Monday, July 29, 2013

What's the coolest work party you ever attended?

Harleysville-based Spring Hill Realty threw a first-class company picnic that featured Lee Alverson as Elton John, with a full band.
I've heard of many tribute acts, but can't say I've heard of this one. 



 Alverson had the glasses, Elton's stage apparel (minus the really awful '70s costumes), Elton's front-teeth gap, and the hits: Your Song, Levon, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, Benny and the Jets, Rocket Man, Candle in the Wind, Pinball Wizard (You forgot about the film version of "Tommy," didn't you?), Tiny Dancer, Crocodile Rock, Philadelphia Freedom, The Bitch is Back, and these ones as well.





Alverson's band even branched out to cover Great Balls of Fire and Billy Joel's You May Be Right and New York State of Mind, a nod to the Billy Joel/Elton John co-headliner tours.
Lucky me -- I got to attend because my wife works at Spring Hill. Past picnics have featured David Stone as Johnny Cash, and Elvis and Rolling Stones tributes.

Spring Hill's Cheryl and Leo Orloski pose with Lee "Elton John" Alverson.


Spring Hill Realty's Joyce Westerfer dons some authentic-looking Elton John specs.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

America's next voiceover star?

Wouldn't it be cool to be this guy?



After attending a class through Souderton Area Community Education this spring, I learned that there's a lot of everyday people making money being voiceover talent, whether it's telephone on-hold messages, company training videos, GPS voices, commercials, animation, etc.
The instructor for the class, who is now my voiceover coach, was Tom Force from the Vermont-based company Such A Voice, who was a long-time Detroit radio personality.
 To my surprise, two area musicians, whose band names I recognized, were also in the class -- none other than Chris of LD-50, which recently changed its name, probably to not be confused with a metal band of the same name, and Doug from All Worn Out.
Not sure if they decided to try the voiceover thing, but it was cool seeing them at a community education class, and observing how interested the other people in the class were in  Chris and Doug's latest musical projects
Since then, I've discovered that this voiceover thing requires a lot of time and a lot of money to get into. I swear, every week I have to reassure my wife that I'm not doing this just to get away from her.
So how'd you like a cartoon character voicemail message for your phone? I can do that real cheap.