{"id":32488,"date":"2022-09-30T09:26:25","date_gmt":"2022-09-30T13:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=32488"},"modified":"2022-09-30T09:26:32","modified_gmt":"2022-09-30T13:26:32","slug":"on-stage-extra-villa-maria-celebrates-150th-anniversary-with-concert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=32488","title":{"rendered":"On Stage Extra: Villa Maria celebrates 150th anniversary with concert"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"This has been a very special week for Villa Maria Academy \u2013 and a week that will close with a very special event on September 30.<\/p>\n

Villa Maria Academy is celebrating its 150th anniversary and capping the celebration with a reception and concert at People\u2019s Light (39 Conestoga Road, Malvern) on September 30.<\/p>\n

The concert will feature the husband-and-wife team of Anna Wilson and Monty Powell. Wilson graduated from Villa Maria in 1990.<\/p>\n

Villa Maria Academy\u00a0is an all-girls\u00a0Catholic\u00a0college preparatory high school located in\u00a0Malvern. The school was formed and carried out by the\u00a0Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is operated independently and with the blessing of the\u00a0Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

The foundation of the academy dates to July 1872. At that time, the IHM Sisters transferred their motherhouse, novitiate, and boarding school from Reading to West Chester. Occupying the property formerly owned by the Pennsylvania Military Academy, the school flourished in West Chester until 1914, when Villa Maria moved to\u00a0Immaculata College, which today houses the retired sisters. In 1924, the Sisters acquired the property of William R. Warner, Jr. where the high school remains today. <\/p>\n

Surprisingly, Villa Maria is not the oldest secondary school in Chester County. Malvern Prep was founded in 1842 and Westtown School was founded in 1799. Still, celebrating a sesquicentennial is an impressive feat for Villa Maria Academy.<\/p>\n

The event on September 30 (www.vmahs.org\/villa-events\/celebrate-150-years-of-villa-maria<\/a>) is billed as, \u201ca party celebrating the history, achievements, and exciting future of Villa Maria Academy High School.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event begins with Mass in the Marian Center at 4 p.m., followed by a cocktail reception at People\u2019s Light Theater at 5:30 p.m., and a special concert by Wilson and Powell at 7:30 p.m. followed by dessert and coffee.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Anna Wilson and Monty Powell<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cOur concert this weekend will be more of a traditional singer\/songwriter show,\u201d said Wilson, during a phone interview Thursday evening. \u201cWe\u2019re celebrating my school\u2019s 150th anniversary. It\u2019s the finale event \u2013 pop the champagne.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson and Powell are an Americana duo who perform under the name Troubadour 77. Their most recent album was \u201cRevolution and Revelation\u201d in 2020. It is a collection of songs that touch on life, love, death, dreams, change and acceptance, all themes that seem to be very relevant in these times.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pandemic shut things down for a while,\u201d said Wilson. \u201cDuring COVID, Monty and I started writing a musical.\u201d<\/p>\n

The duo now owns homes in Eagle Point, Utah and Naples, Florida after living for many years in Nashville.<\/p>\n

Even though Wilson built a reputation as a \u201cNashville singer-songwriter\u201d who has listened to country music since she was a girl, she is also a Yankee girl who grew up just down the road from Historic Yellow Springs and graduated from nearby Villa Maria Academy.<\/p>\n

Wilson and Powell have been married for more than two decades and have been making music together as artists, songwriters and producers for almost three decades.<\/p>\n

Collectively they have written a dozen Number One songs and countless album cuts that appear on over 70 million records, have co-produced unique special projects that pay tribute to the Eagles, Billy Joel and the Countrypolitan era of music, and penned the international theme song for Habitat for Humanity.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Powell was a key creative force in establishing the mega success story of Keith Urban. He was his early producer and one of Urban\u2019s top collaborators for many years, earning Golden Globe nominations and countless industry awards for the songs they composed together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were super-inspired by the \u2018Springsteen on Broadway\u2019 show,\u201d said Wilson, who once wore a kilt and played field hockey for the Hurricanes. \u201cIt\u2019s a one-man musical. We decided to write a two-person Broadway musical.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wrote it and spent all summer this year BETA-ing it and doing workshops. We did a theater presentation this summer at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. We did a 15-concert residency there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did the entire one-and-one-half-hour scripted musical in a theater. It was really a wonderful experience \u2013 building blocks and finding out what works and what doesn\u2019t. Now, we go back to the drawing board and work on the play a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The title of the play is, \u201cNorth and South \u2013 A Modern Story of Love Not War.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was born in the North near Revolutionary War battlefields \u2013 Brandywine and Valley Forge,\u201d said Wilson. \u201cMonty was born in the South near a Civil War battlefield. He was born in Dalton, Georgia and grew up in Resaca, Georgia.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Civil War\u00a0Battle of Resaca\u00a0was fought in and around Resaca in May 1864. Each year a re-enactment of the Battle of Resaca, the first battle of the\u00a0Atlanta Campaign, is held on the third weekend of May. Resaca is also the location of the first\u00a0Confederate cemetery\u00a0in the state of Georgia.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had to travel north to get to Nashville,\u201d said Wilson. \u201cI had to travel south to get to Nashville. We met there \u2013 chasing dreams and finding love \u2013 two universal dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fate brought them together in \u201cMusic City.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father was a singer\/songwriter,\u201d said Powell, during a prior phone interview. \u201cI grew up in one of the strange families in the South where it wasn\u2019t considered weird to be a singer-songwriter.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduation from high school in Resaca, he attended Lipscomb University in Nashville.<\/p>\n

