Students’ ‘Soul Machine’ show big hit

By Steve Hubrecht

Last week ‘Soul Machine’ — the new David Thompson Secondary School (DTSS) band played a fundraising concert at the high school theatre, and the show was a sold-out, soulful smash.

DTSS had been without a school band for many years until Soul Machine started up about a year and a half ago. So far Invermere has responded to this revival with enthusiasm.

On Thursday, March 13 the band played a fundraising concert to help drum up money to pay for its first major performance outside the Columbia Valley, at the B.C. Interior Jazz Festival in Kelowna from Friday, April 11 to Sunday, April 13.

Last week’s show was top notch, both the performance and in terms of fundraising.

All 19 students in Soul Machine were on hand to delight a packed audience at the DTSS theatre, and several students from DTSS’s drama class joined the concert to perform a song from Gutenberg! The Musical.

“It was incredible. The kids were amazing,” band teacher Bryant Olender told the Pioneer. “It was the best they’ve ever played. They’ve been doing really well in practice, but then with an audience, wow, it was on another level. It was beautiful.”

Olender said there were too many highlights to completely list all of them, but mentioned Belle McGowan’s rendition of A Million Dreams (from The Greatest Showman), the amazing guitar solos in All Along the Watchtower, and the ‘DTSS is the Best’ rap performed by one of the drama students as particular standout moments.

Soul Machine elicited a big standing ovation from the crowd at the end of the show, and the band then played a rousing encore of ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’.

Olender thanked DTSS drama teacher Shelley Little and said he hopes Soul Machine and the drama class can team up again in the future.

The band is aiming to raise $6,000 to play at the B.C. Interior Jazz Festival. They raised more than $1,400 at the DTSS concert; raised $871 during an earlier concert at Royal Canadian Legion Windermere District Branch 71; and have received a $1,000 donation from the Valley Voices choir; and another $750 donation from a local citizen.

All told, they’ve now raised more than $4,000.

Anyone wanting to donate to help get the DTSS Soul Machine to Kelowna can write a cheque to ‘DTSS’ with “band fund” in the memo, or if they want a tax receipt they can write it to ‘School District 6 Rocky Mountain’ with “DTSS music fund” or “DTSS band fund” in the memo. You can also contact the school district for other ways to make donations.