail heads with tape or contact paper.
6. Decorate. One innovative teacher uses brown shoe polish over strips of torn (rather than cut with a scissor) masking tape. The result looks kind of like wood)

For Really Young Children (ages 4-5) you may want to try the following two alternatives:

1. Instead of hammering nails, you can wad up small pieces of newspaper and fill your tube with that. Then put in the pop corn. You may need to experiment with different size wads.
2. One innovative teacher suggested using an egg carton. Put the pop corn or beans and rice in an empty egg carton and tape closed. Turn so the stuff falls from compartment to compartment.

Part Two: How To Make A Rain Stick (Professional Quality)

For Older Instrument Makers (Middle School to Adult). This is how I make my own professional quality rain sticks

Materials:

1. ABS Pipe (black, lightweight w/excellent sound quality) or PVC Pipe (white easy to find but heavier than ABS -  3-6 feet in length, 2 inches to 2 and 3/4 inches in diameter
2. Bamboo barbecue skewers
3. Sandpaper
4. Colored tissue paper
5. Water Based Polyurethane
6. Brush
7. Rubber end caps
8. Electric drill with bit
9. Filling material – popcorn, rice, dried peas etc.

How To Make It:

1. Take a piece of ABS or PVC pipe, (the lighter weight black grade ABS Pipe is the easiest to work with. It is also louder. I think you can get it at electrical supply stores.)
2. Drill holes in a spiral approximately 1/4 inch apart. You might want to mark the holes a head of time. But a little bit of free form is alright too. The holes should be large enough to accept the bamboo pegs snugly but not so snugly that they are impossible to hammer in.
3. Cut the bamboo barbecue skewers into peg lengths that are just shorter than the diameter of the Tube. In other words you want the peg to go across the open space of the tube but not jam into the opposite side.
4. Hammer pegs into holes. If the fit is nice and snug there is no need for any glue.
5. Sand it so that the ends of the skewers are flush with the outside surface of the pipe.
6. Experiment with different amounts and kinds of filler material. I started favoring dried peas because they are nice and round. But pop corn is a bit louder.
7. Cap the Ends. I find that the rubber caps available at plumbing supply stores work well but eventually loosen up. After having the end caps fall off at the worst moments, spreading popcorn and rice all over the place in themiddle of a performance (  I started gluing them. Elmer’s Glue only works for a while…So far the only thing that seems to hold is painter’s caulk or super glue (both of which can be messy and nasty).
8. Decorate – When I decorate my rainsticks I tear or cut tissue paper into small pieces and then paint them onto the tube with water based Polyurethane. The result is a very pleasing multicolored overlapping “Decoupage” effect. I then add several more coats of the Polyurethane (”glossy” is the shiniest but “semi-gloss” works too) for a deep shine sanding lightly between coast with a very fine grit sandpaper. When I have the black kind of pipe I just sand it and poly it. The ends of the skewers make a beautiful pattern on the black tube.

Time Needed: Depending upon the length of pipe you are working on, it could take anywhere from 4 to 10 hours of work to complete your rainstick. However, when it is done it will last a lifetime and give a lot of pleasure to anyone who plays it.

Tip: I have found that local plumbers and plumbing supply as well as electrical supply companies are quite generous in donating scraps of PVC pipe (some as long as 6 feet!) for making rainsticks. The rubber stoppers I use for the ends though are a couple of bucks apiece, but worth it for their protective value! Before you actually spend money on this project, give these folks a call and see what you can scrounge up. Good luck!

he How To Make Cool Sound Effects Instruments Series:

• How To Be A Shaker Maker
• How To Make A Cuica (a.k.a. Chicken In A Cup)
• How To Make a Rain Stick
• How To Make Wind Tubes
• How To Make An Ocean Drum
• How To Make A 2X4 Xylophone, Old Wrench Xylophone, Wind Chimes etc.
• How to Make A “Paint Stirrer Rhythm Stick”
• How To Make A “Paint Stirrer Stir Drum”

To book one of Mark Shepard’s DrumSongStory programs now, call 1-800-378-4971 or e-mail mark[at]markshepard.com

See what other DrumSongStory Programs are available for:

• Schools, Family Concerts
• Colleges, Universities
• Corporations, Non Profits, Conferences

This is a series teaching how to make many of the cool sound effects instruments I use in my DrumSongStory programs. I will be updating these posts with video as well. I welcome your photos and videos, links and suggestions. These very simple instruments can also be made as part of a team building process for organizational and corporate groups who are interested in innovative ways to break the ice and build connections and community while having fun.

