PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 09, 2024 CONTACT: Jason Mansmith 920.294.4279 jason@thrasheroperahouse.com

Concert Photography Exhibit by Ric Damm on Display at Thrasher Opera House

Green Lake, Wis. (September 09, 2024)—Green Lake’s historic Thrasher Opera House will host a concert photography exhibit by Ric Damm through October 31, 2024. The exhibit can be viewed M-F 10-4; for after-hours visits, call 920.294.4279 to schedule a time.

Ric Damm has been a fan of popular music for as long as he can remember. His tastes were initially formed by the radio stations and records played by his mom and dad, and then his sister; and then his weekly Sunday night ritual of tuning in to Casey Kasem and America’s Top 40. MTV was a huge influence just as he was becoming a teenager, and later he would devour each issue of Rolling Stone magazine when it came to his mailbox. The music and the imagery of popular music would impact his identity in profound ways.

Ric dreamed of being in a band, but never had the patience required to practice being a musician. Instead, he turned to replicating band logos on paper and selling them to fellow junior high school kids. He also wrote poetry and song lyrics. In college, he wrote music reviews for the weekly student newspaper and record company contacts opened the doors to interviewing musicians and attending concerts.

Fast forward more than 20 years: while attending a concert Ric noticed a photographer taking pictures and wondered, “how does one go about doing that?” Around the same time, Rachael from Thrasher Opera House reached out to Ric asking if he knew anyone who could capture images of their live performances.

In the five years since, Ric has photographed hundreds of artists at dozens of venues from Thrasher to the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre. He continues to be the primary house photographer and is a member of the board of directors for Thrasher Opera House. Ric is also a member of the photography team for Madison-based FPC Live, Eau Claire’s Blue Ox Music Festival and Appleton’s Mile of Music Festival. He is a regular contributor to online magazines Americana Highways and Shutter 16.

See flyer…GL Health & Wellness Fair

Wed., Sept. 11,.

10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Town Square Community Center in Green Lake

The Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA), will be hosting their 49th Annual International Convention in Oshkosh at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) grounds.  This military vehicle show, vintage warbird fly-in, vendor trade show, and educational seminars will be open to the public from September 12th to September 14th, 2024.

A wide assortment of vehicles will be on display from horse drawn wagons, bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles, to jeeps, trucks, and tracked armored vehicles.  These workhorse vehicles support local parades, veteran organization events, school programs, and public displays.  In addition to the vintage vehicles we are expecting some vintage warbirds, modern military vehicles, military displays, and local service organizations.

Parking is available at the EAA grounds for $10.00 and there is an entrance fee.  Veterans and families get a reduced rate.

For more information go to www.mvpa.org/convention  or email oshkosh24info@mmva.us

The Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA), will be hosting their 49th Annual International Convention in Oshkosh at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) grounds.  This military vehicle show, vintage warbird fly-in, vendor trade show, and educational seminars will be open to the public from September 12th to September 14th, 2024.

A wide assortment of vehicles will be on display from horse drawn wagons, bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles, to jeeps, trucks, and tracked armored vehicles.  These workhorse vehicles support local parades, veteran organization events, school programs, and public displays.  In addition to the vintage vehicles we are expecting some vintage warbirds, modern military vehicles, military displays, and local service organizations.

Parking is available at the EAA grounds for $10.00 and there is an entrance fee.  Veterans and families get a reduced rate.

For more information go to www.mvpa.org/convention  or email oshkosh24info@mmva.us

Experience Larry McCray at Thrasher Opera House

Green Lake, Wis. (August 12, 2024) – Larry McCray will perform at Thrasher Opera House in Green Lake, Wisconsin, on Friday, September 13, at 7:30 p.m.

Rust belt blues shouter and guitar slinger Larry McCray was born in 1960 in Magnolia, Ark., about 12 miles from the Louisiana line. He spent his early years on a farm as the second youngest of nine siblings. After trying his hand at saxophone in school, his older (and only) sister, Clara, introduced Larry to the guitar and the transformative music of the three Kings of the blues (B.B., Freddie and Albert). Over the past three decades of nonstop touring and recording, Larry has played and shared the stage with such blues greats as BB King, Buddy Guy, Albert King, John Mayall, Johnny Winter, Robert Cray, Keb Mo, Jimmie Vaughan, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Joe Bonamassa, as well as rock legends the Allman Brothers, Phil Lesh, Jonny Lang, Joe Walsh, Levon Helm, Chris Robinson, Dickey Betts, and countless others. In 2021, Blues Without You, Larry’s latest, a 12-track release was recorded on famed blues rock guitarist Bonamassa’s Keeping the Blues Alive nonprofit label with producer Josh Smith, a partnership that has also spawned a video (for the upcoming single, “Arkansas”) and a documentary. “Larry’s still a relatively young man, with a lot to say, and the world needs to know who he is. It’s the perfect time to have a rebirth of his music,” Bonamassa says. “He knows he’s a badass, he just needs to be reassured and reassure himself that he can stand up there with the greats.

