Welcome to a special installment of the Truth in His Art at Artscape 40. I am your host, Rob Lee, and this episode is presented to you by my sponsors, Verizon and Crust by Mac. Today, I have the minds behind Soulmates, the music of Ashford and Simpson, who just got off the stage, and I'm really privileged to have them here. Please welcome both Troy Burton and Tevin Brown. Welcome to the podcast.
Rob Lee:Yeah. Yes, sir. It's I I I've said this before. I'm 39, and our skate is 40. Mhmm.
Rob Lee:It predates me. I don't know how comfortable I am with that, but it speaks to the longevity, and I love it. And who I have with me today, I have 2 guests. I'm super excited to speak with both Troy Burton and I have Tevin Brown. And you 2 are the folks behind Soulmates who, just finished performing.
Rob Lee:This is, like, literally minutes.
Tevin Brown:Yeah. Just left the stage.
Rob Lee:So thank you for coming over here.
Tevin Brown:Of course.
Troy Burton:Thank you for having us.
Rob Lee:So, you know, I gave the very, very, very sparse mostly names and sort of what it was, but let's talk a bit about, you know, who you 2 are, what your respective roles are, and how you're involved here this year for, Artscape. If we can start with you, Kevin. Sure.
Tevin Brown:So I'm musical director for the production. So that, entails learning all of the music and then, teaching it to the singers, to the rest of the cast. So, you know, leading rehearsals, running rehearsals, and then also communicating between the band and the rest of the cast, making sure everybody's on the same page with everything. When it comes to something like this, it was a matter of collaborating with Troy and figuring out what we're gonna cut, what we're gonna keep, right, what sorts of things we have to adjust because, you know, it's a 2 and a half, almost 3 hour show and we had to condense it in the 45 minutes but still find a way to keep the essence of the show, the stream. So that was a lot of the work that we did for ArtScape.
Rob Lee:And we're and we're gonna dive in a little bit further.
Tevin Brown:Yeah.
Rob Lee:Troy. Yeah. You're you're back for 1. So thank
Troy Burton:you for having me again. Yeah. And I'll say this, I was around for the first artscape. So I've seen all of them, all 40 of them.
Rob Lee:Then we definitely the rapid fire question. You're gonna you're gonna be a person to talk to on that one.
Tevin Brown:So
Troy Burton:but it's a beautiful thing to see it from the beginning when I was a kid who would come with my family and friends and then one day say, okay. I'm up there with the work that I created. You know, that's that's a great thing, especially as a Baltimore artist.
Rob Lee:Yeah. Absolutely. So and and definitely, we're gonna we're gonna touch on that a bit further because I think it is in through the conversations I've had thus far, far, even myself being here, it's something different. It hits different when you're a Baltimorean and being involved, like, talking with folks and hearing about them performing on the stage. Mhmm.
Rob Lee:It's like, I'm at school with him. I see her. You know, it's a different energy. It's a different it's different. For for for both of you, as it relates to sort of music, stage, performance, what is a early it could be Baltimore related, but early art related memory that comes to mind for you?
Tevin Brown:I'll I'll go first. I actually remember I was 10 years old in 5th grade and I went to a show at Arena Players. Yeah. It was called The Dark Before Dawn. And it was the 1st theatrical production.
Tevin Brown:Troy remembers it. And it was the first thing I had seen that was of that magnitude and, you know, I remember just being in a daze watching the folks on stage. And I came back home, and the first thing I said was like, ma, put me in the program. And I was a shy kid, you know, but, I guess something about that, you know, being on stage and seeing the theatrical production, it just sorta it it enveloped me. And so I just begged and pleaded with her to put me in the program, and the rest is history.
Tevin Brown:That's great.
Troy Burton:And mine is actually similar, and and Tev and I directed that production, The Dark Before Dawn in Tucson. But, mine's just about the same age. I was, like, 11 years old. My grandmother took me to the mechanic theater
Tevin Brown:Yeah.
Troy Burton:Here in Baltimore, which is no longer here. And I saw a production of Timbuktu and with Eartha Kid. And it was just a beautiful production. And that was my grandmother never took me to the theater at all and just one time because she knew all it would take was one time going to the theater and seeing the production. The curtain went up and I'm on the ground crawling in the aisle looking up seeing where the curtain went and the scenery and the lights.
