Echo Park performs Tommy in Boone May 1-2

Echo Park will be performing Tommy, the well-known rock opera released in 1969 by The Who, on Friday May 1, and Saturday, May 2, at 7:30 p.m. at Valborg Theater, located on the Appalachian State university campus behind the Turchin building.

Rusty Blanton, from the band Echo Park, has been the driving force behind the Tommy performance to take place in Boone. The local performance has been long in the making for Blanton, but his persistence will soon be rewarded.

“Not only is it going to happen, it’s going to be good,” Blanton said, while promoting the show on local radio.

Echo Park began in 1979 with three local musicians from Boone. Rusty Blanton and Kyle Graham both played guitar with Mark Williams on the drums. They added Fish as their bass player and began playing with the focus being the performance of the music. In 1988, Graham and Williams left the Echo Park, but the band was joined by Bob Rochelle as a keyboardist and lead vocalist. For the next 20 years, Blanton, Fish and Rochelle became the foundation for the band. Robbie Stevens and keyboardist Steve Roark also contributed to Echo Park’s sound.

In 2007, Echo Park became a solid five-piece band again. The band consisted of Blanton on guitar and backing vocals, Jamie Blanton, Rusty’s son, on drums, Fish on the bass and backing vocals, Rochelle on the keyboard and lead vocals, and Roark on the keyboard and backing vocals. The band’s influences range from Yes to Rush and from Tom Petty to Black Sabbath. To view more information on Echo Park, visit www.echoparkband.com.

Other performers joining Echo Park include Melissa Reaves as The Acid Queen, Billy Ralph Winkler as Tommy’s father, and Becca Eggers-Gryder as Tommy’s mother.

“After singing some of those songs with Becca, I went home and couldn’t sleep. It’s going to be great,” Winkler said.

The Tommy performance will last for about an hour and 15 minutes, followed by a short intermission. Winkler will be bringing in brass instruments to perform musical hits he described as ambitious and “timeless.”

“Billy Ralph has been a long time pillar of the community,” said Cherry Johnson, executive director of the Watauga Arts Council, adding that Winkler has been county commissioner, local band director, church choir director, and a great influence on the youth of Watauga County.

The Watauga Arts Council is selling tickets for seats in the first six rows. This limited number of preferred seating is only available through the WCAC. Tickets can be purchased online at www.watauga-arts.org with no additional service charge or by phone at (828) 264-1789. Tickets purchased this way will be awaiting the purchaser at will-call on the night of the show. All additional tickets are available through the Valborg Theater box office. Prices for tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students. Students should bring their student identification card with them in order to be admitted at the student price. Because this is a benefit performance, $10 of the cost of each ticket purchased is considered a tax-deductible donation.

For further information, contact the Arts Council at (828) 264-1789.