Hartin, John 2012-04-12
How the music program at South Plains College came to be. It is a very famous, Well known program for music
General Interview Information
Interviewee Name: John Hartin
Additional Parties Recorded:
Date: April 12, 2012
Location: Levelland, Texas
Interviewer: Andy Wilkinson
Length: 01:45:05
Abstract
Tape 1, Side 1:
Grand ole Opery, Backup musicians, Would go into town to find “pick up” members, Program at South Plains College, To start: met Lloyd Maines, And Don-Got a list of names of possible students, Took a leap of faith, Ran an ad in the paper, he was getting ready to, Go back to Memphis, Mary Beth Ashford, Tim, Clyde, People started spreading the message about the program, He did not have a choice but to hit the ground running, Acquired about 8 or 9 students from July to the end of August
Tape 1, Side 2:
Continue from side a, Only teacher the first semester, Repertoire of about 10-15 songs, Experience, They would perform at schools, Patty, Would invite the students over to the house, For dinner and to just hang out, Play music, Ed Marsh, Three years later, Tim graduated, hired him, Degree in Violin performance (Ed), Hired him, He also played the mandolin and guitar, 7th year, About 25-30 students, By having more than one teacher, able to offer more, Debbie Wells, Singer, blue grass, They had a blue grass band, A couple country bands, They were able to spread out more, 1977, South Plains Blue Grass, South Plains Country, Manager of Pickin magazine, They did a 5 page article on them, The cover – Blue Grass goes to college, Unique, This music program was one of a kind, Country rock was starting to take off, Heard from the grapevine that Joe Connor was, Not currently in a band, so he hired him, One of the biggest names at the time for acoustic guitars, He would spend Saturdays writing to publications, Alan Munde, Started working there as well, At this time, there was a building and a stage, The Bicentennial, President of the school was impressed, He came up with the idea that a band tours over the summer, The Cradle Giants, Raising a Ruckus, Their marketing base was growing, Tom T. Hall Center, John wanted to name the new music center after him, Performing Arts center, Nashville network, 300 to fill the auditorium, They were filling it up with musicians from all over the place, Alan, Diligent worker, Had a lot of contacts, The Maines Brothers- Lloyd, Perry, West Texas music, At one point they were the largest blue grass band in the area, There were a lot of foreign students in blue grass, Flock, People were leaving their jobs to pursue their, Dreams in music, South Plains, The only college where the musicians could come to teach, John wanted it to be as big and good as it could be, Day 2 in Levelland, How did he know to talk to Don and Lloyd Maines?, Outside of the program, The Alumni , connections are everywhere, You cannot go anywhere without someone knowing, Or have been through the music program at South Plains, Roger, would give you a list of reputable people to work with, John knows Leeann Womack because of Roger, Hal Durham, Head of the Grand Ole Opery, People are not on that without making some kind, Of contribution, Retired, He was still pretty young, He had done more than he could have dreamed of, He accomplished everything he wanted to do, His own daughter went through the program, His son also went through the program, moved to Hollywood, Wound up writing music for movies, Steel guitar, Opened for the Eagles, Charlie Daniels, None of these things would have happened if he did not, Go to Levelland, Regrets, It was time consuming, Did not get to spend that much time with his children, You can’t be in two places at once
Access Information
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