Cody Tyler and Gypsy Convoy win two CPMAs; Ringgold Band to perform spring concert [Spotlight]

Apr. 9—Cody Tyler & Gypsy Convoy, a four-piece country-rock outfit based in Shillington, won Album of the Year and Best Country Band at the Central Pennsylvania Music Awards, presented at the Central Pennsylvania Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony in Hershey on March 30.

Frontman Tyler, a Shillington native and 2013 Gov. Mifflin graduate, also was nominated for Best Songwriter and Best Male Vocalist. The band released its debut album, "Stare Your Demons Down," last May.

"I was just humbled and shocked to be nominated in four categories," Tyler said. "After we won Best Country Band, I thought that was it and that someone else would win best album, because there is so much incredible talent in this music scene. And many of the nominees in our categories are artists that I revere and look up to. I was totally in shock when they called our name."

The band features Tyler on guitar and vocals, Kenny Peffley of Sinking Spring on bass and vocals, Lenny Casper of Mount Penn on keys and Kenneth Mettam of Palo Alto on drums and vocals. The album is on all major streaming platforms. CDs are available at codytylermusic.com/shop, and vinyl is available for pre-order and will be shipped by late summer.

The band will next perform on May 6 at a Kentucky Derby Day party at the New Main Theatre in Ephrata.

Music

The Ringgold Band will present its 171st annual Spring Concert featuring guest composer and soloist Jill Haley next Sunday at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, West Reading. The Ringgold New Horizons Band will perform an introductory concert starting at 2:40 p.m.

"We're thrilled to premier Jill Haley's terrific new composition 'Southwest National Parks Suite #3,'" said Chuck Ebersole, Ringgold's music director. "Jill's beautiful work, lovingly arranged for concert band by our own 'Lone Arranger,' Tom Shade, paints an inspiring portrait of our nation's magnificent national parks in the Southwest."

In addition, park rangers from Berks County's Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site will offer insights into the National Park Service, including the Artists in the Parks Program, which commissioned Haley's composition.

The concert also will feature 2023 Ringgold Young Artist Award winner Benjamin Small from Wilson High School soloing on tenor saxophone, and a journey beyond the walls of the concert hall to a classic baseball game in Mudville, USA, guided by surprise local guests.

The bands will each dedicate a selection to the memory of those lives lost in the recent R.M. Palmer factory explosion. Donations to the West Reading Disaster Recovery Fund will be accepted, and a portion of the concert proceeds will also be donated.

Tickets are $15 for adults and free for children and students at ringgoldband.com.

----Old Dominion has announced that its concert scheduled for Thursday at Santander Arena, Reading, has been postponed as frontman Matthew Ramsey continues to recover from a recent accident. Tickets purchased for Thursday will be honored on the rescheduled date, July 26. For those unable to make the rescheduled show, refunds are being offered at point of purchase.

----The WCR Center for the Arts, 140 N. Fifth St., Reading, will host Grammy-nominated musician Simon Shaheen as he performs with his trio on April 22 at 8 p.m. One of the most significant Arab performers and composers of his generation, Shaheen deftly leaps from traditional Arab sounds to jazz and Western classical styles. His soaring technique, melodic ingenuity and unparalleled grace have earned him international acclaim as a virtuoso on the oud and violin. Tickets are $35 ($20 for students) and can be purchased at www.wcrcenter.org or at the door.

Theater

The Reading Theater Project will present its 2023 Play Reading Series on April 13, May 11 and June 15 at 7 p.m. at the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts' Albert and Eunice Boscov Theatre, 201 Washington St.

All of the plays connect to the theme "Shadows From the Past," which has been the theme for all of the Reading Theater Project's work this year. Each of the plays connects to the theme in a unique way — reckoning with history, facing one's past and revealing surprising truths.

The play readings feature new plays by local writers:

—April 13: "Essential Reading for This Moment in History" by Lancaster playwright Bruce Walsh is set in a fictional central Pennsylvania college town. In the words of the playwright, it "presents complicated people discovering both brokenness and courage in central PA." Lydia Brubaker is directing, and the cast includes Emma Ackerman, Lady Strongman, Chet Williamson and Amy Young, with Sean Sassaman reading the stage directions.

—May 11: "Welcome to Leisureville" by Sinking Spring playwright Kimberly Patterson is a dark comedy that deals with the messy process of grieving, the complicated definitions of family and the challenges of reconciling the past with the present — all in the hope of finding some kind of peace in the future. Jody Reppert will direct.

—June 15: "The Seanchai" by Douglassville playwright Andrea Hart is a solo performance detailing the life and loves of "Whistlin' Jack McConnell," a 1920s gang member in Philadelphia who was revealed to be a woman after 16 years of living as a

man. K. O'Rourke will direct Mel Krodman in the main role.

As with other recent productions, all tickets are "pay what you will," meaning the audience member can set the price at purchase. The recommended price is $10 per person.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit readingtheaterproject.org/play-reading-series.

Comedy

Greg Gutfeld is coming to the Santander Arena on Sept. 16 as part of the "King of Late Night Tour" with special guest comedian Tom Shillue. Tickets are on sale at ticketmaster.com.

Gutfeld, host of the top-rated late-night show "Gutfeld!," is returning to the stage in support of his newest book, "The King of Late Night," being release July 25.

The book is a tongue-in-cheek essay collection that is part memoir and part political manifesto in which Gutfeld reveals stories of his upbringing, what it's like going head-to-head with the liberal media, and what it took to flip the script on the comedy landscape.

For more information, see santander-arena.com.