A thirteen-year-old Frome student has made a successful foray into the world of musical composition by way of a promises auction held at the Steiner Academy last year to raise funds for the middle school.
Orlando Lindop plays bass, percussion, ukulele and violin and counts music among an array of creative interests which include drawing, painting, sculpting and cookery. When it came time to offer something to the auction, Orlando offered simply to create something using one of his talents, leaving the choice wide open to the successful bidder, who happened to be Kate Lissauer, the leader of local band Buffalo Gals.
Intrigued by Orlando’s confident gesture, Kate challenged him to create a song about the old-time medicine shows that flourished in the United States throughout the 19th century, a theme she was developing for her band’s work with the National Rural Touring Forum. The song had to suit the instrumentation and style of the band, which takes its inspiration from the early country string band music of the US.
Orlando’s final piece, entitled The Barker’s Song, included direction on every aspect of the song, including a percussion track for their step-dancer. It was so well received by Buffalo Gals that it was promptly put in as the opening number in what is now known as Buffalo Gals’ Miraculous Medicine Show.
To the delight of the band, Orlando came to the debut of their show, in early December, and Buffalo Gals were able to perform the piece for him live. They also presented him with a Tin-Pan Alley-style song sheet featuring The Barker’s Song.
Kate said, “We love our song, and it makes a wonderful opening to the show. Orlando has done himself, Steiner Academy Frome, and Buffalo Gals proud, having put in an amount of work and care well beyond the call of duty, to fulfil his promise. We hope this leads to further efforts in musical composition, because he certainly has talent.”
Orlando said, “It was a lot fun writing a song for Buffalo Gals and really exciting to hear my name being said on stage by Kate when she introduced me as the composer!”
The Barker’s Song has just completed its second tour with Buffalo Gals, as the Miraculous Medicine Show visited Shropshire and Herefordshire last week.