I’ve also held instrument making workshops just before a performance of Drum Of The Elephant King so that the participants can be an integral part of the show.

Here’s a small audio sample so you can hear how I use these instruments in my DrumSongStory programs:

 

 Cool Sound FX from Elephant King: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

How to make a “Chicken In A Cup”

a.k.a. “Friction Drum”, a.k.a. “Guica” (Gwee-ka), a.k.a.  “Cuica” (Kwee-kah)

Ages: 6 and up. Younger children may need help from grownups.
Time needed: 10-20 minutes including practice time.

Check out the picture at left. The huge Guica is made out of a 5 gallon paint bucket. I took the bottom out, and stretched a piece of rawhide over it to see if it would make a decent drum. It was only so, so. But there are no failures in this business! I took a piece of waxed linen thread and turned it into a Guica. Now it sounds like an “Elephant In A Cup!” Next to it in the photo are the more usual sized materials.

Materials:

1. Plastic cups (the sturdy kind) work the best but you can emphasize recycling by using plastic yogurt containers, or larger plastic sour cream containers. For a very temporary Guica you can use a paper cup. Most kids will rip the bottom out of one of those pretty quick. You can experiment with different sizes and materials.
2. Waxed Dental Floss (good) or Waxed Dental Tape (better – but more expensive and smaller amounts available)
3. Hammer & Nail: or other tool that will make a decent sized hole in the bottom of a plastic cup.

How To Make It:

1. Punch two holes in your plastic container about a finger’s width apart. It helps if your nail is a decent size. It might also be possible to squeeze the cup and snip the holes out with a pair of good quality scissors. Or you could thread a large needle with the Floss and “sew” your floss into the bottom of the cup.
2. Take a piece of waxed dental floss about as long as a child’s outstretched arms or one long adult arm and thread each end through a hole.
3. Pull the ends through the inside of the cup and make sure they are even.
4. Tie a simple knot as close to the holes as possible so the sting doesn’t fall out and so the knot is not in the way of your fingers sliding up and down the string.
5. Shazaam! you now have a genuine “Chicken In A Cup”.

Some Tips: When I do large workshops I make the holes in all the cups ahead of time. Making the holes is not a kid activity. And is included here only for adults. I make a charcoal fire in my outdoor grill. I heat up a couple of nails. Using heavy work gloves and a pair of vice grips I grab a hot nail and melt the holes through about 5 cups at a time. Danger: The fumes from the melting plastic are toxic. They also smell nasty. I make sure there is a decent breeze blowing and I hold my breath when necessary. Wearing a protective mask is also a good idea.

I’ve also used an electric drill on a slow setting to drill down through as many as a dozen plastic cups at a time.

How To Play It:

• Hold the cup in one hand and lightly hold the strings in your other hand as close to the cup as possible.
• Then gently slide your hands along the string.
• You should hear an amazingly chicken-like sound. Particularly if you do it in short jerks.
• If you do it in one long smooth pull it sounds more like a sea-gull or maybe a wild animal.
• The larger the cup the bigger the sound.

Some Playing Tips: The sound is created with friction. So, if your hands are greasy or if the wax has been worn off your string by a lot of playing, it might not work as well. In that case wash your hands with soap and water and either get a fresh piece of waxed floss or use a piece of beeswax (available at hobby stores) to re-wax the string. Another technique is to use a small piece of wet sponge. Experiment!

