Granddad’s Garage — comprised of Iolans David Shelby and sons Kyle and Tyler — will bring its musical talents to the Iola Community Theatre Warehouse Saturday.
The 7 p.m. performance is part of ICT’s “One Night Stand” Coffee House Series. Admission is free.
The Shelbys will perform a number of folk and rock songs, most of which feature gospel and Christian influences, over the course of the 90-minute show.
Shelby calls it a family-based jam session.
The elder Shelby handles the lead vocals and guitar. Kyle, a 19-year-old music student at Pittsburg State University, handles saxophone, guitar, and on occasion, piano. Tyler, 17, a senior at Iola High School, is on the drums.
“What I’ve found is that both of these boys are better musicians than I am,” Shelby said, “and they’re both talented songwriters.”
Shelby expects the trio will
perform a number of original songs, “and we may play a hymn or two.”
As a special treat, Shelby’s aunt, Linda Thompson of Denver, will be in town to play the piano. Thompson also happens to be blind.
“This is really the first time I’ve done anything with the boys outside our Sunday morning worship services,” Shelby said. “Having my aunt here to perform will make it even better.”
SHELBY’S MUSICAL background dates to his days as a youth in Kansas City, when he, his aunt and other family members would gather in his grandfather’s garage on a regular basis. Thus, the impetus for Granddad’s Garage.
Everyone was welcome, Shelby noted, and when the music started, everyone joined in, either by playing an instrument, dancing along or simply keeping time on a five-gallon bucket.
“It was a great family time,” Shelby said. “We used the music to get us through the good times and the bad.”
Shelby continued performing and writing songs through the years, playing guitar and singing on a solo basis and as parts of other bands, in and out of church.
The love of music remained, and even spread to the rest his family, after the Shelbys moved to Iola from Denver in 2005, where he became full-time and then an associate pastor at Iola’s Harvest Baptist Church.
