south bay kids

SEPTEMBER 2005 NEWSLETTER

WILL THIS SEASON EVER END?

2005 SEASON RECAP
What in interesting headline, eh? Well, 2005 will go down as our weirdest “off stage” season of all time. But, it will go down as a season that produced one of our Top3 or Top 4 Art & Wine Shows (which is our measure of season success.) The question now is when will this season just go down?

While we have had some interesting off stage issues, not once did it affect the quality of our shows, which is a true measure of professionalism. It is also a season in which I declined a record number of shows, either because we were already booked or had already had planned for it to be off, or it was just not worth it. I didn’t keep a number, but it was quite high. We had a fairly busy summer as it was. When was the last time we had an actual rehearsal?

Well, all in all, things worked out, but I could have done without a lot of the drama and stuff. So long as it doesn’t keep happening, we’ll be OK and I am sure that we will be just that, OK!

2005 was a season in which we had two less bands than in 2004. When I lost a band, I didn’t try to replace it. The funny thing is, our overall numbers, in terms of members if just as high as it was in 2004. Next year should be a huge year for us, too. There should be at least two new bands joining us, two young bands. All of our current bands will be back. GET READY will return earlier in the year so we can learn all the new songs that we were not able to learn this year. VARIETY SHOW SINGERS will have a different look as some of the singers are transferring into bands full time and I will be moving some of our VS2 members up. I have also been getting phone calls from new members and we haven’t even started recruiting yet!

The biggest change of them all will be in what will be called our “infrastructure.” It is become quite obvious that I can no longer do everything that needs to be done. Why? The organization has grown to the point where in order to keep up with the growth and to keep the quality up, there needs to be more of a staff of helpers. During the season several members have stepped up to the plate in terms of show day help and it has been a great help as they have done an outstanding job! We need to have this at all of our shows. It is important that I do what I do best and that is to organize and to teach.

During the off season there will be one or two meetings in which we will organize a Parent Booster Club, or Parent Tech committee or whatever we chose to call it. We have a large number of veterans and alumni who may want to be on a Show Day Tech Team. This will help me a lot especially in terms of show day stress. (Did anyone notice that I was fairly calm during the Art & Wine weekend?) It is because I had tremendous (and I mean tremendous) help during that weekend. Normally, on the second day of the Festival, I can barely get out of bed. This year I had a lot of energy and actually got there early. The day after the Festival, I was feeling really good, considering.

We have a great organization, which is why the phone has been ringing this year. We should all be proud of who we are and what we do. I am extremely proud to be your director and have said so publicly.

The next item on the agenda is to rehearse our Holiday Show. An email has gone out seeing who would be interested in performing. This show is going to have a new look this year, too, in terms of performers.

We also need to plan our end of year Awards Banquet, that is, if this year ever comes to an end!

BANQUET COMMITTEE NEEDED…
If you are interested please let me know right away. I need a chairperson and a committee for this annual event.

REMAINING SHOWS
There is an updated ShowDate on the web and I will be handing out paper copies at the next rehearsals. You will notice several additions that are extending our season. It is imperative that you give me your conflicts as you are back in school and school related activities (including homework) are your priority right now. So, I need to know who is available on any given day. More than likely all of our remaining Show Season shows will be on weekends with the exception of the Veteran’s Day Parade which is on a Friday, but all of you are out of school. Some of the Holiday Shows may be on weeknights, also, so let me know.

I plan on using from the following acts for St. Victor’s. Those acts are: House Band, Variety Show Singers, Not 4 Sale and Rhythm In Motion. I will only be using 3 of those acts as we have only 3 spots.

I will need only a few singers for the Harvest Day event. This is as City event. I will need the many acts for the St. John’s event on Friday, October 14.

Anyway, please check out the ShowDate and make a note of the shows, etc.

CAR WASH
Car Wash money is still outstanding, so I have no idea as to how much we made. Our target was a total of $2000 for the two car washes combined. So, far we have made $1280, but a lot of money is still out there!! Please send it in or give it to me at rehearsals. If it is in a check form, mail it to me. If it is cash, then hold on to it. Special thanks go to Donna Kato for running both Car Washes this year.