The How To Make Cool Sound Effects Instruments Series:

• How To Be A Shaker Maker
• How To Make A Cuica (a.k.a. Chicken In A Cup)
• How To Make a Rain Stick
• How To Make Wind Tubes
• How To Make An Ocean Drum
• How To Make A 2X4 Xylophone, Old Wrench Xylophone, Wind Chimes etc.
• How to Make A “Paint Stirrer Rhythm Stick”
• How To Make A “Paint Stirrer Stir Drum”

To book one of Mark Shepard’s DrumSongStory programs now, call 1-800-378-4971 or e-mail mark[at]markshepard.com

See what other DrumSongStory Programs are available for:

• Schools, Family Concerts
• Colleges, Universities
• Corporations, Non Profits, Conferences

As the students begin to file in to the auditorium. I begin to do Overtone Singing, African Yodeling and Throat Whistling accompanied by a large frame drum. As you listen notice how naturally they begin to join in and quiet down. By the end of the piece you can hear a pin drop.

Also called Throat Singing, overtone singing is a vocal technique that originates from Central Asia, particularly the countries of Tuva and Mongolia.

I first came into contact with it through Glenn Velez who played frame drum with the

Paul Winter Consort. I also found a great book called “Tuva or Bust” which was about physicist Richard Feynman’s

attempts with his friend Ralph to get travel visas to the then forbidden Republic of Tuva which was part of the old Soviet Union.

I like to start my concerts with overtone singing running the vocals through a digital delay.

I also added something that to my knowledge, no one else does and that is Throat Whistling. Which is literally a whistle I create from deep in my throat. I can get 3 distinct notes at this point…

The other vocal element is African style yodeling…

I’m also playing the Siberian Shaman Drum as well as “Bob The Big Drum”, a huge log drum I carved out of a Sycamore tree.

The Silkie is from Mark Shepard’s Breathing Underwater CD which is ow Available for Instant Digital Down Load
Regularly $15 |Get the Album of Drums, Songs & Stories about the Sea For A Limited Time Only: $5.00

The Silkie | April 10, 1998 | Song # 290

by Mark Shepard

Once there was a fisherman
On the salty sea
Who felt so very alone
That he dreamed of a wife
Who would keep him company
And give to him a child and a happy home

One northern summer day
He was paddling his way
Through the tiny islands not far from shore
When what did he espy
With his hunter’s practiced eye
But a maiden dancing on the rocks
So wild and pure

Well the sun was in her eyes
So he took her by surprise
After he had hidden her seal skin
She was a Silkie you see,
A magic creature of the sea
Who sometime come ashore
To walk in human form

Refrain:
Oh to be a Silkie of the Sea
Oh to be a wild creature swimming free
Oh to know the secrets of the foam
Oh to love the ocean and to call it home

She begged to be let free
But he said, “No, come with me
In seven years your skin I will return”
So sadly she obeyed,
Turned her back upon the waves
Took a path that led her towards an early grave

In the passing of the days
She gave birth to a babe
A human son with web between his toes
But she’d begun to fade
And to wither all away
A little more with every single passing day

But she told the child tales
Of seals and fish and whales
She taught him how to sing and play the drum
She told him of the times
When she was strong and fine
She told of other drier days that were to come

Refrain:

6 years she’d struggled on
Now she was almost gone
And the fisherman grew silent and grim
Yet still he did deny
The quiet pleading in her eyes
As he told himself that someday
She would change her mind

One night the child awoke
To a strange un-earthly note
A sound from deep beneath the moonlit sea
It was old grandfather seal
A legend now made real
Calling to his own to bring his daughter home

But the boy tripped in the sand
And reaching out his hand
Touched the softness of her lost seal skin
The man had thrown it to the deep
Hoping so his wife to keep
But the spirit of the sea had washed it in again

Refrain:

The took it to her and
She slipped in to it’s fur
Once again her eyes were full of life
She was a silkie y see
And would have died if not set free
She was never meant to be a human wife

Her son began to cry
As she slipped in to the tide
But he could not save her any other way
And on certain moonlit nights
He would sometimes catch her sight
And then they’d swim together
In the healing waves

Refrain:

He brew into a man
Who knew the way of land
As well as the secrets of the sea
And I met him one time
Though he was old and almost blind
He played the drum and sang this very story

Refrain:

Commentary: This is my all time favorite story. Folk singer Joan Baez did a traditional Silkie song that I heard as a kid and then I came across “Women Who Run With The Wolves” by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. also the movie, “the Secret of Roan Innish” draws from this body of Silkie Stories. So this song combines several different versions of the Silkie.