Larry McCray’s performance is sponsored by Anonymous Friends of Thrasher Opera House Who Love the Blues, Heidel House Hotel and Conference Center, Goose Blind, and Sturgeon Spirits. This event is supported in part by a grant from the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Tickets for Larry McCray’s performance on September 13 at 7:30 p.m. are $30 and available at www.thrasheroperahouse.com or by calling 920.294.4279

Thrasher Opera House’s mission is to promote the arts and the power of live performance, provide a community gathering place, and preserve the historic Thrasher Opera House. Built in 1910, restored in 1997, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is a charming, intimate, and friendly venue with excellent acoustics, seating 200. For more information, please visit www.thrasheroperahouse.com or find us @thrasheroperahouse on Facebook and Instagram.

The Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA), will be hosting their 49th Annual International Convention in Oshkosh at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) grounds.  This military vehicle show, vintage warbird fly-in, vendor trade show, and educational seminars will be open to the public from September 12th to September 14th, 2024.

A wide assortment of vehicles will be on display from horse drawn wagons, bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles, to jeeps, trucks, and tracked armored vehicles.  These workhorse vehicles support local parades, veteran organization events, school programs, and public displays.  In addition to the vintage vehicles we are expecting some vintage warbirds, modern military vehicles, military displays, and local service organizations.

Parking is available at the EAA grounds for $10.00 and there is an entrance fee.  Veterans and families get a reduced rate.

For more information go to www.mvpa.org/convention  or email oshkosh24info@mmva.us

Experience Melissa Carper at Thrasher Opera House

Green Lake, Wis. (August 12, 2024) – Melissa Carper – will perform a 506 Session at Thrasher Opera House in Green Lake, Wisconsin, on Saturday, September 14, at 7:30 p.m. A Thrasher 506 Session features cocktail table style seating and seating for just 80 guests.

“I don’t think you can get this sound unless it’s borned in ya,” said bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, when asked about what he called “old-time mountain music.” When Melissa Carper heard those words, something jumped inside her. While staying in the country with a friend, she found an old DVD of Down From the Mountain, the documentary and concert film of the “O, Brother Where Art Thou” soundtrack that featured this particular Stanley interview. She immediately jotted down “borned in ya” on a piece of paper. “I knew I had to write that song,” she recalls. In the Spring of 2023, Carper went back to East Nashville’s Bomb Shelter — the same “analog wonderland” where she’d recorded Ramblin’ Soul and its predecessor, Daddy’s Country Gold, and enlisted the help of her trusted co-producers — Dennis Crouch and Andrija Tokic. “Borned In Ya” would become the title track of the new album, out July 19th via Mae Music/Thirty Tigers. Like much of her writing, the song applies a homespun sensibility — and a bit of humor — to questions about life’s journeys. “I was turning over in my mind what it means to have something ‘borned in ya,’” she said. “The song evolved as I was writing it to be more about having your soul ‘borned it ya,’ and the more life experience you have, you hopefully grow to embody the highest version of yourself that you can be.” “Borned In Ya” could certainly stand as a reflection on Carper’s life in music. “Authentic” might be an overused word to describe an artist’s appeal, but there’s something so natural and true about Carper’s musicality that she must have been born with it: An easy sway to her singing, a precise, but laid-back sense of timing. A feel. And, lyrically, she has an instinctive sense for storytelling, both observant and intuitive.

Melissa Carper’s performance is sponsored by Horicon Bank, Heidel House, Goose Blind, and Sturgeon Spirits. This event is supported in part by a grant from the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Tickets for Melissa Carper’s performance on September 14 at 7:30 p.m. are $35 and available at www.thrasheroperahouse.com or by calling 920.294.4279

Thrasher Opera House’s mission is to promote the arts and the power of live performance, provide a community gathering place, and preserve the historic Thrasher Opera House. Built in 1910, restored in 1997, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is a charming, intimate, and friendly venue with excellent acoustics, seating 200. For more information, please visit www.thrasheroperahouse.com or find us @thrasheroperahouse on Facebook and Instagram.