TURN IN YOUR CAR WASH $$$$…ASAP!!

SHOES AND TIES WERE
FOUND AT THE ART & WINE

FAMILY PROBLEM

I want to take this opportunity to express my thanks, gratitude and support shown to me the past couple of weeks. It has been quite traumatic in what was to have been a much needed 2 week vacation. Losing a family member is one of the most difficult things one experiences in one’s life. My brother and I were very close and a lot of you met him and knew him. I will miss him dearly since I lost both my parents at an early age; he was my surrogate dad as well as my bro. Thanks again for being there for me.

HOTLINE, CALENDAR, ETC
Probably the thing that led to most of off stage issues had to do with “not paying attention” and using the communication devices set up for you to keep you informed.

Next season more responsibility will be placed on the shoulders of each act’s secretary. I think that this will help a lot. We can’t have a repeat of our communication problems in the future.

BBQ TO BE RESCHEDULED
I will be rescheduling the Barbecue. I am really sorry that I had to cancel it, but you understand. I am writing this newsletter before I am doing the calendars, so it may appear on your calendars. Check it when it is posted.

FUNDRAISING RECAP
We had several fundraisers this year, and, for the most part they were quite successful. I have tried to stay away from the kind of fundraisers that most schools do. You know, they have fundraisers that include candy sales, bake sales, candle sales, etc. etc.

I like to do different fundraisers, ones that people wouldn’t mind contributing to or ones where we can use our talents to make money.

We had some new ones this season that included: a swap meet (very successful…kudos to Stan and Debbie Brackett), a concert (thanks to Leo, Spencer, Ben and Byron….next time we are gonna sell out!!) We had our usual Pancake breakfast (very successful, thanks Toni) and our Car Washes (thanks to Finn, Leilani and Donna). We also received donations for performing (Pathscale, Block Party, Donna Kato Party, Holy Spirit, City of Milpitas). When we had the problem with the car washes having to be rescheduled, I was hoping that it would not affect our chances to perform down South. Well, the extra, added ones did the trick and we still had the car washes to make some extra money to pay for the rest of the van rentals, etc.

There are a couple of areas that we need to redefine as I think that it will make each fundraiser more profitable AND we need to get more parents and alumni involved. All in all, it was a great season in this area too!

I STILL HAVE YOUR DISNEYLAND T SHIRTS. I WILL HAVE THEM AT THE NEXT REHEARSAL. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY LEFT FOR COLLEGE, SEND ME YOUR ADDRESS AND I WILL MAIL THEM TO YOU. I WILL HAVE THEM AT THE BBQ, TOO

EQUIPMENT DUTIES
What would a newsletter be without the mention of tuition and equipment? Ah…another breakdown. On the last two shows, I mentioned specific people to do specific duties as far as load in and load out. There were those (more than one, unfortunately) who were NOT PAYING ATTENTION and did not do what was asked of them. SO, for these people, there will be EXTRA duties at the remaining shows. I warn you now that you may be asked to help out at a show that you may NOT be involved in. Call this a punishment or whatever you want to call it. But, I am gonna end this problem one way or another.

TUITION
There is lots of unpaid tuition still due, a lot of it from the GET READY show people. This needs to be taken care of. I will be sending out bills. If you know that you owe, then talk to me or take care of it.

When I mentioned this problem earlier in the year at our meeting, I had 3 people volunteer to bill for me and act as “collectors”. I think that I will take them up on it, as I don’t have a lot of time to chase all of you down.

Please remember that the tuition is a “yearly tuition” that is paid in 4 payments. It is not a quarterly tuition, unless you come in the middle of the season. So, tuition for the last three months of the year is still due even though we may not be doing a lot of shows.

NEW DRUM SET
There is a new member to our equipment family. It is a brand new Yamaha Emerald Green Absolute Maple Drum Set. It is two years overdue, but it was an offer that could not be refused, plus I got delayed billing, too. Khoa was my purchasing assistant when we picked it up at Guitar Center a couple of weeks ago. We will probably not use this kit until late in the season or next. There is one drum that hasn’t arrived yet and won’t until early December. Plus I need to get cases for it before it is transported.

