Oxford’s Goodnight Market to feature a choir

Published 9:30 am Thursday, July 20, 2017

Are you someone who sings in the shower? Maybe in the car? A new Pop Up Choir forming in Oxford could use your help.

This Friday evening, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Old Armory Pavilion at the intersection of Bramlett Boulevard and University Avenue, there will be a choir assembling for the evening to perform three songs. No singing experience is necessary for anyone looking to join.

The event is part of the Goodnight Market held at the pavilion which will showcase local vendors and artists.

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Damein Wash, a local professional singer and musician who is organizing the choir, says that he picked songs “most folks would know.”

“We’ll have a small combo of musicians there and they’ll play for us,” Wash said. “We’ll rehearse for around 45 minutes and then perform it and then put it up online.”

Wayne Andrews, the director of the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, got the idea after seeing other towns doing it online.

“The idea is two-fold: use the arts to build a sense of community and invite people to take an active part in the arts,” Andrews said in an email.

The songs that Wash chose are American songbook staples, “Boys of Summer” by Don Henley, “I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash and “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison.

“It’s a happy song, it makes you feel good,” said Wash of Nash’s classic tune. “It feels like summer. I wanted to do tunes that folks could relate to and enjoy singing. ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ everyone already knows and it’s easy.”

Lyric sheets will be provided for those who might not know all the words by heart.

“It’s really for everybody, even for people who don’t think they can sing so well,” Wash added. “It doesn’t matter. This should be a wide range of abilities. That’s the good thing about singing together.”