I used to only perform it for older children and adult audiences but one day a school principal who was somewhat clueless about developmental ages combined a group of kindergartners with a group of 5th graders in an assembly.

I knew I was in trouble. I can easily handle a group of kids from K-8 and connect with each age level all at the same time but to have only to two extremes was really tricky. Nothing was working. Finally I figured I would at least do something that would nourish me whether it reached the kids or not.

So I sang the Silkie. You could have heard a pin drop. So I tend to end my programs with this piece of it at all fits in with the theme I’m working with. It’s just a great way to end a program. Kind of on a thoughtful quiet note.

I use it as part of several programs:

• Breathing Underwater
• Beyond The Borders
• Mysts & Magick
  
• DrumSongStory
• Beneath the Northern Star

The Silkie by Mark Shepard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
http://DrumSongStory.com/TheSilkie

To book this program now call 1-888-598-7709 or e-mail mark[at]markshepard.com

See what other DrumSongStory Programs are available for:

• Schools, Family Concerts
• Colleges, Universities
• Corporations, Non Profits, Conferences

Drums, Songs & Stories From Ireland

Stories and Story Songs:

• The Silkie

• Eileen McGillicuddy And The Fairy King
• Grace O’Malley The Irish Pirate Queen
• Quit That Racket!
• Arthur MacBride
  and more!

Instruments:

• The Bodhran
• The Bones
• The Spoons
• The Tin and Wooden whistles

Sound Effects: (played by the audience)

• Fairy Bells
• Thunder Tubes
• Wind Wands
• Banshee Pipes
• Rainsticks
• Ocean Drum
• and more

To book this program now call 1-800-378-4971 or e-mail mark[at]markshepard.com

See what other DrumSongStory Programs are available for:

• Schools, Family Concerts
• Colleges, Universities
• Corporations, Non Profits, Conferences

Abi yo yo was as big as a house...

An Annoyingly Dysfunctional Family Saves a Dysfunctional Town From a Giant with a BIG Personal Hygiene Problem!

This is the first story I ever told. I learned it as a kid off of a Pete Seeger record. Seeger’s original version takes about 8 minutes. Mine takes about 45 minutes! Let’s just say I’ve had a lot of fun with my adaptation techniques!

In Pete’s original the boy plays a ukulele. Since I’m always getting in trouble for playing the drums I had him be a drummer…

To summarize the story, Abi Yo Yo comes into this town every once in a while eating everything in site, cows, horses, whole flocks of sheep. By the time he gets to the edge of town he is usually ready for dessert. (”Yum! Pee-pull! Goood!”)
Now in the town they usually ostracize any body who can’t follow all the rules perfectly. And the edge of town is where those people live. It’s a simple way to get rid of trouble makers. But then Abi Yo Yo doesn’t show up for such a long time that people start flaunting the rules and getting on each others nerves.

• Children refuse to eat broccoli.
• Drivers stop stopping at stop signs.
• People throw their garbage all over etc.

Eventually three members of one family start to get so out of line that it begins to really bug the other residents!.

Suffice it to say that the main characters are a trio of “creative” types:

• We have a drummer who practices ALL THE TIME!.

• We have his sister, a painter who uses public buildings for her “canvases”. And,

• We have their father, a magician who is constantly making stuff disappear.

Eventually they get ostracized. Of course Abi Yo Yo shows up and it is the outcasts that save everyone else from becoming “dessert”
Program Length: 45-60 minutes

Age Appropriate: K-12
Note: Can be easily adapted to support the “Pillars of Character” Program or any other “character” education themes.

Drums:

• Irish Bodhran
• Siberian Shaman Drum
• African Djembe
• African Djun-djun
• and more

Sound effects:

• “The Wooo Sound”
• Thunder Tubes
• Palm Nut Shakers,
• Wrench Chimes
• and more

To book this program now call 1-888-598-7709 or e-mail mark[at]markshepard.com

See what other DrumSongStory Programs are available for:

• Schools, Family Concerts
• Colleges, Universities
• Corporations, Non Profits, Conferences

Elementary school children transfixed by a DrumSongStory program

How To Book A Great Cultural Enrichment Assembly Program for Your School and…

• Lower your stress level
• Save your school money
• Eliminate the risk of a “dud”
• Make a positive difference in the lives of your students & teachers

With One Phone Call!