Our classic yellow Yamaha will be our new rehearsal kit. We all love that kid and the thought of me selling it was met with a lot of unpleasant feelings. So, it stays (and I am glad). Our current rehearsal kit will end up in my studio and one of my studio kits (probably the Pearl) will be sold.

AMERICAN IDOLS
South Bay Kids was represented at the San Francisco American Idol auditions in August. One of our current singers, Vanessa Lincoln and one of our alumni, Stacy Mirador, both auditioned for the producers of the show. If you have heard these girls sing then you probably think that I am informing you that they both made it. Well, I am sorry to say, that while both had the chance to audition, they did not make it past the first round.

There are four rounds of auditions before you get a chance to perform in front of Paula, Randy and Simon.

If you see either of these girls, you need to ask them about their experience. Once you hear what they have to say you will NEVER be able to see that show in quite the same way. It was very revealing and a bit shocking!! Nonetheless, we are extremely proud of the two of you as both of you have wonderful “star quality” voices and we all know it!

While Stacy and Vanessa were camping out in San Francisco, Lindsay Adamson was busy auditioning for a radio version of Bay Area Idol. The winners would receive their choice of Rob Thomas tickets or Gwen Stefani tickets. Well, there is good news on this one. Lindsay won and she took the Rob Thomas tickets for his local concert in November. Congrats to Lindsay…

VS2 UPDATE
Wow…this is turning into some kind of cool troupe!! Those of you who had a chance to hear some of our VS2 performers are probably scratching your heads and going “these are the NEW singers?” WOW….yes, “wow” is appropriate.

I have a very talented and young VS2 troupe with tons of talent and potential. Most of them will be moved up into the main troupe after the Holiday show is over. We picked up some great singers throughout the season. We have some new ones who will be joining us in the fall.

I am very very proud of these girls. They are so good that I used some of them for other shows during this season. I am very anxious to get them going for next season (and the Holiday Show).

The future of our vocal program is excellent!!

VARIETY SHOW UPDATE
Earlier in this newsletter I referred to these girls as my “reliables”. I can’ say enough good things about my “daughters”. When I need an act for a special show, I can always count on them. This year was no exception.

There will be a new face (several new faces) as some of these girls will be going into bands full time. The will still be available for “solo shows” in the summer, but will not be regular members of the Sunday Troupe. You will be missed, but at least I still have you in the family!!


STUDIO BAND UPDATE
It’s been an interesting year for the band projects. We lost two bands, Side Affects and Jump The Shark.

Our youngest bands, the Have Nots and After Skool Project had good seasons, although ASP had it rough for a while. Now the band boasts multiple lead singers as they turned a horrible experience into a rebirth. After having to deal with the loss of their lead singer, the band had to rebuild less than a month before the Art and Wine Festival. Other bands would have just called it quits or I may have just put it in limbo for a while. But, I couldn’t disband them and they had too much heart and enthusiasm, so, we recruited new singers. Two of them, Lindsay and Doreen, come from Variety Show Singers and GET READY and their third, Lucia Puel is new to the project and came in via her teacher’s recommendation. The band finished strong with two solid shows, one in Monterey and one at the Art and Wine Festival. They will be performing, along with the Have Nots at the Teen Center Band Night at the end of October.

Our veteran bands had spectacular seasons. Our only adult band, Not 4 Sale started strong in May and just kept getting stronger as the season progressed. The band decided to go it as a 3-piece band fronted by veteran vocalist, Aileen Maglalang.

Rhythm In Motion added one more horn player to their already solid 5-piece horn section. The 6th player is MHS band member, Kim Hollenback. She is playing alto sax and various percussion. The band had to replace two of its original 4 vocalists and did not complete this until just before the beginning of the season! Added to the band were vocalists Sophia Pardini and Aileen Maglalang. Rob Ifflander, an alumnus from several years back, took Kyle Freeze’s place on drums. The band went with a single guitar player this season and may re – add a second guitarist for 2006. Once the vocal situation was settled, the band learned some new tunes and retained some of their 2005 show. It was a most impressive band all season long.

