Lincoln Academy staff members Brenda Sawyer (left) and Hilary Peterson play their instruments during the first Shuck Town Pep Band rehearsal on Tuesday, Jan. 6. The band is made up of students, Lincoln Academy staff and parents, and members of the community. (Christina Wallace photo)
A new community pep band hopes to make its debut during Lincoln Academy’s basketball season.
The Shuck Town Pep Band, a group made up of community members along with LA staff, parents, and students, has begun rehearsals in the band room of the school on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
According to Trish Jonason, one of the group’s founders and assistant conductor, the Shuck Town Pep Band was created out of a desire to bring live music to the community.
“The band was created by a group of us who are either Lincoln Academy employees or parents who have been sitting in the stands of basketball games for years and have been feeling this absence of live music at Lincoln Academy basketball games,” Jonason said. “Most of us were raised in high schools with big pep bands.”
According to Jonason, the name of the band was decided on as a way to represent the Newcastle area as a whole.
“After several meetings at Oysterhead (Pizza) and the (Newcastle) Publick House, we settled on a few names that all had to do with the river,” Jonason said. “Shuck Town felt fresh, funky, familiar and fun.”
Jonason said the idea had circulated informally for several years before coming together this fall, starting as a joke and quickly taking shape with the addition of the new band director, Stephen Piwowarski.
“Lincoln Academy was in a period of transition in their music program, so we didn’t have a band director who was going to be able to take that on, and then when Stephen came on board at Lincoln this year and refloated that, it was like the right person at the right time.”
Piwowarski, the conductor of the ensemble, said he knew Shuck Town Pep Band was in the works before he started at Lincoln Academy at the beginning of the school year, but needed some time to get his feet under him before starting rehearsals.
Jonathan Scott (left) and Lincoln Academy student Oliver Jonason warm up on the xylophone during the first Shuck Town Pep Band rehearsal on Tuesday, Jan. 6. The Shuck Town Pep Band, made up of members of the community, students, and teachers, hopes to play at several of Lincoln Academys basketball games. (Christina Wallace photo)
“When I was interviewed and hired, I knew one of the interests was in starting a pep band,” Piwowarski said. “I needed a little bit of time to get my feet under me.”
Piwowarski said his goal initially is for the group to play at some of the basketball games this season. He hopes the group can expand to become a regular presence at basketball games and even perform in concerts in the future.
“The goal is (an) easy-to-perform repertoire, so highly accessible music that we can put together in a relatively short amount of time and make it sound good without a ton of rehearsal time or experience on our instruments,” Piowoarski said.
According to Jonason, pep band music is easy to learn and is beginner friendly, focusing mainly on popular rock and pop songs.
“It’s written in a way where success is quick,” Jonason said. “The pieces are very short, and you can feel good about the music that you’re making quite quickly.”
Jonason said the group is open to everyone regardless of experience or skill. Currently, its ranks include about a dozen members.
“There are people who are really accomplished musicians who are playing. There are people who haven’t picked up an instrument for several years. There are some elementary school kids who used to play in a different community band and are transitioning to this one,” Jonason said. “The ensemble will be made up of anybody who shows up, and there are enough of us who have skills of rewriting music to accommodate skill level.”
Jonason said the band can provide members with instruments so that not having an instrument is not a barrier to participating in the group.
“The stakes are pretty low. We really want it to be we want it to be accessible. That’s really the priority,” Jonason said.
According to Jonason, those who are interested in joining the Shuck Town Pep Band can simply show up at rehearsal or email her at trishjonason@gmail.com.
Rehearsals will be held from 3:30-5 p.m. on Tuesdays in the band room of Lincoln Academy, which is located in the basement of Poe Theater.
Mark Phillips (left) and Darius Jonason rehearse during the first Shuck Town Pep Band practice on Tuesday, Jan. 6. The band, formed out of the desire to bring live music to the community at Lincoln Academy basketball games, is open to members of the public. (Christina Wallace photo)