Troy Burton:And it had it's had me ever since.
Rob Lee:That's great. That's great. That's that's good. Like, I I think of those early periods when you're able to see high art, fine art. Like, I think stages is in that class.
Rob Lee:Right? And it's it's an impact there. I I remember those those memories really fondly and going to different places, a mechanic for 1, or even over here, maybe what, like the lyric or even, like, sort of other spots. Those are the ones that stick out.
Tevin Brown:And And
Rob Lee:I went in, like, elementary school, and I'm like, that's forever ago. And it's like, oh, this is this is great. And, you know, I think some of those early memories set us on our path. So we all do these these different things. I gotta ask this question.
Rob Lee:It's gonna sound gauche, but what is your art? What would be if you were to summarize it as the one thing, what is it? Because people were like, oh, I do this, I do that. I refer to myself as podcast wizard. Not everybody else calls me that.
Rob Lee:Some people call me an influencer. Some people call me a producer. I say podcast wizard. But what is your art? What's the term that you would use to describe your work?
Tevin Brown:Wow. You know, I never thought about that. I guess if I had to summarize myself, I'd say, I'd say, like, maybe a musical architect. I like to think of myself as somebody who can, like, put different things together, you know, find or pull from different inspirations, different influences, and, you know, construct something new, construct something fun.
Rob Lee:Like a musical architect. See?
Tevin Brown:I like that.
Rob Lee:Put put that in the bio. Put that in the bio.
Troy Burton:See, I'm a say the same thing, theatrical architect. Because that that's my thing of putting, you know, things together. And I've actually started working on my new my own genre that I'm trying to get out there, theatrical mix tapes.
Rob Lee:Yeah.
Troy Burton:So, you know, it's catching on somewhat, but that, you know, something where you leave your mark and say, okay. This is something a new genre in the theater. Yeah. So yeah.
Rob Lee:That's that's that's that's great. You know, hear hearing the architect and then your your corning phrases, like, I did an episode earlier in this this sort of weekend. I called myself the patron saint of pod.
Tevin Brown:And I
Rob Lee:was just like, look, man. I'm out here. I'm trying to get people on. So from your your individual perspectives, I think, you know, our skate is obviously synonymous with Baltimore. It's, you know, 4 decades, and I think it's reflective of sort of times in the arts and culture here in Baltimore.
Rob Lee:So from your individual perspectives, what are the defining characteristics of arts and culture of Baltimore? Like, what's the thing that sticks out? I've heard it's DIY. I heard it's eclectic. I heard it's all of these different things.
Rob Lee:But what are your takes?
Troy Burton:I I look at it as it's it's very it's much of a scene of individuality. You know, we we have a place. Baltimore has always been like a test ground historically where you come in and test new works, new music, new dance companies, or dance works for the stage theaters, things like that. So you know I look at it more so where it's a great test ground to say if you if it works in Baltimore, it can work anywhere in the world.
Rob Lee:Love it.
Tevin Brown:I like that. I always considered Baltimore to have a particular grit, you know, and endurance, because, you know, Baltimore is a tough city. And if you're from the city and you grew up here, you know that it's difficult to make it out, difficult to make it, you know, into a different sort of space. And I think the artists who grew up here have this sort of built in resilience and kind of grit that we're able to, you know, push past some, barriers that we have, you know, and, really fight for our art. I think that's something that I can see in a lot of Baltimore artists is that we have this, this determination to really push through and, to put our mark leave our mark on whatever it is we're trying to do.
Rob Lee:Sure. I agree with you.
Tevin Brown:That's that's great with both
Rob Lee:of you. So moving into, you know, going back into giving you guys that breather. Right? It's like going back into sort of, you know, the performance. Like I said, we're a few minutes removed
Tevin Brown:Mhmm.
Rob Lee:From it. Describe how you're feeling right now. Give give us that. Like, what's that feeling? Is it elation?
Rob Lee:It's like well,
Troy Burton:it's done, number 1. Mhmm. Number 2, did the audience get it? And that they got it. They loved it.
