October 12, 2005

Central Supply rockin' school store

CHS school store launches concert series featuring professional and student bands

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer

       Central Supply is launching a concert series this year that will feature a mix of professional bands as headliners with a school-based band opening each show.
      Central High School's store will host the first of three public concerts this Friday evening in the school's auditorium. The series is a fund-raiser for the store, which is run by students in the school's marketing program. The students will also staff tables selling band merchandise during each concert.
      "We wanted to give something to the students because there's not a lot of opportunity to hear live music," said Beverly Mills, manager of Central Supply. "We're paying the headliners and as far as the opening acts, for the students it's good exposure."
      The Chicago-based Down the Line will headline Friday's concert, bringing their unique sound of acoustic pop to town for the second time this year. The February concert will feature Indulge and The Dopes will headline the May one.
      This summer, Down the Line opened for 1964, a Beatles tribute band, during the National Cherry Festival. One band member, Levi Britton, is a 1998 graduate of Central High School who has established himself as a musician in Chicago. Down the Line is on a national tour right now, promoting their new release "Please Remember My Name."
      Mills, a friend of Britton's family, noted that the band had been working to find a venue to perform in the region with no success.
      "They are excited it's not a bar," she said.
      The opening act will be Higher Ground, an ethnic folk rock band featuring current or former Central Students. Members include Jon Tornga, a 2005 graduate on percussion, Shane Huston, a 2004 graduate on vocals, Jack Fivecoate, a senior on harmonica and vocals, and Reese Gallagher, a 2005 graduate on guitar and vocals.
      "It's awesome, I'm really excited," said Tornga of the opportunity to play with Down the Line.
      Despite the different genres of music, members of Higher Ground feel a connection with Down the Line's sound and attitude.
      "They're really playful with the music and we are too," said Huston.
      Higher Ground began informally over two summers of 'campfire jams' where band members would play for fun on the beach. All have participated over the years in the school's Rendezvous at the Jazz Club, an annual spring showcase of musical talent. In addition, most have been in other bands.
      In June, Higher Ground gelled and began rehearsing original compositions and solidifying their repertoire. Friday night's performance will be their public debut, an event eagerly anticipated by members.
      "It's going to be a really cool experience, doing our own songs," said Gallagher. "Cover songs are cool but it's nice to play your own stuff, it's nice that people appreciate the music you make."
      Central Supply opened in 1998 when Pat Rutt, the school's marketing teacher, started it as a student teaching project. The store offers spirit apparel, school supplies, snacks and beverages to students during the school day. Marketing students staff the store, three per class shift, as well as manage the inventory, order supplies and handle promotions and advertising.
      The store expects the same of its employees as any job, giving students valuable real world experience and references.
      "If at the beginning of the semester we have attendance issues, they're gone and a person from the waiting list comes in," said Rutt. "Some of the students sign up for the class thinking it will be easy, but it's not."
      Senior Max Bruening, who joined the staff last year, agreed that working in Central Supply was not a blow off class.
      "The store is a real live business, not just fun and games," he said. "You have daily duties. The hardest part for me was getting the hang of the new cash register when we converted from manual to scanning."
      The first Central Supply Concert will be held at 7 p.m. this Friday, October 14, at the Central High School Auditorium. The concert is open to the public. For more information about tickets, call the store at 933-8586.