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The Avon Park Festival will feature legendary rock and roll band, Ivory on Wednesday, September 4th from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the Avon City Park. In addition to Ivory, Joslynn Rose from the 24th season of “The Voice” will also perform. There will be food vendors on site. All that anyone wanting to enjoy the event needs to bring is a lawn chair. Keep the coolers at home as the Avon Fire Department will have a variety of beverages available for purchase. Ivory is composed of five band members that include Curt Nesbitt, Michael E. English, Craig Katt, Levi Lanham and Avon’s own, Myron Kubel. Curt is lead guitar and vocals and is from Denver, CO. Michael plays the bass, does vocals and is from Burbank, CA. Craig plays the drums as well as sings and is from Atlanta, GA. Levin Lanham plays the rhythm guitar, midi keys and congas and is also from Atlanta. Myron plays the keyboards, trumpet as well as does vocals for the band with his hometown being Avon. Curt and Craig are the founding members of the band, which they put together in 1975. Michael and Craig have played for the past 50 years, first starting when they were in high school. Myron joined the band in 1977 after winning the Iron Man competition in San Pablo Brazil. The other band mates took his passport and would not give it back until he agreed to join the band. Myron and Michael had actually been bandmates previously playing for Midwest Coast. Michael bragged up Myron to the other band members leaving them no choice, but to recruit him, because they wanted Ivory to be comprised of only the best musicians, and Myron is one of the best. Levi joined the band at the same time as Myron. When it came to choosing a name for the band, they started with a list of about 50 names with frontrunners Stallion, Bison, Dakota and Ponderosa. They had not yet chosen a name when the Black Hills State University (BHSU) Homecoming committee found out that they had formed a band and the college wanted them to play a 45-minute set. The committee of course asked what the name of the band was. The band panicked as they had not yet picked a name and had to choose on the spot. Their original keyboardist, Randy, was looking down at his keys and simply said, “Ivory”. The name stuck and Craig began dreaming up a marketing plan as well as making the renowned jungle set a reality. Each band member started playing musical instruments between the ages of 10 and 13. Growing up, they each were very musical and played in different bands and choirs including high school choirs and bands; Miss South Dakota Pageant orchestras; polka bands; and BHSU orchestra and jazz ensembles, etc. When asked whether the band members are self-taught or took lessons, the answer was that it was a combination of both. They all honed their instrumental skills through working with teachers, but the majority of their skills came from literally spending hours playing a riff or beat repeatedly until it became second nature to them. According to Craig, Myron’s skills came from osmosis whereby as a baby he would sit in front of the television glued to it watching Myron Floren on the Lawrence Welk Show. The band is also known for being ahead of the curve when it came to first employing innovative and new products. From how to mic and tune drums for a “cannon sound” to dry ice fog machines, massive sound and lighting systems, custom made lighting consoles that were operated by hands and feet simultaneously, wireless guitar rigs, environmental state designs, etc. They were the first band anywhere to ever use the String Ensemble in recordings, the inventor brought his prototype to the studio for Ivory to record with. Curt bought one of the first wireless guitar products. Interestingly enough a few nights later in Minneapolis, a man came to see the band and cornered Curt to talk about this “wireless thing”. That man would turn out to be the one and only, Prince. The band has toured over the years, with some years seeing as many as 250 days of touring. That is not the case anymore. They have performed at pretty much every larger venue, but were never really a “bar band” due to the large production and stage set in their semis. The band would play at a few select clubs where they would play for a week to learn new songs and take a break from their numerous one-night events during the year. The band now limits the total number of shows to a max of 25 per year and only performs during the summer. Their performance in Avon is the second to last concert of the 2024 tour with the last being on September 6th at Rockin Ribfest in Vermillion. The band truly loves every gig they play. Being able to see their fans and friends is such a rush for the band members. If they were to choose their favorite venues to play, they would have to say it would be on the bigger stages where no one in the front could complain about Craig’s loud power drumming and glorious cymbal crashes. In addition to their own headlining, the band has also shared the stage with many of the music industry’s biggest names including REO, the Doobies, BTO, Cheap Trick, Night Ranger, Loverboy, America, Kenny Loggins, Alabama, the Romantics, Dr. Hook, the Beach Boys, BJ Thomas, Three Dog Night, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, the Buckinghams, Anne Murray, etc. just to name a few. The band did some of their first recording in Colorado in both Denver and Boulder at several smaller studios as well as eventually recording at Prince’s Paisley Park Studio in Minneapolis, MN. Mastering of their tracks was done primarily in Los Angeles, CA. Ivory has around 200 original songs that cover a wide variety of genres. Three songs that got the most airplay in the 1980s were “Try Me”, “You Are My Baby” and “Coming From the City”. The bands’ songs can be heard on Spotify, Pandora, YouTube and all streaming services. Michael has ventured out and created a new album “Hell Hath No Fury”, which has just been released and is getting some good airplay with the title song, “Dancing Around the Bonfire”. The band has also been a part of many fundraising events, including one for Delmont after the town was devastated following a tornado as well as many firemen’s events. Most recently, the band did a big fundraiser for the Hot Springs Arts Council where they raised $5000. It is difficult for the band to do fundraisers as their road expenses are fairly high, costing about $10,000 per show. What concert attendees can expect is classic rock songs from national acts that the band actually toured with. The band takes the other band’s most identifiable songs and puts them into their performances as a tribute. The group always makes sure that the song is recognizable that way people will usually know the words to sing along and hopefully dance to it. When asked what the band members enjoy about playing music, Craig said that they love to take their audience back to a place that elicits an emotional response for each individual and triggers fond memories. For the musicians themselves, the songs take them to a place where the music consumes them and they joyfully mentally surf the sonic waves. When asked what the band is most known for, Craig very humbly replied being talented, handsome and sexy men before saying that it was likely their high energy back-to-back non-stop hits that feature four harmonized lead singers. Their musicianship is off the charts, as they are often accused of lip-syncing their shows, but it is all them and all live. What made the band want to come to Avon to perform is the Thursday night prime rib! The band still has many fans in Avon and of course with it being Myron’s hometown why would they not want to perform there. The Avon concert will have a special guest performer, Joslynn Rose from “The Voice” singing with the band. Craig describes her as an incredible talent and having an angelic voice. He thinks that the audience will be very impressed as she sounds just like she did on tv. Craig is very hopeful that this event will be a good fundraiser for the city as well as a great concert to attend. The band leaves this message to Avon, with summer being about over why not send it out with a great night filled with rock n roll, dancing and some reminiscing. Hope to see you there!