Troy Burton:They would exactly. Because we were a little bit different on the main stage. You normally don't see a theatrical group Yep. Doing something. And so in putting it together, we had to keep that in mind that, we were actually in rehearsal talking about what parts we're gonna do with the show that's more from the acting script part as opposed to just the music, because we could have done that.
Troy Burton:But we decided to infuse some of the other parts. So that was, like, thinking of what parts of the script that we had to edit down because of time that would fit and captures the audience's attention. And and listen to, like,
Rob Lee:the first one they should. If they didn't listen to the listen to, like, the first one, they should. If they didn't listen to the first one when we first talked about
Tevin Brown:it. But
Rob Lee:could you, like, give folks sort of those notes on the concept yet again? Because, you know, it's, you touched on it, it's, you know, it's theater. And it's, you know, we we had people playing drums and, you know, running, you know, different lives. DJs there yesterday sort of doing something that falls outside of what's typically on that main stage and kinda extending the idea. So tell folks about the concept behind soulmates.
Troy Burton:Well, soulmates is a concept. It's a I call it a theatrical mixtape. So it's just like if you were to listen to a mixtape and then the subject matter is Nicholas Asher and Valerie Simpson, 2 of the greatest songwriters from the American songbook, who are not celebrated as much. Sure. You know?
Troy Burton:And and we we celebrate, Paul McCartney and John Lennon. The lot for this, like, no. Ashford Simpson is right up there with them, so we need to celebrate them. And so, putting it together, it is close to 2 and a half hour, maybe some days, 3 hours, depending upon how much the audience wanna dance. It's it's a collection of their music.
Troy Burton:And what I've done with that, I've connected all of the songs that they wrote, either to a series of love letters, monologues, or poetry that helped to, to, give you give you a feeling of the music. And it's also based on a lot of people in Baltimore, their love letters, their stories. I mean, there's even a story in the, show about my own mother that she told me about how our family end, end up coming to Baltimore. So it's it gives you an evening of the theater with some history lessons of people from Baltimore Yeah. As well as a his historical perspective of Ashford and Simpson in their songwriting and performance careers.
Rob Lee:It's wonderful. I'm glad you thank you for touching back on that because, you know, folks listen, but it's like, that's Ramondo.
Troy Burton:Yeah. Yeah. And we sold out 3 weeks at Arena Players. Yeah. So when we started talking about this and when we got towards the end, we sold out 2 weeks before the show even opened.
Rob Lee:Wow. Congrats.
Troy Burton:Yeah. And not too many, Baltimore theaters had something like that, where you you can look at from Center Stage on down to some of the community theaters. Theater has been slowly coming back since COVID.
Tevin Brown:Yep.
Troy Burton:And so we were honored to have 3 weeks of every sold out show even to the point where we had to add the show.
Rob Lee:Oh, yeah.
Tevin Brown:And that was sold out too? Yeah. I
Rob Lee:like it to do that. It's like, and also Right. Not for nothing. You know? So what would from your from both of your perspectives, what would be sort of that you were touching on a little bit earlier, Some of those key considerations, and I I see it as this, and correct me if I'm wrong, an adaptation from sort of that 2 and a half, 3 hour, like, full experience to this is adapted for the Artscape stage.
Rob Lee:What were those considerations? And, you know, did you make sure everyone was doused in water before they went out there in the 95 degree weather to get it in?
Tevin Brown:Well, thankfully, Artscape provided us with a wonderful green room that was nice and air conditioned. So I told them I was like, you know, take advantage of this now. Sit, chill, enjoy the cool because we're going out there. Yeah. And I think for for adapting into the artscape stage, we were just trying to make sure that we touched, a lot of the most popular songs, making sure that those stayed in there, and then also making sure that the theatrical part of the show was represented.
Tevin Brown:Right? So we wanted to make sure we had some monologues, make sure that whatever we're adding, whatever we're taking away doesn't necessarily take away from the story and the feeling of it all. So, we were able to keep most of them. We were able to keep most of the the hits, I call them. I was waiting for you
Rob Lee:to say that.
Tevin Brown:Had to bring them the hits, and then there was also some monologues. There's a little bit of something that we were, throwing out that was, like, within a song. You know, we sang a little bit of a song. It had some monologues inside of them. So I probably did a good job of really, condensing it, but still giving that feeling.