Dear PTA/PTO Cultural Enrichment Chair, Principal, Teacher, Librarian,

Somehow it happened. You “volunteered” to book the cultural enrichment assembly programs.

You’ve been handed the “FOLDER.”

It’s bulging with brochures, fliers, catalogs, and postcards trumpeting a dizzying array of cultural arts programs. You know the one right?

• Where to start?
• How do you know what’s good and what’s not (or even available)?
• How do you avoid hours and hours of research and telephone tag?

If you give me a few moments of your attention, I can help you save time, hassle & money.

My name is Mark Shepard.

You may find some of my “DrumSongStory” K-12 School Programs in the “Folder”. Since 1993 I have dedicated my life to creating and performing the very best multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural enrichment programs for schools.

Over the course of thousands of performances throughout CT, RI, MA, NH, VT, ME, NY, NJ, PA I’ve learned how to make your job of booking cultural enrichment programs easy and hassle free.

Listen. I know you’re a volunteer. If you are like most of the PTA / PTO folks I work with, you have

• 2.5 kids
• 2 cats
• a Labrador Retriever
• a stressed out spouse
• and are also holding down a full time job.

The way I see it, the last thing you need is a hassle. Right?

Once you get a feel for my programs you’ll find they are extremely valuable. In some ways however, the content of the program may be less important than the essential factors that can make your life easy or hard.

As you think about your programming for this coming programming season, please consider the following:

• My proven, kid and teacher tested assembly programs support school themes and curriculum areas, inspire love of learning, even help teachers teach better.

• I’m dependable and “compulsively” early. Since 1993 and thousands of shows I’ve never canceled and only postponed 3. I usually arrive at least an hour and a half before show time. You don’t have to wait around wondering if I’m going to show up or not. This saves you stress and possible embarrassment.

• I’m easy to work with. I’ve heard plenty of stories about other performers who didn’t know how to deal with special-ed kids or with the tight time constraints of a school schedule. It’s no accident that I get compliments all the time about how well I handle mid-program distractions. That reflects positively on you.

• I’m on the CT Commission of the Arts which means I’m eligible for CT grants and NEFA touring funds. It also means I’ve been checked out and trained by some of the best Arts In Education specialists in the country.

• I come prepared. I bring a trailer full of state of the art sound system, drums from all over the world and a HUGE drum I carved out of a tree trunk that lights up from inside. So you don’t need to worry about whether it will sound and look good. It will.

• I’m easy to set up for. All I usually need from you is 3 armless chairs. It’s that simple.

• I do my own booking. This means you don’t have to deal with a middle man. When you call to find out if a date is available, you don’t have to wait for my booking agent to call me and me to call my agent back and then the agent give you a return call. I’m reachable directly. I give you my e-mail and cell phone. I usually return my calls within the same day. Less “Phone Tag” for you. Even better, my operations manager, Karen Clark, makes sure that all the details are handled. She brings years of experience to DrumSongStory as a school secretary and personal assistant to superintendents of schools. She also has two young children so she “gets” what you are dealing with.

• I can handle a wide age and developmental range. Because what I do works on so many levels I frequently do shows for audiences of K-8 as well as family concerts. Not many other artists can handle that age range successfully. What’s that worth?

• My programs are affordable. If you divide my single show fee by the typical audience size of 300 it works out to about $3.33 per child. For a large school where three performances are needed, the price often works out more like $1.83 per child.

Time is running out. Dates are limited and are booking fast. So call today!

I look forward to positively touching the hearts & minds of your students and bringing vibrant, enriching programs to your school. All this while making your life easier and saving your school money.

