High school students Keller Fornes (left) and Michael Martin improvise songs the first Friday of each month in the courtyard next to Deja Vu, owned by Kim Fornes (right). Photo by Phil Houseal
Details:
Keller Fornes and Michael Martin perform in the alley beside Deja Vu on Main Street the first Friday of the month, from “after school” until dark. For information, call Kim Fornes at 830-377-1519 or visit www.dejavufbg.com.
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Improv on Main
by Phil Houseal
May 27, 2009
All bands must start somewhere, and for high school students Keller Fornes and Michael Martin, playing in an alley in Fredericksburg is as good a place as any.
I was driving west on Main Street one recent Friday when I passed through the middle of a mini-concert. A crowd of revelers had gathered on the second-story balcony of the Nimitz Museum, and they were hooting for two young musicians who were playing from the alley across the street, next to Deja Vu.
I made a tourist U-turn and pulled into a No Parking zone to find out what was going on.
What was going on was two young men singing and playing guitar. Fornes and Martin are from Kerrville. Fornes’ mother, Kim Fornes, owns Deja Vu vintage art gallery, where she lets them play on first Fridays of each month in conjunction with Art Walk.
“It is another reason for people to drop in and hang out,” Kim Fornes explained. Her shop has been open about a year, and features a boutique, art gallery, and coffee bar. “We are very eclectic. I was inspired by the shops on Congress in Austin.”
So how did this “across Main Street” concert begin?
“People from the wedding asked us to play a song about the bride-to-be,” Keller Fornes explained. “So we started singing funny lines like
Why didn’t she give me a chance?
I guess I’ll just go back to high school girls.”
The wedding party seemed to eat up the young musicians’ made up song, as they hollered encouragement over the sounds of semis and Harleys.
Fornes has played guitar for four years, and Martin plays guitars and drums. Both are part of a five-piece band called Fix the Unbroken, that includes high school classmates Steven and Mark Cordova, and Owen Cassidy. That group performs “in Michael’s garage,” Fornes offered.
Mom stepped in to explain that they have played for birthday parties, Relay for Life, and other small gigs. “They actually are very diligent - they practice every Sunday.”
The electric band’s style is heavier. “It’s more driving rock music,” Martin said. “We play what people know as crowd pumpers - where we get the whole crowd involved. That seems to be a lot of our appeal - crowd participation.”
Even in this more sedate, acoustic venue, the crowd certainly seemed involved.
“When people across the street are listening, that is just a joy in itself,” Martin said. “That’s the thing - to see other people’s reaction to us just having fun.”
The intriguing charm of these two was the ease in which they slipped into improvising words to made-up music. Even as the wedding party drifted back inside to their reception, Fornes and Martin picked up their guitars and started riffing on the passing Friday night scene.
“If you like our music come give us a tip,” they crooned to a couple cruising past on a motorcycle. “Just a dollar, just a dollar.”