Tevin Brown:Kinda felt like a party. That's what a lot of people were saying.
Rob Lee:I love that. And and I'd be remiss if we don't touch on this. So, you know, I find that this whole experience, this whole weekend, and even the time that goes before it because it's not like suddenly, you know, July 31st, we're gonna be artscape in August. It's like, you mean last year? In July of last year?
Rob Lee:It doesn't just happen. Right? So I think collaboration, many folks are working together, and you 2 collaborated and built this out. Right? So talk about how you 2 started working together and where we're at because you touched on it a little bit before we got started.
Rob Lee:So if you could share, Troy, how did you 2 kinda start working together and coming to this stage?
Troy Burton:Well, I was working before arena players, the youth data program, and Tevin mentioned that he actually came in. He saw a production. And and this is a special thing. Tevin auditioned. However, he was too young to be in the group that I was teaching, but the director of the program, Catherine Orange, felt that his level of talent, he should be in the the main group.
Rob Lee:Yeah.
Troy Burton:And so he didn't need to go to any remedial group. So she moved him right along and because that group was, like, age 12 or 13 coming in, but Tevin was 10. So he came in and he easily adapted, mastered all of the acting. The, of course, great musicians. So his skills were there, developing his talent.
Troy Burton:I think at that time, I remember us doing a production where I said to the kids, I want each one of you to do a 10 per a 10 minute one person show.
Rob Lee:Yeah.
Troy Burton:And Tevin brought his keyboard in, and he said, I got it. And so and having to be creative and tap into your self
Tevin Brown:Yeah.
Troy Burton:Things like that. And then I was with the UB Blake Cultural Center for a long period of time. And after he graduated from Baltimore School For the Arts in Berkeley, I brought him in. I said, Tevin, you know, hey. I'm doing some things.
Troy Burton:I need a MD. And he started tapping into coming and helping me putting shows together as musical director. And then it just this is my go to guy. Whenever I because I know he's gonna take care of business. He's gonna pay attention to the details and the quality.
Troy Burton:He's gonna make sure that we have nothing but the best come in the door. And if you're not so great, he's gonna work with you in helping you develop that technique. So that's that's why, you know, he's here because we need that.
Rob Lee:So it's MD to MA, music architect. I'm getting that over. Yeah. You know, like Yeah.
Troy Burton:And and with the Soulmates piece, you know, I just had an idea. Rita Play approached me about, coming up with an idea of that we want you to do something musical. And, you know, they gave me the freedom to come with whatever I wanted to. And I went to Tevin. I said, Tevin, this is what I wanna do.
Troy Burton:And he said, okay. I'm down. And we did some workshops. And then the next thing I know, it is it's just like baking a wonderful cake. You have this bowl here, but then you start to add things in and then add people and different things.
Troy Burton:And we just work well together because of our history.
Rob Lee:Yeah. I think it's history. It's relationships. Like, you know, I I was having this conversation yesterday, with one of the folks involved that's performing.
Tevin Brown:Mhmm.
Rob Lee:And I'm like, I interviewed you. I interviewed you. I interviewed you. Yeah. And it's sort of, hey, man.
Rob Lee:Let me introduce you to this person. Rob's a solid guy. Rob does this. And it's sort of that thing in those relationships. If you're doing good work and there's quality and you're a person that's serious about your thing.
Rob Lee:Whatever it might be, it the rest speaks for itself. Yeah. And I think that's what we're seeing a lot of. Not everybody pops up on that stage, and this is, as we touched on, a milestone year. It's not, you
Troy Burton:know, 39. It's always gay 40.
Rob Lee:40. Yeah.
Troy Burton:So that's how it his mom his mom raised him right. You know? You know, you get it when you work with people, you get a chance to to meet their families and work with them. And his mom has always been active in everything we do. And and she's become a part of our theatrical family, you know?
Troy Burton:Because she promote everything we do.
Tevin Brown:Yeah. She was up there on that hill today too.
