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Wednesday, november 29, 1978
daily nebraskan
arts & entertainment
Guitarist's style reflects unique interest in 'Americana'
By Mary Jane Winquest
Very clean cut and as folksy as the
"Americana" his tunes reflect, guitarist
and songwriter Peter Spencer has a unique,
personal approach to his music.
Mis conglomerated repertoire of
country, blues and jazz reveal his interest
in American culture and songs of an earlier
era.
"I do contemporary material but some
times it sounds old," said Spencer on the
inevitable link between his style and his
cultural interests.
In the middle of a four-week Midwes
tern tour, Spencer recently played in Chi
cago and Minneapolis and will continue on
to St. Louis and complete the tour De
cember 16 in Kansas City.
Spencer's three -day stop in Lincoln at
the Zoo Bar, ends after tonight's perfor
mance. Spencer said his interest was in "ethnic
music of all types recorded since the dawn
of recording technology." He said he
would play "anything that organically or
accidentally found its way on stage. '
Spencer forcefully strummed his six
string acoustic guitar and matched its deep,
rich sounds with an equally deep voice
Monday night.
Spencer alternated between instrumen
tal and story -laden lyric tunes.
Best instrumentals
Spencer proved his best with such in
strumentals as "Mr. Lucky," where he dis
played total absorption in his fingerwork
and heavy sounds from his guitar. His
opening instrumental medley most ob-
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Photo by Mark Billingsley
Guitarist Peter Spencer strums away in performance at the Zoo Bar.
viously portrayed American culture with
tunes like, "The Theme From Mickey
Mouse Club," "If You Wore A Tulip,"
"Bicycle Built For Two," and "Old
Fashioned Love."
Spencer's improvising tendency as a
young guitarist still influences his music.
Spencer said his medley's just happen ac
cidentally, and will never be the same
twice.
Somewhat of a record historian,
Spencer describes himself as a "minor
league record collector." But since he tours
25 days a month, he said he doesn't have
the space to accommodate the bulky 78
speed records that many of his friends
collect.
Spencer, from a musical family, said
there were several reasons for his interest
in vintage songs and musicians.
"I'm interested not only because of my
family and my being an American, but be
cause of my enjoyment of old records," he
said.
According to Spencer, a Chet Atkins
piece is the most thorough workout for
his fingers.
"I'll play when nobody is listening, but
I don't practice at all," he added.
No lessons
Spencer said he also has not taken guitar
lessons, and as a result uses improper hand
positions while playing.
Spencer played countless Chet Atkin's
pieces because of the enormous strength he
contributes to each chord.
He belts out lyrics with enormous
strength too, and what he sings about are
as varied as the tempos he incorporates
into his pieces.
As Spencer rolled on the sides of his red
boots he snag, "A man is a creature of con
stant change, after you have been eating
steak all the time, beans taste fine."
In another tune his versatile voice
wails, "I got the washboard you got the
tub, let's put 'em together and do the rub
de dub."
Spencer designates his tours east or
west, depending on their direction from his
hometown, Erie, Penn. He said he plans an
eastern tour next, and in six months he
plans to work on an album.
Spencer said he was superstitious and
didn't want to talk about his new album,
but he did announce that its title would be,
"God's Wrath In The St. Louis Cyclone."
Taken from a 78 speed recording of
black preacher, J.M. Gates, and his congre
gation, the title is the same as Gate's
sermon, according to Spencer.
"I like the title," Spencer said. "I use
anything that I like and will fit."
Ravi Shankar to appear in concert at Kimball Hall
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Photo courtesy of Herbert Barrett Management
Famous performer and Beatles' teacher Ravi
Shankar win perform tonight at Kimball Hall.
World -renowned musician and composer Ravi Shankar
will appear in concert tonight at the Kimball Recital Hall.
Shankar is well-known for teaching the Beatles how to
play the sitar, and as a figure in the peace -through -music
movement that became popular in the '60s.
entertainment
notes
Born in Varanasi, India, Shankar embarked upon a
career of unique artistic accomplishment after many years
of intensive study. As a composer, Shankar has done ex
tensive writing for the ballet and film in the United States
as well as Canada, Europe, and India. Today he is a singu
lar phenomenon in the classical music worlds of East and
West. He has performed in all the major concert halls of
Western and Eastern Europe; North, Central, and South
America; North Africa, Australia and New Zealand; the
Middle and Far East and the Soviet Union.
In the United States, Ravi Shankar's artistry and
musicianship has been placed, as the Xcw York Times
wrote, in as high a virtuoso class as anything this century
has heard from Horowitz. Heifetz, Casals or Men uh in. .
and his impact on American music has been more pro
found in the last decade than that of any other non
Western musician."
Frequent guest
Shankar is a frequent guest performer and lecturer at
major colleges and universities. He has written an autobio
graphy entitled. My Musk, My Life.
Sponsored by the University Program Council Concerts
Committee, Shankar will appear at Kimball, 1 1 th and R
streets. Admission is $4 for UNL students and $5 for
general admission.
UNL's Studio Theatre's latest presentation, The
Shadow Box, will be performed tonight through Dec.
Dealing with the dying and the struggles of those who
surround them, the play is set in a hospital with private
cottages for the terminally ill and their families In one
cottage, Joe played by Dale Wilson, is a middle class
laborer who fights his wife's (Loreda Schuster) stubborn
refusal to accept the fact that he is dying. In a second
cottage, Brian (Scott Lank) tries to intellectualize his
death whne his ex-wife (Maria Harper) and his lover
(bcott Baughn) must come to grips with the situation
on their own terms.
Force of wfll
Finally in a third cottage, Felicity (Shana Higgins),
continues to l.ve through sheer force of will, muTh to
the consternanon of her daughter (Kathy Lang) The plav
Zt?Z0U"i thCSe ,hCe grUPS and theif efforts to
resolve their alienation from death. Together they seek
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dnd John Thew ;k Joe s teenage son
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