Austin native comes full circle
Published 10:15 am Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Austin native Marc Anderson plays an instrument at the Historic Hormel Home Monday afternoon during a workshop with children from Kid’s Korner. He, along with three others, are members of the group Speaking in Tongues.
Jenae Peterson/jenae.peterson@austindailyherald.com
An Austin native came full circle Monday, bringing his band back to town.
The Historic Hormel Home hosted Speaking in Tongues for an afternoon workshop and evening concert. The group has been together for many years, and Marc Anderson said it all comes back to friendship.
“Friendship got the group together,” said Anderson, an Austin native.
Anderson and group members Sowah Mensah from Ghana, Enrique Toussaint from Mexico and Gao Hong from China are called Speaking in Tongues because each member has a different native language. The band has influences from all over the world, including South America, China, Ghana, West Africa, American pop on the radio and even church music.
They exposed several area youngsters to music and instruments from all over the world.
At one point, Mensah took out an African flute and played “Mary had a little lamb” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”
“So you see, I can take an instrument from Ghana and play an American song,” Mensah said as the children watched with interest.
“[I liked] when she showed us her instrument because I’ve never seen it before,” said Hailey Kriehn, 9.
The four members of Speaking in Tongues perform for Kid’s Korner Monday afternoon. The group, led by Austin native Marc Anderson, formed in the Twin Cities and plays music from all over the world. They are, from left, Anderson, Enrique Toussaint, Gao Hong and Sowah Mensah. Jenae Peterson/jenae.peterson@austindailyherald.com
Hailey, along with a large group of children, came to the Hormel Home with Kid’s Korner, a group through the Austin Public Schools District. The group went to learn about music from all over the world. Hailey’s favorite instrument was the xylophone.
But music wasn’t all they learned about.
“I learned that cocoa beans come from Africa,” Hailey said excitedly.
For 8-year-old Ryan Schmeichel, the bass guitar was his favorite.
“[I like] the beat to it,” Ryan said about the music the band played.
He was also excited to learn about the different countries the band members were from.
Speaking in Tongues originated in the Twin Cities, and although Anderson said the band is child-friendly because of the cool instruments, it is music for everybody.
“The music is pretty sophisticated, but not sophisticated in a way to exclude anybody,” Anderson said.
The instruments the band brought included a xylophone, a pipa, a bass guitar, a type of bell and many different kinds of drums, among others.
The group received a State Arts Board Legacy Tour grant to help fund the trip.
