By Matt Clevenger
For Miami Valley Today
TIPP CITY — Four well-known local singer-songwriters will perform a free show in Tipp City on Friday, March 6, during the first-ever Tippapalooza Winter Showcase.
Kyleen Downes, David Payne of the New Old-Fashioned, Tim Pritchard of Shrug and the Boxcar Suite and Harold Hensley of the Repeating Arms will perform in the “Old Coldwater” building located at 35 E. Main St. starting at 8:30 p.m. Admission is free.
“All four of these folks are really talented songwriters,” Tippapalooza president Bill Wendel said. “They will be presenting us with their own songs that they’ve written and recorded, either with their bands or for their solo albums.”
“They are really gracious with their time for us,” he said, “We appreciate that.”
The show will be held in a vacant building in downtown Tipp City. “35 East Main Street is on the corner of Main and Second,” Wendel said. “The Coldwater Restaurant used to be in this building years ago. It’s been a vacant storefront for a little while; we’re going to occupy that space for the evening.”
This is the first year for the Winter Showcase; Tippapaooza’s main event is an annual outdoor festival held at the Tipp City Eagles Park. “This is the first time we’ve ever done it,” Wendel said. “We’ve been doing our Labor Day weekend show for eight years, and we’re still going to do that again this year. But we thought maybe we’d try to do something kind of small, with just some acoustic guitar players during the winter. It’s just something we’re experimenting with.”
“Because we’ve never done it before, we have no idea what the turnout will be,” he said. “We don’t have any expectations; we just want to do it as a way to continue to keep the Tippapalooza name out there, and to remind people about our big show in the summer on Labor Day.”
In addition to supporting local music and musicians, Tippapalooza is also a non-profit organization with a long history of donating to local charities. The organization is also associated with the Tipp City Area Arts Council.
“We are a partner with the Tipp City Area Arts Council,” Wendel said. “We’re very happy to be affiliated with them. We think that music is an important art, just like the other arts that the arts council supports, and we are happy to contribute to their overall efforts to support local artists.”
“Tippapalooza is a registered non-profit,” he said. “Every year we use the event to not only promote local music, but we’re also raising money for charity.”
Last year, Tippapalooza contributed $2,500 to Project Believe, and in previous years the group has also donated to Tipp Pride and the food pantry.
“Our plan going forward is to select a different charity every couple of years,” Wendel said. “We have not yet decided who we are going to support this year, but we’ll be making that decision soon.”
