"Every picture Tells a Story ... Don't It:" Part X | Eastern North Carolina Now

Another Musical Weekend in Washington, North Carolina

    Not only was it the latest edition of Music in the Streets, but on Friday and Saturday nights, there were shows at the Turnage Theater, and on Saturday night I attended a rousing show at the Notes Café. The show was Travis Proctor, a singer / songwriter / impromptu producer / guitarist, from Raleigh, NC.

    Travis Proctor brought his one-man show to the Turnage Theater on that Friday night. It had been a long week, and I just was not up to participating as a member of any audience. Saturday night, we felt more refreshed, and prepared for a real night on the town.

    We ambled down to the Turnage Theater to see a show produced by the East Carolina University School of Dramatic Arts, titled “Random Acts.” The show was a potpourri of song and dance numbers from these ECU students, which served as a fundraiser for the Turnage Theater. Sadly, we were late for the show - the doors were locked - so we continued our amble to the Notes Café on Market Street, and we were surprised to see that Travis Proctor, who stood upon the theater’s boards and sang his heart out for the patrons, was just initiating his first set at Notes.
Travis Proctor, a Class of 1989 ECU Alum, sings his heart out, and songs almost as good, or better than the original versions he covered at Notes Cafe: Above annd Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage


    After spending much of my evening with the melodic chameleon, I understood one thing completely; Mr. Proctor is committed to his craft. That craft, outside of writing his melodies and lyrics, is doing other peoples music very well. Travis is well adept at creating the sound of other musicians’ original work that he not only creates the auditory illusion of that artist, but compliments the artists’ art as well.

    Musician Proctor did songs ranging from “The Weight” by The Band to “Fire and Rain” by James Taylor. Throw in Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome,” and Cat Steven’s “Wild World” and we had a walk down memory lane. And all performed by one man and one guitar, however, Travis had some help and hence the aforementioned label impromptu producer. What do I mean by that?

    The innovative one man band had digital recording equipment that would allow him to play his guitar, bongo drums as a rhythmic rift into a receiving file, modify that file and copy the melody to use as a background base line - even accompanying vocals. Accordingly, Travis rendered these compositions, many of them classics, quite well and that was the hit of the entire musical weekend in Washington, NC: Hearing classic tunes from my past done quite well.

    In concert with pleasing the crowd, the traveling troubadour would bravely call out for request. At one point, I asked a lady in the adjoining party to request “Free Bird,” the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic. As she requested, in fine cliché form, “play ‘Free Bird,’” At that moment, I reminisced back to a 1979 concert in Greensboro, North Carolina, where the Moody Blues played for a capacity crowd at the Greensboro Coliseum. They were outstanding, but some knucklehead in the crowd yelled “Play ’Free Bird’” just after the Moodies had just completed a stirring rendition of “I’m Just a Singer in a Rock and Roll Band.” Since then, I have always enjoyed a great deal of humor from the hackneyed refrain, “play ‘Free Bird’” when exclaimed at all concerts. The small show at Notes café was no different, however, Travis Proctor did try his rendition of “Free Bird,” but used the notes of the tune to transition his energy into another fine tune.
Travis Proctor playing on the stage in the intersection of Market and West Main Streets: Above. Reigning Beaufort County Idol, Amanda Rose (left), preparing to bend a few notes of a Traditional Country tune, while her singing partner croons (I welcome any information as to to her idientity), while singing to an admiring crowd on Market Street: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage


    It was not only a musical weekend for the music lovers of the region, who flocked to Washington, NC for the Music in the Streets, but for Travis Proctor it was a musical weekend as well, as he not only played at the Turnage Theater Friday but at Music in the Streets before the show.

    Like Travis, there were other young musicians bending notes for the crowd. A number of pictures are listed below of other musicians as well as the antique muscle cars on display of Market Street that Friday night. We invite you, the public, to comment on these pictures to help us tell this story, or contact us at stan@beaufortcountynow.com to tell us what you know.

Whenever it is Music in the Streets, there are muscle cars in the streets as well. These classic cars are a crowd favorite: Above. Lord knows many folks in Beaufort County love a pirate. I hope this buccaneer made some friends this night ... ARRGH!: Below.    photos by Stan Deatherage



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