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Arts & Entertainment

Six Foot Poles Will Wrap Up Saline Summer Music Series On Thursday

Local band will perform vintage rock with a Motown twist.

Six Foot Poles will close out another great Saline Summer Music Series when they perform 7 p.m. Thursday in a free concert on South Ann Arbor Street between Michigan Avenue and Henry Street.

The 5-piece band, based in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, includes three brothers who each tower over 6 feet tall:  David Brzezinski on lead and rhythm guitars, Mark Brzezinski on bass and acoustic guitars, and Mat Brzezinski on drums. Theo Smith does the honors on keyboards, lead and rhythm guitars, and Mark’s wife Joelene Piatt Brzezinski – “the five foot pole” – does percussion.

All band members sing, the majority of vocals being the harmonies of Mark and Theo with Joelene as a featured vocalist.

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"It's been a great concert series this year," David Brzezinski says. "The Six Foot Poles have been working on some 'new' old classic rock tunes -- like the Small Faces 'Itchycoo Park' --  for our show in Saline and we can’t wait to see what the fans think of them. 

"We've just finished recording a new five-song EP that contains our own reworking of the classic 'Secret Agent Man' tune and a couple of our original songs.  The Saline show will be a great place to debut the EP and rock the night away. Don't let the heat get you down!"

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The band, recording on Flying Turtle Records, plays classic rock and roll with a sound described as vintage rock with a Motown twist. The musical knowledge and experience of band members spans five decades and over 100 years of experience playing in various local bands. Their sound is influenced by the Beatles, Stones, Smithereens, Smokey Robinson, Doors, Kinks, Moody Blues, Jefferson Airplane, Melissa Etheridge and more.

Dave is a veteran of the 60s, where he was a roadie for many Detroit area bands. Later he joined his younger brothers to play guitar in their Six band and Ivan Pavlov's Salivation Army.

Mark started performing in the Fred Jam Band, and had a short stint on the staff of one of Fred Smith’s early solo bands. Mat played drums in the Six band and Ivan Pavlov's Salivation Army, before playing with Jim “Largebeat” Gertz in Ann Arbor. Theo has played extensively in the Detroit area in various bands. Joelene, who grew up in the theatre singing and doing ventriloquism, was influenced by her brother’s rock bands.

The Two Twelve Arts Center in Saline will provide bubbles, chalk art, removable tattoos and more, for children.

In the event of bad weather the concert will take place in the gym at Liberty School, 7265 Saline-Ann Arbor Rd.

Downtown Development Director Art Trapp will conduct an informal survey on Thursday to ask how people found out about the series, preference for Thursday or Friday, number of performances attended, favorite band or group, and suggestions for 2012.

The weather has been a real factor for this year’s series, he says.

“Three concerts were held in Liberty school, the July 21 concert was held in the ‘blast furnace,’ and three had pretty good weather. On the average we’re down in numbers over previous years despite spending for radio ads, back pack mailers and banners.”

The biggest difference, he says, was the change from Friday to Thursday nights.

“The merchants asked for the change as normally Friday night is fairly busy in downtown Saline, while Thursday nights can sometime be challenging. We definitely did increase the Thursday night volume downtown with the music series.

“We had good volunteer help for the barricades and stage set ups. I thought the band list was as good as it could be for the amount of money spent.”

For more information, visit www.besaline.com and www.sixfootpoles.com.

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