Beyond The Borders at Church St. School

Mark Shepard — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:33:04 +0000

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

Abi Yo Yo

Mark Shepard — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:32:53 +0000

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: