Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Celebrity siting: The Organ-izer


Being that I have the most excellent driving skills ;-) I took Grandpa McKell to see a concert by Seth Rye, the most popular organist in the world! Since Grandpa has connections with the Lowrey Organ people, they invited him to this extra special concert at the Sleepy Ridge Golf Course Clubhouse. Grandpa was pretty excited, and the golf course was beautiful! I pretty much planned on studying throughout the whole thing, but then we were seated on the front row and I was actually quite captivated by Mr. Rye's skills. Plus, I let him borrow my pen to sign a CD cover, and was referred to frequently throughout the performance. He is extremely talented, and interacts with his audience as he performs. He was acclaimed the most popular entertainer by Keyboard World Magazine, has over 30 albums, and he is the "featured artist" on the Disney Magic Album. If any of you have seen the Disney Light Parade, this guy played the organ for ALL of the music during the parade.....and he played it for us (with a video) on Tuesday. I think Grandpa and I were the oldest & youngest people in the room of over 160 people. Everyone was fascinated that he will be 91 next month (and he kept telling them, so cute!). Enjoy the pics! They are a little crazy because they were taken on my phone (so G'pa is missing some of his head in one d/t the lighting).

Seth Rye, Me, Grandpa McKell
Seth & Grandpa
Seth showing Grandpa ALL the buttons/sounds


For all you organ enthusiasts: www.sethrye.com

3 comments:

chelsea mckell said...

WOW! That is quite the outing for Grandpa! Yeah - I think it's so funny how he's quite proud of his age. And he should be! Most people his age (if they're alive at all) are definitely not hitting the town going to hip concerts. :)

Ashley said...

Wow, I didn't know about that. I bet that was one of the funnest things that Grandpa McKell has done in a long time. You are so nice to take him and so nice to all of us in the family. I really appreciate your help with the kids when we are down there. You are great and it will be fun to see you at the reunion.

Meg said...

Hi Jami, good to hear from you on the blog. Where are you working? How is Mark? Hope all is well-
Ben