By Patrick Culkeen
While students were busy enjoying their mid-semester break, the theatre in the Raymond D. Lafontaine Performing Arts Center took on the look of a rock club for the evening, as local artist Ethan Stone rocked for relief in a special benefit show to raise money for the hurricane ravaged regions desperately in need of care after the devastating hurricanes that so greatly affected our neighbors to the south last fall.
Stone, who is no stranger to using his music for charitable causes, said he was honored to even be asked to participate in the event. For years he had dreamed of playing a show in the theatre, and was honored to be asked to play. “Its really a golden opportunity for me to do something meaningful with my music,” he said.
The evening was sponsored by the Hurricane Relief Committee, the MWCC Alumni Association, C.A.R.S, and 99.9 The Eagle, and all proceeds from the show went directly to a group of 12 health care clinics in Mississippi providing medical care to many people affected by Hurricane Katrina. According to MWCC employee Kim Caisse, the event raised over $2,000.
In addition to being a fundraiser, the concert doubled as a CD release party for Stone, who dropped his brand new single “Too Late” at the show, making it available publicly for the first time and even donating a potion of all sales to hurricane relief. “Too late” is the first single off Stone’s debut full-length album titled “A Different Way,” scheduled to be released this spring. “I tried to take the best music I had, and put it together with the best people I know,” he said of the album.
While the large theatre was half-full at best, there is no doubt that those who were in attendance experienced an evening of exceptional performances from two of the area’s most talented young musicians.
When Stone finally took the stage, which was adorned with professional concert lighting and sound systems, he opened with a cover of Stevie Wonder’s classic, “Superstition,” which set the tone for a set full of fun, classic rock covers mixed in with new tracks from Stone’s album.
By the middle of the set, Stones’ band of talented musicians exited, leaving Stone to perform solo piano-standards such as Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” and Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer,” which spurred an audience sing along and mid-set standing ovations for the young piano man.
While this may have been Stone’s first time performing in the theatre at MWCC, using his music for a cause is what he has built his career around.
After years of being a popular band and nightclub performer, Stone got fed up with what he called getting paid to sell beer. He also lost a close friend in a drunk driving accident who was driving under the influence while departing one of show’s gigs. This prompted Stone to promise to only play venues where alcohol is not served, a promise he still honors today.
“I decided that every show I did I wanted to have a direct impact on making the world a better place,” he said. So he went to work.
“I look up to a guy like Bono,” Stone said. “He’s out there doing great things, and I might not have the capitol to go out there and make that kind of an impact, but I’d love to be able to do that and do it through music.”
Currently, Stone is the chair of the Athol Memorial Hall Revitalization Fund Committee and is currently organizing a monthly series of concerts called Rock-A-Thon, which will feature local bands and raise money to renovate town hall in Athol, with the eventual goal of being able to purchase a professional sound and light system that Stone believes will be instrumental in attract national acts to Athol’s historic hall.
Over the past few summers, Stone has organized free outdoor concert series in Athol, Orange, and Templeton, and invited non-profit organizations such as Athol Public Library, Athol-Royalston Education Foundation, and Family Services of North Quabbin to sell refreshments at the free shows. He is currently in the planning stages of a tour to be named “State of the Arts” that will bring him to high school gymnasiums across Massachusetts. Each gymnasium show will be a benefit for that school’s music and arts department.
His work hasn’t gone unnoticed. In September 2004 he received the North Quabbin Community Coalition Spotlight Award in recognition of his efforts to offer positive community events. Stone says in the future he wants to continue to use his music as a means of bringing positive change but hopes someday he will be able to do it on a bigger level. “I’ll go anywhere, all of the country or world,” he said.
Comments are closed.