\u201cI majored in political science and speech,\u201d said Powell. \u201cBut I never finished. Instead, I got a gig as a guitar player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson, who grew up in Chester Springs, said, \u201cIt was just the opposite for me. I grew up in a family where music was foreign. They told me \u2013 you can\u2019t get a job in music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson, who had been a top-flight field hockey player at Villa Maria Academy, tore up her knee while playing field hockey at the Junior Olympics. She had dreams of playing for the United States Olympic Team, but they evaporated when the ACL (anterior crucial ligament) injury ended her athletic career.<\/p>\n

The \u201csilver lining\u201d in the \u201cdark cloud\u201d that accompanied her injury was her decision to start playing guitar. From humble beginnings as a singer-songwriter and self-taught guitarist, Wilson has emerged as a national-caliber recording artist.<\/p>\n

Her professional music career started in Nashville, the place she moved after graduating from Loyola College in Baltimore. Nashville was also where Powell was plying his trade.<\/p>\n

Powell\u2019s first songwriting credit was a jingle for an\u00a0Allstate\u00a0commercial.<\/p>\n

After moving to\u00a0Nashville in the early 1990s, Powell wrote several songs for\u00a0Diamond Rio, whose lead singer Marty Roe was a roommate of his while they were in college at\u00a0Lipscomb University.<\/p>\n

Other artists who recorded Powell\u2019s songs include\u00a0Tracy Byrd,\u00a0Chris Cagle,\u00a0Billy Ray Cyrus,\u00a0Tim McGraw,\u00a0Collin Raye, and\u00a0Restless Heart. One of his first collaborations with Urban was his debut single, \u201cIt\u2019s a Love Thing,\u201d which reached Top 20 in 1999.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnna and I first got together in Nashville in 1993,\u201d said Powell. \u201cAnna was a publicist for Diamond Rio. We met backstage at a Diamond Rio concert. It\u2019s been a long and successful run since then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson said, \u201cWe bumped into each other. We found each other and found a common vision and a common path in music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powell said, \u201cIt was great that someone 21 and fresh could relate to someone like me. It was very egalitarian. We started writing songs together and it became 24\/7.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson said, \u201cI met Monty in 1993 and it was a pretty quick attraction. We dated for seven years before we got married.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson\u2019s debut album,\u00a0\u201cThe Long Way,\u201d was released by Curb Records on August 5, 2003. It included her song \u201cThe Bus Ride\u201d (co-written with\u00a0Gary Burr\u00a0and\u00a0Matt Rollings), which was recorded by\u00a0Suzy Bogguss.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnna was signed to Island Def Jam by legendary A&R man Tom Zutauk,\u201d said Powell. \u201cThen, there was a label shake-up and Tom was no longer with Island Def Jam.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson said, \u201cMy album didn\u2019t come out on Island Def Jam, but Tom made sure I got my master tapes back. Monty and I finished the album. I released it on my own label \u2013 Transfer Records. Then a short while later, Curb Records picked it up. Monty and I worked together on the album. He\u2019s produced all my records.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson\u2019s sophomore album was \u201cTime Changes Everything\u201d in 2007. She followed with her \u201cCountrypolitan Duets\u201d LP in 2011 \u2013 an album that featured pairings with country artists for whom she and her husband have written including Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban, Connie Smith,\u00a0Ray Price,\u00a0Billy Dean, and\u00a0Kenny Rogers. Her most recent solo album is \u201cJazzbird\/Songbird,\u201d which came out in 2014.<\/p>\n

