Student Colby Lovins performs last year at the “American Pie” concert at Columbus North High School. He’ll return this year, covering a 1980s Billy Idol hit.
Photo provided
Call Colby Lovins something of an old soul.
The Columbus North High School senior singer and guitarist leans toward ’80s and ’90s rock. So he’s something of a practically perfect performer for the upcoming annual student-led concert called “American Pie: The Magical History Tour.” It unfolds at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Judson Erne Auditorium, 1400 25th St. The concert that fundraises mostly for a range of North programs includes tunes from the 1950s to the 1990s and links the throwback music with historical narration covering everything from war to women’s rights.
It attracted nearly 600 people last year, and used to annually sell out its 1,000 seats to see teens groove as James Brown or preen as Mick Jagger.
Many dress their part, with characteristic features ranging from an Elvis ducktail to a Madonna midriff, if their songs are from such artists.
“I love just the community sense of it,” Lovins said before a recent rehearsal. “And I love seeing students pack the pit (in front of the stage).”
He’ll be performing for the fourth time at the event. He has selected Billy Idol’s 1983 raucous revelry “Rebel Yell.” He selected it from a Spotify ’80s rock playlist.
“When I started singing it to try it, everything just clicked,” Lovins said. “And it’s really in my range.”
Now-retired social studies teacher Ed Niespodziani launched the concert in 1985 initially as a classroom experiment to better attract students’ attention for American history. It gradually attracted a professional backing band that occasionally in the past included former Columbus resident and former nationally touring Arista Records artist Jim Ryser. Plus, in recent years, it has sometimes included Columbus native guitarist and nationally touring rock singer Nick Niespodziani, son of the founder, of Yacht Rock Revue.
And all this polish and flash remains just a $15 ticket — the same price as 10 years ago.
Current show coordinator and backing band electric guitarist Jerry Mihay is still amazed at what mostly show choir and drama students can do when he asks them to let down their hair and rock. Some of them are nervous enough beforehand to write their song lyrics on their hands. Then, sometimes, once they finish a song onstage and head to the wings, they fight back happy tears when they hear the applause they thought they’d never earn.
“I watch these (tryout) videos they submit for the show and say to myself, ‘How can we not include that?’ I’m more than serious.”
The current playlist stretches 25 songs from a wide range of singers: Carole King, Billy Joel, Bonnie Tyler, Queen, Soundgarden and Weezer are in the mix.
“The kids still are the driving force,” Mihay said of the estimated 120 teens involved from the marketing to the music. “It still amazes me to see these students each year be so dedicated to music that was well before their time.”
Mihay can appreciate it more than most. He’s played nearly all the American Pie concerts. Furthermore, his local cover band, Brown 25, has built its considerable following on classic rock that he himself passionately loves.
Singer Amelia Maddox acknowledged that selecting tunes can be challenging. But, like Lovins, she sometimes listens to classic rock. Last year, she sang Blondie’s “Call Me” with such hair-tossing, saucy verve that the crowd roared long before she finished. This time has picked Foreigner’s 1977 hit “Cold As Ice” — a tune the band sang in concert in 2012 at the Columbus Area Arts Council’s Rock the Park show. Backup singers will be friend Liliana Martinez and Maddox’s younger sibling Alyssa.
“I’m really excited,” she said, “to be singing with my sister.”
This marks her third American Pie concert. She’s also singing backup for Rebecca Burbrink, who’s crooning a Heart tune as she has frequently done through the years.
“The real fun of American Pie is that it involves a lot of music that we don’t usually get to sing,” Maddox said. “But it’s music that we’re interested in. … And it gives us all a chance often to dress up, and to really have fun with it.”
About the event
What: The annual concert for American Pie: The Magical History Tour.
When: 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Where: Judson Erne Auditorium, 1400 25th St.
Tickets: $15, available at the Columbus North bookstore and at Mill Race Center, 900 Lindsey St. in Columbus.
