The world-renowned Missouri Botanical Garden hosts a summer concert series that boasts an average attendance of 56 thousand people for each 10-concert season, averaging over 5,600 per show. The Whitaker Music Festival, a St. Louis summer entertainment favorite, features an eclectic selection of musical entertainment that is curated and managed by A…

St. Louis based Todd Mosby is a phenomenal acoustic musician whomakes music magic, weaving jazz, classical and Indian genres. He isthe ONLY guitarist in the world, outside of the royal family inIndia, who has mastered the 20-stringed Imrat Sitar, an instrumenthe invented. His newly-released album On Eagle Mountain will be featured at aconcert on Ap…

Getting the Most Out of Your Wedding Band Darren George, Mirage manager and drummer, suggested we do an interview about the wedding band business, and how their clients can select and work with a band. We covered business and operational aspects of shopping and working with these bands to help assure the music for the event will be perfect. Conside…

The terms singer, songwriter, musician, and bandleader all describe Tyler Stokes, but I walked away from this interview thinking of him as an extremely wise and intelligent young man with amazing insight and vision. In Tyler I found a breed of musicians that defines a new generation, influenced at a young age by the best rock and blues artists the …

I've been following Peter Martin since 2009 when I saw him play at the Whitaker Music Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden. I saw him play there again in 2014. In this interview, he shared that is one of his favorite places to play in St. Louis, ranked at the top with Jazz at the Bistro where he'll be performing May 18–19. Peter is known for h…

Vincent Golomski of Fanfare Band is my guest in this episode of A Concert Pitch. He is founder, manager, and keyboard player of this popular dance band celebrating it’s 40th year. Fanfare Band, with lead singer, Kittie Moller, performs all over St. Louis at commercial venues including the Ritz Carlton in Clayton and Dierbergs in Des Peres. They als…

I was introduced to country music songwriter, Steve Williams, through a friend, Myles Kelly, manager and keyboard player for Rockin' Chair, and band that covered the Laural Canyon — Eagles; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Poco and others. Myles contacted me recently after "discovering" Steve Williams playing with another songwriter, Will Nance, at a …

Randy Mayfield uses his gifts as a musician and songwriter to spread the Gospel. As Pastor of Missions and Outreach at Central Presbyterian Church in Clayton, Missouri, Randy leads missions in St. Louis, nationally, and many foreign countries. I've known and performed with Randy for over 27 years, and I'll appear with him and a group of talented mu…

Tim Callihan is the leader of Spectrum, one of the premier private bands in the St. Louis Area. I met Tim four years ago at a Spectrum gig at the Chesterfield Chamber of Commerce Summer Concert Series at Faust Park. I've been following them ever since. Spectrum is so successful — they're booked well into the future — that they have no time or need …

Three years ago last week we lost a symbol of American music, Dave Brubeck, one day before his ninety-second birthday. Brubeck was a pianist and composer who helped make jazz popular in the 50s and 60s, and who’s song “Take Five” is one of the most recognizable jazz songs ever recorded. With the anniversary of his passing, I was reminded that I had…

I consider Joe Mancuso an entertainer right out of the fifties, only much younger, singing jazz standards of Sinatra, Bennet, Torme and the like. His love and mastery of the standards, his passion for performing, and the classical voice training he received at Webster University puts him in an elite class of jazz musicians in St. Louis. He can be h…

I've known Tony Viviano since 2002 when he approached me to compile videos of his performances and media interviews on a DVD. Shortly after that he asked me to shoot video of free concert he did with his big band at Bluebird Park in Ellisville, Missouri. Since then, I've been seeing Tony perform in a variety of venues, and running into him at other…

Guests for episode 7 of A Concert Pitch are Myles Kelly, Chuck Wade, and Mike Ehrhardt, members of the band, Rockin’ Chair, a band made up of members of two St. Louis bands from the seventies, Mesa and Nickles. Rocklin’ Chair is a reunion band that celebrates the music of bands like Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds, the Band, the Allman Brothers Band…

Javier Mendoza was born in Virginia and raised in Spain, but he began his music career in St. Louis, Missouri. Soon after he began focusing on writing and performing, he was playing small local venues with a fellow musician. Soon after that he was discovered by Ken Hensley, a founding member of Uriah Heep, and was signed to a publishing deal with W…

Dave Beardsley is arguably the biggest advocate for Blues music in the St. Louis area. In my interview with Dave he tells the story of his rapid climb to the top of Blues promotions that began with him being asked to provide medical services for a Blues festival. Dave is co-founder of the National Blues Museum in St. Louis, the opening date of whic…

Singer, Songwriter, and guitarist Terry Rogers of the duo Rogers & Nienhaus has a long and storied career that includes playing extensively with The Byrds and many notable acoustic musicians over the past 40 plus years. In addition to regular performances with Rogers & Nienhaus, his efforts include tribute performances featuring the music of CSNY a…

This episode of A Concert Pitch features two interviews. The first is with St. Louis born and raised actress, Natalie Wisdom. She is a swing member in the musical theater production Matilda at the Fox Theater in St. Louis. We talk about the story of the musical, Natalie's acting career and what it's like to perform at the historic Fox Theater. The …

Singer/songwriter Pat Liston is best known as founding member of Mama's Pride, a band that recorded two popular albums in the seventies and toured with Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers, The Charlie Daniels Band, and other groups of that genre. Mama's Pride reunited and recorded a CD in 1992. These days, Pat plays frequent solo shows in the St. L…

In our first episode, we feature founder, bassist and arranger for local Beatle cover band, Abbey Road Warriors. We discuss the band's beginnings, how the Beatles influenced popular music in the 60s and beyond, arranging music, the Bob Kuban band, and the importance of music education.