Rob Lee:It's good getting that that support, which is a good way to segue into this next question. I got, you know, 2 more questions here. Sort of, like, being on the main stage that I touched on, it's you know, I think it's an intersection between, like, you know, arts, this music, this performance as we were touching on a little bit, earlier with Tommy as well having the theatrics and his his DJ sets as well. So and I think it's truly representing, like, Baltimore, like, really showing up. Like, when we get up there and we see our our people, just like, I'm a little extra stank on this one.
Rob Lee:So can you describe what the feeling is to be here, be from here, and see sort of, like, local talent, friends, and people that you've known. And you've seen their career creative trajectory and see them crush it on stage. What's your gut feeling?
Tevin Brown:It's beautiful, man. I think, the word that came to my mind as you were talking was electric. You know, it feels really, really awesome to see so much of the local talent, get an opportunity to showcase themselves. Yeah. Like, for example, it was earlier today, there's a live stream of Artscape.
Tevin Brown:And so I hopped on the live stream, and I looked across the stage. I was like, hey. Hey, Justin. We're playing together later today. You know, the bass player, we subbed together at a church somewhere.
Tevin Brown:I know the drummer from back in the day. And so it was really cool to see people who you know, who you've worked with, get an opportunity to shine, you know, a place where they can showcase their talents and, be supported by their own. And that's a really great feeling.
Rob Lee:It's wonderful.
Troy Burton:And I'll add I wanna say kudos to BOPA first and foremost because, seeing so many different artscapes through the year, I have a special feeling this year because I've seen more local artists on the main stages and things. The programming this year, in my opinion, was just top notch in terms of, okay, we're gonna bring national and international acts in, but we're also gonna make sure we shine that spotlight and give these flowers to our local artists who've been on that grind. So kudos to BOPA for that.
Rob Lee:That's a really good point. And I I was noticing that as well. It's like we have folks that come in with this headliner capacity and they've done that, but then seeing, like, probably 90% of, like, literally that's my neighbor right there. That's just about to do his thing. So this is the last last question.
Rob Lee:Last real question for, you know, rapid fire questions
Tevin Brown:are coming.
Rob Lee:Questions are coming.
Tevin Brown:Mhmm. Oh,
Rob Lee:yeah. What does Artscape mean to you from a macro sense? Like, so to speaking on impact for the community verse both the the the artist and sort of the people who are attending? What does arts game mean to you from that perspective?
Tevin Brown:I think it's our opportunity to spread love and show love, you know, throughout the city. Like I said, Baltimore is a rough town. So, you know, we you kinda come through some situations where maybe love isn't exactly as present as it should be, but, we get a chance like Artscape where people in community can come out. It's a free event. You don't have to feel, you know, pressured to to be a specific kind of way.
Tevin Brown:You can just show up as yourself, and then you get to see local artists. You get to see your neighbor or the person who rings you up at at the coffee shop. It's like, wait a minute. You do music or you're you're in theater? Like, that's so cool.
Tevin Brown:So I think, that's a really opportunity is for the artist to be able to share some of what they do with the community and then the community to love back on the artist. Like, I was looking out in the crowd when we were performing, and there were people, like, you know, pointing to us. Like, yeah. I'll do your thing. And so this is a really wonderful feeling.
Tevin Brown:Oh, yeah.
Rob Lee:Thank you.
Troy Burton:Yeah. Wow. I mean it is I'll go back to saying that being around for a while and seeing all the different art escapes. It it it it's something where we just really appreciate the diversity of what's here in Baltimore and the various genres and as as well as just the artist community. Sure.
Troy Burton:You know, it's like it's the family reunion. It's the cookout community for, you know, for us as artists, you know. And so that that's that's my whole thing and and and and to see that Artscape trusts the local artist to say, bring that major scale show to us because we're gonna give them that platform.
Rob Lee:That's a good
Troy Burton:point. And we measure up.
Rob Lee:That's a good point. That's a really good point. And, that's sort of it for the real questions.
Troy Burton:Okay. Okay.
Rob Lee:So the rapid fire questions and Oh,
Tevin Brown:here Here we go.
Rob Lee:You know how they work, you know. As I always tell people, don't overthink these. Alright. So here's the first one. Can you share your favorite Artscape memory?
