South Hadley Mandolin Orchestra (SHMO) Update

[Adam Sweet]

The Daily Hampshire Gazette will be coming to the Sweet Music Studio on Monday (March 10th) at 7pm to take pictures of mandolinists for an article they are doing about the South Hadley Mandolin Orchestra (SHMO). #If you would like to be in the picture, please try to get here promptly at 7. #The photo shoot won't take much more than 10-15 minutes. #I have 3 extra mandolins if you do not have one but want to be in the picture.

http://shmo.adamrsweet.com

[journeybear]

There's a mandolin orchestra in South Hadley? Maybe I left too soon. OK, it was 25 years ago, but still ...

[Adam Sweet]

Yes! We're small now, but we hope to grow the orchestra. Currently we rehearse out of my studio on Lincoln Ave. Once we're 12 or more, we'll move to the Town Hall Auditorium.

Why did you move?

[Adam Sweet]

The next South Hadley Mandolin Orchestra (SHMO) rehearsal is planned for Friday, March 21, 2014 at 7:30pm - 9:30 pm.
If you plan on coming, please RSVP through the website: http://mandolinorchestra.org

Thanks!

[mrmando]

You need to do a concert with Joe Craven. "Joe/SHMO" would look great on a poster.

[bratsche]

Or Joe Brent. LOL @ Martin - I was thinking the same thing about the "Joe - SHMO" idea. (Actually, I'm sure they would all look great in just plain SHMO t-shirts - it would be a natural conversation starter, and help "spread the word"!)

bratsche

[Adam Sweet]

heh you guys think like me...

[journeybear]

Why did you move?

Long story and I don't want to hijack the thread. But ... I ended up there after my first real foray to Key West. The band broke up at the end of tourist season - money supply dwindled, interpersonal problems reared their ugly heads - and I joined the drummer's old band near NoHo, namely South Hadley. Going from being the big noise in town playing six nights a week to playing six gigs in six months was too much of a bringdown. And the drummer got into coke and owed me rent money and ... So I dropped back into my old scene in CT, dropped back into the workaday world, eventually got back into my old band, and the rest followed. I still keep in touch with a few of those folks from back then. That's also where and when I got this name - but that's enough of this derailment ...

[Adam Sweet]

The 2nd Rehearsal of the South Hadley Mandolin Orchestra (SHMO) is this Friday, March 21st at 7:30pm http://mandolinorchestra.org

[Adam Sweet]

If you are coming to the rehearsal, you can arrive as early as 7 to tune and warm up before we start promptly at 7:30

[Adam Sweet]

The 2nd Rehearsal of the South Hadley Mandolin Orchestra (SHMO) went very well. We now have 9 members in the orchestra: 6 mandolins, 2 mandolas and 1 mandocello

We are actively recruiting violists that would like to learn mandola and cellists that would like to learn mandocello. If you or anyone you know plays either instrument, please have them contact me through the website.

Thank you!

[Adam Sweet]

Gena Mangiaratti from the Daily Hampshire Gazette wrote a nice piece about the South Hadley Mandolin Orchestra with quotes from players: Will Melton, Ben Levy, Mary Jennings and Adam Sweet.

Please share!

http://www.gazettenet.com/home/11203...n-south-hadley

[Beanzy]

Great to get the coverage so early on. That should get some more new members coming along.

It's a pity the article got the bit about Gibson and the popularity of mandolin orchestras wrong though.
Unfortunately those things have a way of becoming 'fact' once they're published.

[Adam Sweet]

It's a pity the article got the bit about Gibson and the popularity of mandolin orchestras wrong though.
Unfortunately those things have a way of becoming 'fact' once they're published.

Please tell me what they are, with links to the correct information. I can ask Gena to post an update to the paper/website.

Thanks

[Beanzy]

Cool,

It's just the bit about the high point being the 20's, things were already falling away by then.
Most references put the US peak of enthusiasm around the turn of the century up to WW1 and things began to slip then.
I always thought it was interesting how Gibson really got going in terms of refining their product only once they noticed a worrying drop off in sales. Nothing like a drop in sales to get the thinking caps on. But despite that things had fallen well away by the mid-twenties.

My go to reference for any mandolin history is the Paul Sparks book, then I'd normally work out from there. It's one of those books that really appeal to my inner geek. There are some really good summaries of many nooks and crannies that really bring the whole thing to life.

[Adam Sweet]

Ah, ok so not as bad as I thought...phew!

[Adam Sweet]

Do you know if there's an online/digital version of the Sparks book? I"m interested in the bibliography

[Beanzy]

I've not come across one anywhere yet Adam.