Line Upon Line Shines at Leon

(Courtesy Photo) From left to right: Adam Bedell, Matthew Teodori, Cullen Faulk

Reggie Thompson
The Paw Print

Percussion trio Line Upon Line made a stop at Adams State College’s Leon Memorial on October 12 as part of their fall Colorado tour.  With a plethora of percussion instruments, this Austin, Texas-based group provided an evening of creative entertainment for a fairly large crowd.
Line Upon Line is made up of three percussionists that met during their time at the University of Texas at Austin: Adam Bedell, Cullen Faulk, and Matthew Teodori.
The trio played a total of four selections, utilizing every one of their many instruments and bringing a different sense of emotion with each of them.  The songs, many of which were commissioned for Line Upon Line, included:  Elizabeth Hoffman’s “Immer Inner,” a meditative tune that involved the use of tam tams, steel plates, and tin pans, as well as well as Steven Snowden’s theatrical three segment, bass drum-centered piece, “Be Prepared to Defend Yourself/There Are Thieves About/A Man with a Gun Lives Here.”  Also in their set was the little-known percussionist Fredrik Anderson’s “Imagine There Was Nothing” and “Prism of the Plural” by Joshua William Mills.
“We try to get a fairly well-balanced program,” says Bedell, speaking on the differences in feeling in each selection.
The band formed in 2009 for the sole reason of playing the music they loved with their friends.  Teodori approached the other two percussionists with the opportunity
Line Upon Line is named for the Biblical scripture Isaiah 28:10 that states: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.”  These men must have God on their side as in their short career, they recorded an album and, earlier this year, were nominated for an Austin Critics’ Table Award for Best Classical Ensemble.
Their music has brought the trio all over the country to cities like Tallahassee, FL, Baltimore, MD, and Buffalo, NY, and to colleges including Coloroado’s own University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado State University- Fort Collins, and the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.
October 2011 will bring the premiere of their project with architects Emily Little and Norma Yancey, “Seeing Times Are Not Hidden,” a site-specific work for three performers and custom chimes.
The band continues to tour once a month and is incredibly active.  To hear their music or to learn more about Line Upon Line, check out their websites at:  lineuponlinepercussion.org.