Rob Lee:I'm looking at you first, Troy, because you're talking about I was here at the first one. What is your favorite memory?
Troy Burton:I'm just gonna go straight to it because because it has something to do with this show, Ashton Simpson on this hill. Oh. You know, actually seeing them.
Tevin Brown:And I
Troy Burton:think it was, like, 1994 somewhere, actually seeing them. And, you know, being a fan of theirs. So just knowing that I was able to bring their music, god rest the soul of Nick Asher, But to bring damn music here to the Artscape stage, that that was one of a great memory. Also, Ray Charles and and Aretha Franklin. Aretha Franklin rolled in so cool.
Troy Burton:And to see these legends who are no longer with us, you know, to see them come in and just ride down here and the reefer just look out the crowd and say, hey, y'all. And she did there's a photo Yeah. I think in in the Baltimore beach that she said. She's like, hey, y'all. It it's like, okay.
Troy Burton:The original auntie is here.
Rob Lee:Yeah. Yeah.
Troy Burton:So and that's great seeing because we get to see that.
Rob Lee:Yeah. That's good. And, I was I I remember Rachel. That's the one that sticks out for me. And
Troy Burton:And we did a we did a Rachelle song that Ashton Simpson wrote today.
Tevin Brown:Yeah. Wow.
Troy Burton:So it that's why this one was special because it's full circle moments.
Tevin Brown:Oh, yeah.
Troy Burton:And then it was also passing the torch to the next generation.
Tevin Brown:Love that. Please. Mine is gonna be this one this year for sure. This is, a wonderful moment for me, you know, to be able to, musical director show, be on stage playing and singing with my friends and, you know, to be able to be on the main stage. This is my second time at ArtScape.
Tevin Brown:The first time was with ball and the jack. Yeah. And that was fun. It was a good time. I think we were at the theater project for that one.
Tevin Brown:But this takes the cake. I mean, being on the main stage, getting the opportunity to do that. Then having my mom in the crowd, she keeps sending me pictures and stuff. Oh, okay. We're in the middle of the show.
Tevin Brown:Hey, baby.
Troy Burton:I see you. Was your son here?
Tevin Brown:No. He wasn't. He watched the livestream. Yeah. I think they did watch it.
Troy Burton:So That's awesome. See, did what this is what daddy's doing.
Tevin Brown:Yep. Yeah.
Rob Lee:So here here's the last one I got for you, and thank you both. This has been wonderful. Alright?
Tevin Brown:Thank you.
Rob Lee:So here's the last one I got for you. Besides people skills, multitasking, and and patience
Tevin Brown:Mhmm.
Rob Lee:Mhmm. What is the most crucial skill for successful production?
Troy Burton:Clarity and communication. Participate in a festival like this is to know when they say, you got 45 minutes.
Tevin Brown:Yeah.
Troy Burton:And you have to program 45 minutes. And and you know you have to make sure you deliver a great time to the audience. So communication has to be on point. You don't really get a sound check to come in and test things. I got a text from someone said that sound sounded like a a a recording on the livestream.
Troy Burton:So communicating with clarity, thanks to Kevin, you know, and and the creative programming, you get an opportunity. You gotta make sure it's on the money or you don't get the real money.
Rob Lee:I got you. It makes a lot of sense.
Tevin Brown:Yeah. Communication is big. Trying to see if I can find something different. I'd say being open minded. Yeah.
Tevin Brown:You know, when it comes to creative things, sometimes people like, like to kinda impose what they think on whatever it is that we're doing, but, we gotta stay open. We gotta be be open to things changing. You know, for this, we had to cut a couple things, and that's alright. You know? Just being being open to whatever is gonna come.
Tevin Brown:Even if there's something that's sort of natural and organic that happens on stage, you know. You gotta be open to that not, and not want to just do things as they are. You gotta take it as it comes because there may be a moment that's there.
Rob Lee:And there you have it folks. I wanna again thank Troy Burton and Tevin Brown for coming here and chatting with me today about soulmates, the music of Ashford and Simpson. And I also wanna thank my presenting sponsors, Krust by Mac and Verizon for helping to present this programming. I am your host, Rob Lee, saying that there's art, culture, and community in and around your neck of the woods. You've just gotta look for it.