Yours truly,

Mark Shepard
www.DrumSongStory.com

For Booking Call: 1-888-598-7709 or E-mail: Mark [at] MarkShepard.com

See what DrumSongStory Programs are available for:

• K-12 Schools, Family Concerts, Fundraising Events
• Colleges, Universities
• Corporations, Non Profits, Conferences

This is a review of my program “Breathing Underwater: Drums, Songs & Stories about the Sea” written by a passionate young 7th grade writer named Matthew Connolly. Personally, I think he’s a genius! – Mark

“Drums, Songs And Stories: Mark Shepard”

by Matthew Connolly

From the moment I walked into the gym, to the moment I walked out, it was safe to say I, and the rest of the school were spellbound by the talent and enthusiasm of one amazing man: Mark Shepard.

This wonderful singer, drummer, and storyteller wowed students and teachers alike with a fun, amazing show that made me forget I was learning about ancient cultures and sea animals! First he told us the bittersweet tale of the Silky, followed by songs telling about sharks and a story song about a day at the pool. The whole school was tapping toes and singing.

Finally, with the interactive fable “Raven Stops The Rain” and the final song, “Sail Away,” Mr. Shepard did something no one else could achieve. He equally entertained every grade in the school (Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School, Middletown, NY, K-8), and received loud applause.

Mark loves to read, and is talented as a drummer because he has practiced since he was a child.

He said, “Kids are fun, because even in the TV Age, they still enjoy the songs and stories I tell and sing about.” I can only hope that Mr. Shepard returns with more songs, drums and stories. Until then we can all take his advice, “Read a lot, learn a lot, and have a lot of fun!”

Mark Shepard plays Irish Bodhran accomapnied by audience volunteer on ocean drum

Drums, Songs and Stories Celebrating Cultural Collaboration

Starting and ending with the haunting sounds of Overtone Singing from Central Asia and making stops around the world, “Beyond the Borders” celebrates how cultures come together and influence each other.

A World of Vocals:
A combination of several different vocalization styles from Tuvan/Mongolian Overtone Singing, to Tibetan Undertone Singing all mixed in with Throat Whistling and a kind of African Yodeling, accompanied by Siberian Shaman Drum

Curiosity: An old African story that I’ve turned into an “Olde” Irish song. Accompanied by Irish Bodhran and plenty of audience participation

Funga Alafia: an african welcoming song and rhythm. I invite several audience members to join me on stage and with the help of the audience we create an African Polyrhythm.

Jack N The Beanstalk: Traditional European story turned into a song accompanied on guitar with traditional Mississippi Delta Blues (an African derivative style)

Mark Shepard Tells A DrumSongStory with the help of a young audience volunteer

The Silkie: This is an old Irish Story that has a lot in common with many Eskimo (Inuit) tales. Primarily seals that turn into human being and vice versa. I play the wooden whistle at the beginning and the end accompanying the chorus with Bodhran. I usually ask for a volunteer from the audience to play the ocean drum as accompaniment.

 

 The Silkie by Mark Shepard: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Depending upon the situation, time available, the theme, the age mix of the audience and my intuition, I may move at this point into a spoken (rather than sung) story: Picking one of several possible choices:

Monkey & Leopard:
A very funny African story which I tell in a very modern way. It works for all age groups but especially well for younger audiences who may need to lighten things up at this point in the program. (It is also lighter on the sound effects so there is no time spent handing stuff out etc).

Skeleton Woman:
An Inuit tale about personal transformation. It is fairly serious but has a few funny parts that make for perfect comic relief. It has a lot of Sound effects possibilities.

Coyote & Cicada:
A Native American tale explaining why Coyotes howl and have sharp teeth and why Cicada’s shed their skin. quite funny with a modest amount of sound effects. Most audiences enjoy the opportunity at the end of the story to get in a good “Howl”.

Overtone Singing to finish…

Instruments Used: Djembe, Djun-Djun, Bodhran, Shaman Drum, Guitar, Wooden Whistle/Flute
Sound Effects: Wind Tubes, Thunder Tubes, Thunder Drum (the Djun-Djun), shakers, Ocean Drum & more…

To book this program now call 1-888-598-7709 or e-mail mark[at]markshepard.com

See what other DrumSongStory Programs are available for:

• Schools, Family Concerts
• Colleges, Universities
• Corporations, Non Profits, Conferences