Advertisement “I love celebrating the moment we’re in while remembering the past and future of the world around us — plus, singing together is healthy stuff for the heart and soul,” he said.
Pease will bring his guitar, his child-friendly attitude and his songs to the Marie W. Heider Center in West Salem for a 2 p.m. matinee performance on Feb. 6. It won’t be his first time in West Salem, either.
“I remember the Heider Center well,” he said, “and it’s going to be great to be back there. It’s such a wonderful, intimate theater — it’s the kind of place I most enjoy playing in.”
Pease has been traveling around the Midwest performing for children since the 1980s, so some of his earliest fans are now college-age and beyond. And, if the testimonials on his Web site — www.tompease.com — are any indication, many still remember his songs and CDs like “Boogie, Boogie, Boogie,” which are even occasionally played in college residence halls.
Over the years, Pease has done a half-dozen recordings, and his latest CD is “Everybody Starts Out Small.” With songs including “Jaw Harp Breakdown,” “Dinner in the Bathtub” and the sure-to-be-inspirational “Movin’ on to First Grade,” it’s likely to be another hit recording with the younger crowd.
Pease will no doubt play some of his newer songs at the Heider Center, but he’ll also be doing some perennial favorites.
“I did a concert at a school last week,” he said, “and we figured out that I’d been coming there for 20 years — I ended up doing a couple of songs that I did at least 20 years ago.”
Although he writes up a set list of songs before doing each show, Pease admitted he is not very good at following it.
“I just like things to be spontaneous, and I often will change the way I do songs, maybe not so much because I want to change them but because I lack the ability to do the song the same way twice,” he said.
On occasion, educators will ask Pease to structure a performance around a theme such as bullying, drugs and alcohol, reading or the environment. Pease has so many songs in his repertoire that he’s usually able to accommodate those wishes, although he is not the type to lecture with a song.
“There’s a lot of languages and a lot of movement in my shows, but I don’t care to preach,” Pease said. “Songs are the way we learn — not just our ABCs but lessons about community and caring. I know a lot of teachers that use folk songs to teach lessons like that.”
Pease, who lives in Amherst, Wis., says he puts about 45,000 miles on his car each year driving to performances in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. Surprisingly, for someone who’s on the road so much, he’s never away from his Amherst home for too long.
“I don’t go on many trips longer than three or four days,” he said.
The entertainer admitted that being on the road so much can be a good way to think up new songs, although he admitted “it’s kind of hard to play an instrument while you’re driving.”
Pease is happy to report that his home is heated with solar power and all the electricity he uses is also from the sun. “We now get a check from the power company because we sell more than we use — we’re a power broker,” Pease said with a big laugh.
It will be mostly song, however, that powers the performance on Feb. 6. “I’m really looking forward to being in West Salem,”Pease said. “I love the Heider Center because it’s intimate and friendly and it’s always good to go back to a place like that.”
AT A GLANCE
Tom Pease
