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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

arts

Hootenanny sound to fill the Venue

The Venue, Fine Arts and Gifts will play host to an acoustic hootenanny today as its Tuesday night educational event.

David Colman, the Venue curator, said the hootenanny, which is a folk musical collaboration, will run much like a community-wide singalong.

“We’ve been doing these Tuesday night events for six years,” he said. “Periodically, we do music events.”

People of all ages show up to the hootenannies, Colman said.

The range goes from as old as 70 years old to as young as 15.

The only requirement is that people come ready to either sing or play an instrument.

“The singing far outweighs the instrumentation,” he said. People tend to go more toward gospel and Americana music genres.

However, Colman has seen a variety of instruments come through his doors varying from guitars and banjos to accordions.

The creation of this event was organic, he said.

In the past, the Tuesday night events featured a variety of topics.

One could call it eclectic, Colman said, but it doesn’t do it justice.

“Bloomington has a lot of talented people that come to present,” he said. Among that list of presentations are magic shows, belly dancers and yoga demonstrations.

However, one key aspect of the creation of the occasional Bloomington Hootenanny is Colman’s customer profile.

Most of his customers are musicians, he said, which was how this event came to be.

“We have some people that always come to the hootenannies,” Colman said.

He listed one loyal performer as “Detroit Bob,” who brings his banjo to the downtown store location.

For people curious about what music will be featured, Colman said the music tends to stay traditional.

He listed “Blowing in the Wind,” by Bob Dylan, and “This Land is Your Land,” by Woodie Guthrie.

This lends the event more flexibility with the wide age range of participants.

Young people know Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, Colman said.

The event is open to everyone and asks that people bring their own instruments to perform or sing.

The event begins at 5:30 p.m. and is open to audiences of all ages. Refreshments will be provided by the Venue.

Colman said he is excited for the event because this singalong is one of the few presentations the Venue has where people cannot tell the difference between presenter and attendee.

People come to play and sing.

It’s simultaneous — you can’t tell the difference when the music starts, he said.

“I’ve never been disappointed in that,” Colman said.

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