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Concerts are like buses - you wait for ages, then two come along at once. Two concerts came along to our local theatre this week. Yipeee - a couple of nights out! Thursday's was a very enjoyable performance by a cappella group, Marcoux Corner. Their website is HERE - they'll serenade you with "Moondance" as you visit. We enjoyed their show a lot.
The four lads, Brent, Dave, Josh and Kevin hail originally from Minnesota and North Dakota. The group's wonderful harmonies led me to wonder whether there might be any astrological harmonies between them. Number One Daughter of HeWhoKnows kindly voluteered to ask the lads for their birth dates on my behalf.
(Left to right Dave, Josh, Brent and Kevin. Note the matching ties and sneakers, green, blue, pink and grey!)
I am not going to disclose the actual birth data here, it doesn't already appear on-line anywhere, but I've looked carefully at a 12 noon chart for each of them. Three of the four singers were born within a period of 6 months, so naturally the outer planet placements are very similar for them. The fourth member of the group is seven years younger.
In the charts of all four guys I was fascinated to find a Yod formation - two planets in close sextile(60 degrees between) both inconjunct(150 degrees between) a third planet, forming a kind of arrow. Astrologer Bob Marks describes such a formation HERE.
The sextiles in the four charts are formed by two slow-moving generational planets Pluto and Neptune, in Libra and Sagittarius respectively. For the youngest member of the group, Dave, this is stretched a little for Pluto is right at the end of Libra and Neptune has just moved on to 00 Capricorn - still a sextile aspect. There will, of course, be millions of people in this age group with the same sextile, the significance here is in the planet(s) at the pointy end of the Yod. These turn out to be personal, faster-moving, planets, definitely NOT the same for all members of the generation.
In each of the charts the Yod's arrow point is aimed at planet(s) in Taurus, which is one of the signs ruled by Venus, planet of music. Pluto, one of the generational planets forming the base of the Yod is in Libra, which is the other sign ruled by Venus.
The arrows point as follows:
Brent - to Mercury in Taurus
Dave - to Venus in Taurus and/or Sun at 2* Gemini
Josh - to Jupiter in Taurus
Kevin - to Mercury and Sun in Taurus
Interesting! As Bob Marks says - "an emphasis on one particular area of the life..... this focus frequently seems driven, compelling." And here the focus is on Taurus probably the most musical of all the 12 signs.
The opening act for Marcoux Corner on Thursday evening was Greg Klyma, described at his website as:
"Witty, down-home troubadour" (Austin Chronicle) -"Rust Belt Vagabond Greg Klyma is a character - a folk troubadour with a rock 'n' roll heart. He's played that character into his well-worn dreadnought acoustic guitar and A-frame mandolin. He's stomped it onto the soles of his shoes." For the better part of the last decade, Greg Klyma has toured the country as a solo acoustic act"
Greg happily gave his birth data to HeWhoKnows, including exact time of birth - he has obviously been asked for this before! He's a Sun Capricorn with 3 planets in Sagittarius, two in Scorpio, and Moon and Saturn in Taurus. His chart is one of those funnel shaped configurations, with most planets grouped in one area with "funnel"planet(s) opposite. In Greg's case most planets are at the top of his chart, not surprising for a guy who spends so much of his life on stage. The funnel planets are Moon and Saturn in Taurus (ruled by Venus, planet of music). Very appropriate - representing the outpouring of his musical energies. He's constantly on the road, so his 3 planets in Sagittarius(the astrological vagabond) are working well! Greg's songs and stories are witty, and his gentle, often self-deprecating humor is endearing.
Greg sings to welcome visitors on his MySpace page, then carries on with another song - a rather Sagittarian one, I reckon -
"You want the end of the rainbow? That rainbow doesn't touch down here. If you can't find something to believe in here, start looking in another town"
*************************
Friday's concert was billed as "Country Jazz Fusion". The Gatlin Brothers, led by Larry Gatlin, "fused" with a big band/orchestra of students from nearby Cameron University.
I swore off country music a while ago due to the political leaning which is often embraced by artists and fans of this genre in the USA. However, at the word "jazz", HWK pricked up his ears, he knew from previous shows that the Cameron University band is good stuff - so off we went. For me, it didn't work. The Gatlin brothers took over, the band hardly got a look in. And Larry Gatlin's last "flag waving" song got my hackles well and truly rising, I was the only member of the large audience not on my feet. I think I feel a soapbox coming on, it'll probably surface tomorrow.... and I'm most definitely sworn off country music.
The four lads, Brent, Dave, Josh and Kevin hail originally from Minnesota and North Dakota. The group's wonderful harmonies led me to wonder whether there might be any astrological harmonies between them. Number One Daughter of HeWhoKnows kindly voluteered to ask the lads for their birth dates on my behalf.
(Left to right Dave, Josh, Brent and Kevin. Note the matching ties and sneakers, green, blue, pink and grey!)
