It was a meeting of sounds, songs and filled with fun. No one was at the lectern presenting a program. It was a big change of pace get-together at the Farragut Community Center yesterday – thanks to Mike Singletary, Tracey Brison and Tom Marsh.
Singletary and Marsh are members of the Rotary Club of Farragut. Brison is Singletary’s partner in music, playing the guitar and keyboard. Brison drove in from Rockwood to join in on the fun.
Singletary, a retired professor of Journalism at the University of Tennessee, is the club’s “Music Man.” When we’re helping the Salvation Army raise money during the holidays at the Farragut Kroger or wherever, Mike always brings his fiddle and plays seasonal music for one and all. The kids and the adults love it!
Mike is a very spry 85-year-old and Anita’s husband of 60 years. They have three granddaughters, all musically gifted. They can read music. Mike doesn’t. He’s self-taught on the fiddle and violin. He learns the tunes from hours spent listening to songs on You Tube. “I don’t have any music awards, but if they gave out awards for loving music, I’d be loaded down with them,” he said. “Anita is not musical but very tolerant (of me).”
They played quite a variety of music on their set list – classical to bluegrass, jazz, an Irish jig or two and and a little country pop, which is when Marsh joined in with his voice and new Martin guitar. He sang the great song recently made famous by Darius Rucker – “Wagon Wheel” – backed by Singletary and Brison. You can click line on this LINK to listen in.
Their first song was a Romanian classic – “Waves of The Danube” — composed by Iosif Ivanovici in 1880, and still one of the most famous Romanian tunes in the world. Then came “Sunrise on a Guinea Farm” and next Mike played and sang what was Johnny Mathis’s all-time hit “Misty.” Mathis is 87 now and living in Texas. Then we heard “The Memphis Blues” by W.C. Handy, and Irish classic “St. Anne’s Reel” and they ended with “Kansas City Kitty.”
Great program by a great Rotarian!
Farragut Rotary meets weekly at The Farragut Community Center at 239 Jamestowne Blvd., next to Faith Lutheran Church. The meeting time remains the same each Wednesday – 12:15 p.m. If you have questions, call 865-659-3562.
Tom King is a career journalist and a past president of the Rotary Club of Farragut. If you want more information about Rotary or are interested in attending a meeting or joining, please email Tom.