Old fans and new fans alike gathered at the House of Blues for the seventh Annual Ponderosa Stomp on April 29 and 30, to see the great bands of the past.
“We were sold out both nights,” says Dr. Ike Padnos, founder of Ponderosa Stomp and president of the Foundation Board. “This year, we returned both nights in New Orleans since moving to Memphis after the storm.”
The Stomp added an educational feature this year with the Ponderosa Stomp Music Conference, which proved popular as well. “We had 750 people over two days,” Dr. Padnos says. “We expected 100.”
Conference speakers ranged from Bob Sullivan, remembering his performances with Hank Williams and Elvis Presley, to Tammie Lynn, talking about touring in the 1950s from a woman’s point of view, to Dr. John, playing never-before-heard pieces.
The concert celebrates the bands and artists whose work influenced American music but often goes unrecognized. The Stomp is a charitable event and the main division of MK Charities. Dr. Ike says the Stomp helps to fulfill their mission statement, “to celebrate the legacy, preserve the history and revive the careers of American music’s unsung heroes.”
The proceeds of this concert go to funding the next year’s concert and their educational initiatives, the first of which is the Ponderosa Stomp Music Conference itself.
Then, over the year, the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation, the main division of MK Charities, works to bring music to fourth and fifth graders at Good Shepard Mission School. The foundation is also working on Oral History Project to preserve the history through the words of the musicians that played the music worth remembering.
Lee Zeno, Chris Hunter, Tony Goldsmith, Lil Buck Senegal and Roy Head
Barbara Lynn and Hayden Thompson
Marty and Herbert Hardesty
A.J. Rodrigue, Wardell Quezergue and Ben Sandmel
Libra LaGrone, Grace Callahan and Alison Fensterstock