Our “band of bands” House Band had one of its finest seasons ever. Everything fell in to place early in the season for this veteran group and they were good to go from their opening show in May until present. The energy was hot and heavy. The addition of a second guitarist, Camille Ramirez has thickened up the sound and the addition of two horn players, Brad Helfenberger and David Claudio, made a lot of the songs sound more authentic, especially the Earth Wind and Fire tunes that the band plays.


UPCOMING REHEARSALS
September is going to be extremely light as far as rehearsals go, with only one run thru scheduled for each act. All of the acts are still active with the exception of GET READY which is shut down for this season.

October may not be that much busier in terms of rehearsals, but there will be sufficient, run thus and privates for all to be in good show shape.

We will also be starting rehearsals for the Holiday Show and our new bands and singers will begin rehearsing before the Holiday break. The numbers and the quality of the new players will determine if I need to run a “Farm Team” session before placing new people in bands. What I may do, instead, is to have the new people “sit in” with one of the established bands. I need to do this as there are players from outside SBSMA coming in and I need to hear them.

MULTIPLE EMAIL ADDYS
As you know, I have 3 email addresses. It doesn’t matter which one you use as I have an email program that downloads ALL my mail into one mailbox. If you are sending me regular email, then use:
JoeDrumGod@earthlink.net
For larger files (audio and video):
JoeDrumGod@sbcglobal.net
For new people or business type of stuff:
JoeSantoro@sbsma.com
There will be a 4th one when I secure our new web site which is tentatively; SouthBayKids.org.

ART & WINE KUDOS
We’ve now done all 18 of the Milpitas Art & Wine Festivals. As most of you know, this Festival was our very first show. And in that inaugural season, our entire season consisted of two shows. This one and one at St. John’s next door to South Bay.

A week or so after each Festival the Chamber has an appreciation dinner for the volunteers who worked the Festival as well as others who donated in one form or another. I have always been invited, but I haven’t been to that many. At the ones that I have attended there was always entertainment. Usually the Chamber has professional blues, gospel or folk musicians and singers.

The new president of the Chamber, Marsha Grilli, was so impressed with our show that she emailed me right after the Festival was over (literally, an hour after it was over). In the email she complimented us for a wonderful weekend of shows and apologized for not being able to get away from her booth to hear more. She heard a couple of acts including Variety Show Singers and Rhythm In Motion (who she referred to as our “salsa” band).

She also asked if I would be able to bring some performers to this year’s Appreciation Dinner at Adobe Higuera. I usually like to have that night off and just relax and eat and shmooze, but NO…hehe….I don’t like to say “no” when the Chamber or the City calls. So, I sent out an email to see who was available. I got the impression that she really wanted R I M for this. Well, I would have had enough members of that band to put on a show, but I did not know how much time we would have. It would have been quite an inconvenience to a lot of the members if we could only play for a few minutes. So I went to that act that I always go to in time of need. Yup, when I have a special request for a show I go to my Variety Show girls. They never let me down, and this time was no exception.

I told the Chamber officers that I would be bringing some members of my troupe and VS2. We decided that we would perform as people are arriving and then I would play background music for dinner. That’s what we did and it was great. The girls did a fantastic job and received many compliments afterwards. At first it seemed like the people weren’t paying much attention, but the were. We were invited to stay and eat, but most of the girls had to leave as it was a school night and there was schoolwork to be done.

The dinner that was served was awesome! It was a barbecue that featured chicken, ribs, salad, corn on the cob, dessert and drinks. It was great.

I felt that it was an honor that we be asked to perform at this dinner so there was a little extra pressure there, but, hey, was I worried? Nope, I had my “reliables” there.

