Gene Nichols, who’d been planning to bring a 15-foot U-Haul full of instruments (including the hubcaphone, pictured below) to EAC for his Sunday Afternoons at the Arts Center program on January 30, has changed his U-Haul reservation to April 10, when the program, rescheduled due to the major storm predicted for the weekend, will be offered. Gene has been busy preparing music on an array of eclectic instruments, and this past Monday drove to Lincolnville to have his ophicleide, one of the stars of his ‘How I’ve Spent My Pandemic (So Far)’ lineup, serviced by master wind instrument man Glen Sargent.
This week, EAC Video presents for those eager to hear Gene this clip from a ‘snow jam’ captured December 20, 2020, at the University of Maine at Machias, where Gene taught for 35.5 years, and created countless opportunities for community members to congregate musically. EAC Video’s Lauren Koss has been collecting footage of Gene’s many forms of performance, including his creation of a hubcaphone (pictured above), for several years. The April 10 program will feature a reel of video clips from this collection alongside Gene’s talk and musical selections.
The work of Eastport Arts Center is funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.