Powell said, \u201cI\u2019m almost always in the background. I really like songwriting, being in the production chair and being in the guitarist chair. I did release a solo album in 2012 called \u201847 Minutes of Your Time.\u2019 I wrote and played everything on it. And I produced it, mixed it and mastered it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson\u2019s first move many years ago was south \u2013 from Chester County to Baltimore. Her second move was also south \u2013 from Baltimore to Nashville. Her third move was west (and five degrees north) \u2013 from Nashville to Utah.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe left Nashville in 2015,\u201d said Wilson. \u201cIt had changed so much. It wasn\u2019t the town we grew up in \u2013 the town with 9-to-5 songwriters. Monty came in at the beginning of the 9-to-5. I got into it two-thirds of the way through the scene. I got a taste of it. Around 2008, we saw that the writing was on the wall. We saw that it wouldn\u2019t continue for another decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Wilson and Powell spent 22 years in Music City together, but it wasn\u2019t until after breaking away and retreating to their second home in the Utah mountains that they found a new muse. In 2016, Wilson and Powell formed Troubadour 77.<\/p>\n

Troubadour 77\u2019s name is inspired by two things \u2014 the long line of poets and singer\/songwriters who came before them, and the year 1977, which was iconic in music. It is also a nod to Doug Weston\u2019s Troubadour club in Los Angeles where so many of their heroes got their start.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll we\u2019re trying to do with our music is to bring back the music from the 70s Laurel Canyon scene \u2014 country rock and folk rock,\u201d said Wilson. \u201cOur new duo is not country. We\u2019re Americana.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legend has it that the Laurel Canyon music scene began when Frank Zappa moved to a house on Laurel Canyon Boulevard in the late 1960s.<\/p>\n

Over the next decade-and-a-half, Laurel Canyon was home to many of Southern California\u2019s most talented and creative musicians including Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman (Byrds), Jim Morrison (Doors), Michelle and John Phillips (the Mamas and the Papas), Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, J. D. Souther, Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield and Poco), Carole King, and the Eagles.<\/p>\n

After releasing a four-track EP in the spring of 2017, Troubadour 77 released its debut full-length album, \u201cSelma Avenue,\u201d\u00a0in November 2017. Two-and-a-half years later, Powell and Wilson released their sophomore album \u2014 \u201cRevolution & Redemption.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, T77\u2019s critically acclaimed album arrived in the \u201cnear vacuum\u201d created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The duo had great new tunes to play for its fans and no way to do it live.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a big kick in the gut to us,\u201d said Powell. \u201cWe had spent so much time as a recording act. With the album set to come out, we booked shows at wonderful venues. It was a real blow. We really wanted to play. So, we started doing virtual shows with a lot of original songs \u2013 two songs every Thursday night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the two music vets are comfortable being on the road and performing for people. This weekend, they are doing two shows in Pennsylvania \u2013 the VMA celebration on Friday and a house party in Huntingdon Valley on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an odd coincidence with this house concert,\u201d said Wilson. \u201cEvery year in Florida, they have the Naples Winter Wine Auction for the Naples Children & Education Foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Naples Children & Education Foundation (NCEF) was established in 2000 with the vision of making a profound and sustaining difference in the lives of children in Collier County.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2020, we donated a house concert,\u201d said Wilson. \u201cBecause of COVID, it was scheduled and then cancelled two times. In April, we got a call from the winner asking if we could do a concert in Pennsylvania and we agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was afraid it would be somewhere far away like Pittsburgh. Then, they said Huntingdon Valley which is great. It\u2019s close by in Montgomery County not far from where my mother lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

After their Pennsylvania visit this weekend, Powell and Wilson will return home to do more work on \u201cNorth and South \u2013 A Modern Story of Love Not War.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole idea was actually inspired by a song we wrote on \u2018Revolution & Redemption\u2019 called \u2018North & South,\u2019\u201d said Wilson. \u201cNorth and South \u2013 that\u2019s what inspired the play. I even have a song called, \u2018Yellow Springs Road.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI really love working on a musical. I enjoy being a singer\/songwriter, but this is what I\u2019d like to do for the next 15 years. It\u2019s very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who knows — Wilson and Powell might return to People\u2019s Light sometime on the future to do a multi-week run of \u201cNorth and South \u2013 A Modern Story of Love Not War.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Anna Wilson —\u00a0https:\/\/youtu.be\/qxUwV2mdHyo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Video link for Troubadour 77 — https:\/\/youtu.be\/xT798CrDzGs<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times This has been a very special week for Villa Maria Academy \u2013 and a week that will close with a very special event on September 30. Villa Maria Academy is celebrating its 150th anniversary and capping the celebration with a reception and concert at People\u2019s Light (39 Conestoga […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5166],"tags":[11616,3912,11615,11614],"class_list":["post-32488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-anna-wilson-and-monty-powell","tag-featured","tag-north-and-south-a-modern-story-of-love-not-war","tag-villa-maria-academy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32489,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32488\/revisions\/32489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}