MEMBER & ALUMNI NEWS
A couple of our alumni, B J Smith and Moncia Bugaoan, are busy running drum lines with High Schools. Monica is the Percussion Caption Head at Cupertino High School and B J holds the same position (and teaches the Pit) at Evergreen Valley High School. Both are very big bands and will be hitting the competition circuit soon. Cupertino is in the NorCal circuit, which is the same circuit in which Milpitas High Competes. They are in different divisions, though. Evergreen Valley is in the W B A circuit. Good luck to both alumni and respective bands…although not an alumni; RIM and House Band trumpeter extraordinaire is playing casuals with “A Touch of Brass”. This is his second stint with this outstanding local group…Speaking of extraordinary and talented musicians, our own Joey Trombly has started teaching. He teaches two days at SBSMA alumni Chris Shahin’s new studio in Campbell. These are very lucky kids to have him as a teacher as he brings vast performance experience with him…former Variety Show Singer, Laura Phillips, was at the Art and Wine Festival with her daughter. It was nice seeing her and she, also, auditioned for American Idol two years ago and had the same results as Vanessa and Stacy…We want to congratulate Leilani as she has moved into her own home. There will be a house warming soon. (All of you need to bring large and expensive presents!!) Her daughter, Janaya, has been adopted by everyone who has seen her. OK, I have a reputation of not being a fan of babies, but I have to tell you that this one is very special, and yah, I’ve adopted her too…Kevin Kelly, a studio band alumnus, has moved to Los Angeles recently to try his hand at stardom. He has vast acting experience and is a fine singer. After working for Apple after graduating Santa Clara University he found that he needed to test the waters. We wish him the best. He is doing quite well…Drummer/alumnus Kyle Freeze is awaiting word on a recording contract with SONY/Japan. The CD has been recorded. His band’s (Drist) lawyer has been they’re negotiating a deal. They seem to think that a deal with SONY in Japan will open the doors for a North American deal. We’ll keep you posted…I ran into another Studio Band alumni at the Apple Store a couple of weeks ago. Terra Wahl has been working for Apple and is now working at the Valley Fair location. When I took my laptop in for repair (I ended up getting a new one…long and ugly story) I saw here there and we discussed some of the good old days. Well, we are still experiencing the good old days. Terra was a member of our very first all girl band called The Green. She later went on to play in a couple of other bands including one with the aforementioned Kevin Kelly…Returning to us soon is former Senseless guitarist, Julian Wong. Julian graduated Heald College and WyoTech and has returned home. He is currently working at the Surplus Computer Store. It will be great to have him back. It is undecided where I will place him or if I will start a new project with him…Leo, Ben, Spencer and Byron (collectively known as Per Capita) have been recording and uploading new songs. They have become a full time project and will be one of the featured bands in the September Teen Center Band Night on September 30…

COLLEGE BOUND
This is the time of year when some of our kids head off to college. The ones who are going to college locally tend to stay and play, which makes me very very very happy! (Did I mention how happy this makes me?). Then there are those who must leave the nest. My philosophy is to “never say goodbye”. I do this because members are ALWAYS welcome to come back in the summer or after they graduate or whenever they want. This is very obvious as there are those that have grown from elementary school kids to working adults! And they are still a part of our family!!

Some of our college kids who are staying close to home are: Mark Helfenberger (R I M), Khoa Ngo (R I M), Macaela Jensen (R I M), Sophia Pardini (R I M) WAIT A MINUTE!!!! I guess R I M now stands for “Remaining Is Mandatory” and Kelsey Urauchi (VS2). Kelsey graduated High School as a sophomore!

Those that are leaving the area for college are: Kelly Duong (the Have Nots and GET READY) and Yvonne Hoang (GET READY). David Claudio is switching colleges going from San Jose State to UC Davis. However, he is staying with….who else….R I M!!

RECRUITING FOR 2006
This is the time of year when I like to look at new members for the upcoming season. I have not really done this the past couple of years due to health reasons. Well, I have come to the conclusion that I need to do what I need to do because if I wait it can cause more stress.

If you have friends or family that would like to be a part of us, please have them contact me. I am looking for singers for VS2 as well as players for new bands and for existing bands. I am also looking at expanding the GET READY BAND a bit more, even though we had our biggest band this season. It is obvious that the more people in that show the more fun we have and the tighter and more supportive we become of the member’s other projects.

You can give out my cell number, home number or email address. They are also welcome to call SBSMA, but it can be confusing if someone other than Deborah or I answer the call.