Sonic Spotlight promoting annual guitar giveaway, June 17 concert
The lack of access to musical instruments and students who were more interested in them than their cell phones led local band director Mark Fiske and his wife, Katie, to create Sonic Spotlight Productions.
“Sonic Spotlight Productions was started by me and my wife in response to a couple of inflection points. Several years ago, I noticed that rather than students asking for guitars and drum sets for gifts, those funds and gifts had been replaced by phones and game consoles — which led directly to the “Win-One-Give-One” guitar giveaway,” said Fiske. “Second was the realization that if that became a choice between those devices and getting a band instrument to play in a school band, we were going to see some negative impacts to the number of students choosing to learn an instrument — and in a community that seems to have a large, positive imbalance of skilled musicians — that seemed like something we should try to help avoid.”
He said the third point was the realization that there seemed to be a drought of available equipment and services.
The primary goal of Sonic Spotlight Productions, which was formed in 2021, is to offer support to Crawford County area school music groups, and to sustain, support and encourage participation of these musicians in the music industry.
Groups supported by Sonic Spotlight Productions have performed locally at “Music at The Mural” and the Bratwurst Festival, but also at The King Of Clubs in Columbus and in the High School Rock Off in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. These are the kinds of opportunities the organization is looking to bring to music students across the area, Fiske said.
“Break The Chain is, I guess you could call it a 'house band' that we’re working with, and it’s got almost all of the best musicians from my past playing in it,” Fiske said. “It formed as an opportunity for these really fun people and players to keep playing, but also to stand as an example for school musicians as a reason to keep going. Break The Chain is playing a show with Glass Forest and Full Circle on June 17.”
Fiske said that Sonic Spotlight Productions is currently offering event promotions, ticket sales and virtual lessons on a few instruments and plans to add more.
“The one other service we’re offering is advocacy for school music. That’s one that I hope no one from the area ever has to use, but in the event that a Crawford County school music group starts to feel exploited or dismissed, we’re happy to come to meetings, make calls, and write letters to help,” said Fiske. “For whatever the reason, the decision-makers in schools are often much more well-versed or interested in athletics and rarely have much experience learning or playing music.”
Sonic Spotlight Productions is currently promoting its annual giveaway of a guitar to an area sixth-grader who is active in their school’s music department. Information is available at Sonic Spotlight's Facebook page.
From 9 p.m. till midnight Saturday, June 17, Sonic Spotlight and Dillinger's Entertainment Center will present "Spring Thunder." Break the Chain, Full Circle and Glass Forest will perform. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 day of show or $3 for 18 and younger accompanied by a parent.
Tickets for both the performance and the guitar giveaway are available at https://sonicspotlight.com/store.
This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Sonic Spotlight promoting annual guitar giveaway, June 17 concert
