West Heart Rocks Westview - Country band with LS member targets schools and families
By Judy Hackemeyer the Journal Staff - Lee's Summit Journal - December 2 1994
Westview Elementary was rocking Tuesday. The crash of cymbals and throbbing drums opened a high energy performance by West Heart, a Kansas city-based country-western band.
While nightclubs and music halls are the usual venue for such groups, West Heart is breaking new ground by targeting school assemblies and school-sponsored family night performances. Using music and lyrics written especially for these programs, West Heart delivers a variety of positive messages focusing on staying in school, saying “no” to drugs and watching out for strangers.
Members of the six-man band include Lee's Summit resident Simon Casas on bass guitar, Gary Kuzmich on rythum guitar, Tom Commerford on keyboard, Brian Griffith on lead guitar, Bryan Vignery on drums, and Lupe Munoz on vocals.
The Westview performance began with “Have a Good Time” which set the mood for the fast-paced, toe-tapping, hand-clapping music to come. Munoz who acts as emcee, teased and clowned with his audiance of fourth, fifth, and sixth graders.
A segment on leadership features a slide presentation on Abraham Lincoln while the band sings “What's In A Name?”Written especially for the eductional tour, the song focuses on honesty, commitment, leadership and integrity. Next came a discussion on team-work as applied to songwriting , using their own song . “Ozark Mountain Gold,” as an example.
Audiance participation is essential for a round of West Heart Double Jeopardy. Teachers and students are paired into three teams to answer questions on Kansas and Missouri history, geography, cities and people, but the whole audiance gets involved, shouting suggestions for categories to pick and cheering on their teachers and peers. Contetants are awarded prises provided by the tour sponsors. At Westview they gave away CDs, T-shirts, trading cards and a Royals baseball.
For the grand finale, they sang their song, “Livin In The Land of Oz and Lovin It.”