I am not going to disclose the actual birth data here, it doesn't already appear on-line anywhere, but I've looked carefully at a 12 noon chart for each of them. Three of the four singers were born within a period of 6 months, so naturally the outer planet placements are very similar for them. The fourth member of the group is seven years younger.
In the charts of all four guys I was fascinated to find a Yod formation - two planets in close sextile(60 degrees between) both inconjunct(150 degrees between) a third planet, forming a kind of arrow. Astrologer Bob Marks describes such a formation HERE.
The sextiles in the four charts are formed by two slow-moving generational planets Pluto and Neptune, in Libra and Sagittarius respectively. For the youngest member of the group, Dave, this is stretched a little for Pluto is right at the end of Libra and Neptune has just moved on to 00 Capricorn - still a sextile aspect. There will, of course, be millions of people in this age group with the same sextile, the significance here is in the planet(s) at the pointy end of the Yod. These turn out to be personal, faster-moving, planets, definitely NOT the same for all members of the generation.
In each of the charts the Yod's arrow point is aimed at planet(s) in Taurus, which is one of the signs ruled by Venus, planet of music. Pluto, one of the generational planets forming the base of the Yod is in Libra, which is the other sign ruled by Venus.
The arrows point as follows:
Brent - to Mercury in Taurus
Dave - to Venus in Taurus and/or Sun at 2* Gemini
Josh - to Jupiter in Taurus
Kevin - to Mercury and Sun in Taurus
Interesting! As Bob Marks says - "an emphasis on one particular area of the life..... this focus frequently seems driven, compelling." And here the focus is on Taurus probably the most musical of all the 12 signs.
The opening act for Marcoux Corner on Thursday evening was Greg Klyma, described at his website as:
"Witty, down-home troubadour" (Austin Chronicle) -"Rust Belt Vagabond Greg Klyma is a character - a folk troubadour with a rock 'n' roll heart. He's played that character into his well-worn dreadnought acoustic guitar and A-frame mandolin. He's stomped it onto the soles of his shoes." For the better part of the last decade, Greg Klyma has toured the country as a solo acoustic act"
Greg happily gave his birth data to HeWhoKnows, including exact time of birth - he has obviously been asked for this before! He's a Sun Capricorn with 3 planets in Sagittarius, two in Scorpio, and Moon and Saturn in Taurus. His chart is one of those funnel shaped configurations, with most planets grouped in one area with "funnel"planet(s) opposite. In Greg's case most planets are at the top of his chart, not surprising for a guy who spends so much of his life on stage. The funnel planets are Moon and Saturn in Taurus (ruled by Venus, planet of music). Very appropriate - representing the outpouring of his musical energies. He's constantly on the road, so his 3 planets in Sagittarius(the astrological vagabond) are working well! Greg's songs and stories are witty, and his gentle, often self-deprecating humor is endearing.
Greg sings to welcome visitors on his MySpace page, then carries on with another song - a rather Sagittarian one, I reckon -
"You want the end of the rainbow? That rainbow doesn't touch down here. If you can't find something to believe in here, start looking in another town"
*************************
Friday's concert was billed as "Country Jazz Fusion". The Gatlin Brothers, led by Larry Gatlin, "fused" with a big band/orchestra of students from nearby Cameron University.
I swore off country music a while ago due to the political leaning which is often embraced by artists and fans of this genre in the USA. However, at the word "jazz", HWK pricked up his ears, he knew from previous shows that the Cameron University band is good stuff - so off we went. For me, it didn't work. The Gatlin brothers took over, the band hardly got a look in. And Larry Gatlin's last "flag waving" song got my hackles well and truly rising, I was the only member of the large audience not on my feet. I think I feel a soapbox coming on, it'll probably surface tomorrow.... and I'm most definitely sworn off country music.
Certainly am pleased you enjoyed the concert and found both acts to be talented and entertaining. I felt the same when I was first introduced to Marcoux Corner.
ReplyDeleteGreg, of course, had been here before as opener for Jimmy LaFave last year, and he's sorta kinda "adopted" Duncan and our concert series. I like his words, and his voice was especially strong on this visit, I thought. He also seems to have "adopted" me as one of his bestest buddies!
We did get 2 complaints later about the "political" statement Greg "forced" on the crowd with his quip about FEMA and the fires in California. One woman asked us if we don't "screen" the statements of our artists "before" they appear? Mygawd! 'Twas all I could do to keep from laughing in her face, although I did ask her if she'd been offended last year when the announcer for the Tibetan monks gave a 3 or 4 minute oration about how the Chinese were oppressing Tibet, or by the petition to the UN the monks asked members of the audience to sign. She remembered being at that concert, but wasn't aware those topics had been brought up.
Apparently, Greg might have gotten his comment past her if he was a foreigner dressed in a brightly colored robe and played a mountain horn instead of a guitar.
Most frequent reaction I heard from audience members to Marcoux Corner was: Gosh, those guys are good!
Crikey! Really? Does she realise that what she mentioned would be outright censorship? Yet, I bet if one engaged her inconversation about the joys of America as against other countries she'd be the first to play the "freedom of speech" card.
ReplyDeleteSigh.