Clarendon College is hosting two concerts with the aim of raising money for cancer treatment for people in the local community. On Friday, September 19 at The Barfield Activity Center in Clarendon, and Saturday, September 20 at The White Deer Land Museum in Pampa, Western Winds and Celtic Whispers, featuring singer, poet and Emmy Award-winning producer and composer Connie Dover, brings a blend of Celtic music with traditional cowboy songs to the Texas Panhandle. HPPR spoke with Dover about the upcoming event, what to expect at the show, and how she got involved with her first ever performance in the Texas Panhandle.
To hear the full-length interview, click the link at the top of the page.
While Dover was born and raised in America, her background includes education at Oxford University and experience studying music in locales such as Montana and Scotland. Her diverse background is reflected in her musical approach. Connie described her influences and musical style. “I sing traditional Scottish and Irish songs. My grandmother in Arkansas sang those old ballads, and I inherited them from her and my father, but I like to combine them with old time and cowboy music, because they share so much. So, you'll be hearing Irish and Scottish ballads and some of the cowboy songs that blossomed out of those, and then a few of my original songs, old time music, some folk songs, and certainly, a few things to sing along with. In my other life, I'm a ranch and camp cook in Wyoming and Montana. So for years, I've been hearing the old time cowboys, although I'm turning into an old timer myself, singing around the campfire, and a lot of the songs that they would sing seemed to be cowboy versions of the older ballads that my grandma used to sing.”
Western Winds and Celtic Whispers serves as Dover’s debut in the Texas Panhandle. According to Dover, while she spent time in Dallas as a child and has played a number of events and festivals in other parts of Texas, she has yet to make her way into the High Plains, but she does have a personal connection to the area through a long time friend, and it was that connection which served as the foundation for the event. “I was contacted by Dr Ken McIntosh. He is a teacher of history and ethics in Clarendon at Clarendon College. His wife, Elaine, and I go back for many years, we were childhood friends. They were wanting to develop a fund, which they actually founded about four years ago, called Pause Against Cancer, and it is a fund available to, I believe, specifically, the employees of the various Clarendon college campuses who are dealing with high co-pays and medical expenses for cancer treatment, and they found a need in their own family, so this is something that was important to them. I've had the same family experience in my own life where exorbitant co-pays and treatments resulted in financial catastrophe, and we don't want to see that happen to anyone.So, we're reaching across state boundaries and coming together to sing some songs, and most importantly, to raise some funds for this wonderful cause” Dover explained.
“We have a show on Friday evening at Barfield Center at Clarendon college. It's at 7:30 PM on September 19. On Saturday, September 20, we'll be at the White Deer Land Museum, again at 7:30 PM, a nice, civilized hour, at 112 South Siler Street, that will be a beautiful venue.” For more information about the shows in Clarendon and Pampa, you can check out both events’ Facebook pages.
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