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Show i j Scera shell to showcase local talent groups If - I ! i ii ilfc-' Silll m By SHARON MORREY The first "3 for 3" concert, June 25 at 7:30 in the Scera Shell featuring three top local bands, is a test. If it's successful in bringing out I people to see local talent perform, ! there will be more concerts ! featuring local country singers, "easy -listening" artists, teens and children who can clog and tumble, sing and dance, all kinds of entertainers. en-tertainers. Dana Robinson, president of Dana j Productions, is confident that high- i quality talent is abundant in Utah; 1 it's just not appreciated as such. He's determined to prove, once and for all, whether or not such efforts as his Scera Schell concerts can be smash hits. He's deliberately kept the cost "way down" with "three times the rock at one-third the cost," $3 being the total ticket cost to see three bands perform in a single evening. He's hand-picked the acts he feels deserve exposure, choosing rock bands "New Spain," "Blitz," and "Soujourn" as his lead concert ! performers after listening to demo tapes from numerous groups . ("New Spain" is the headline group, currently booked into the Zephyr Club and composed of Mont Call, Michael Spencer, Ken Seastrand and Scott Allman.) He is handling all the publicity and promotion, carefully selecting the date and the facility for the concerts. "If it can be done, we're going to see," says Robinson. "I'm really sticking my neck out here." Robinson says the concerts are a response to the tremendous frustration he's felt over the past years watching "very talented people get nowhere in Utah." "If you took the same talent and brought it out of L.A. or Nashville, people would take notice. But you say, 'from Utah' and they ignore you." Robinson feels he understands the industry and knows the people to connect with when he finds a major talent but he has consistently run into a "Catch 22" situation in the local area. "You have to be a hit to get on the station and to get to be a hit you have to get on. "The radio stations won't play you unless you're on Billboard's top 40 and you can't get there unless the stations play you." The 3 for 3 concert concept has the admiration of his peers. "I've been told, this is the formula if there is one." Robinson has enlisted K-BER Radio 106.5 FM to promote the artists ar-tists and concerts in 60 second spots. He wrote the ad copy, designed the flyers, is serious about maintaining total control. "If it doesn't work, I want to know it wasn't because we missed something or broke down somewhere in the promotion side." He's invited media people, video producers and program directors to the June 25 rock band concert hoping to show them the talent is here to carry a half-hour local showcase spot on radio. "It would be great for the stations too. They'd be the first in the entire country to do this. I think people would listen. Right now a few are willing to play a demo at night, once or twice and that's it. Unless a hundred people hear it and call up the station demanding that song, that's usually the end of it." Robinson hopes everyone that wants the same kind of a break into the music or television industry someday will support the 3 for 3 concerts. "If this succeeds, we'll hold a series of six more, and if I can get the facility for it, I'd like to do this year-round featuring all kinds of local talent." The Scera Corporation has given Robinson's plan good support, he notes. In turn, he'd like to see the Scera Shell get more of the recognition it deserves as the fine facility it is. "There's a lot out on the line here," Robinson acknowledges. "It's ambitious, it's risky. It's just this. I know that talent is here in this area, talent that rivals the best in the business." New Spain will be one of three groups performing at Scera Shell tonight with a special i 3 groups for 3 bucks promotion designed to showcase local talent. |
