THE ELEMENTS
Michael & Sandy Bashaw, Sharon Leahy & Rick Good.
This auspicious nexus of four seasoned artists combined the energies of choreographer, composer, dancer, director, musician, playwright, sculptor, singer and songwriter.
Sharon, Sandy, Michael and Rick – photo by David Sherman
Michael and Rick have known each other since their high school days in the late sixties. It was also then they first heard Sandy playing in local coffee houses. When Sharon hit the Dayton scene in the early eighties, it didn’t take long for all of them to recognize kindred spirits, rich in collaborative possibilities. In 1997, their first collaboration, Do You Remember This?, sold out the 2,000 seats of Memorial Hall in Dayton, Ohio.
Playing their own, smart original material, along with the songs of Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Miller, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Carter Family, among others, The Elements are drawn to melodies, harmonies and rhythms that call out to them with a feeling generated or a memeory triggered, regardless of the source.
Add the excitement of Sharon’s step dancing and you had a show that brought Modern American Folk and Traditional Music to a new level of entertainment.
SELECTED PAST PERFORMANCES
Songs of Peace and Freedom
Our last big pre-pandemic production was a very special weekend of shows at the Dayton Theatre Guild where we featured Michael’s magnificent Sound Sculptures, along with our usual array of instruments and The Elements signature eclectic repertoire.
Michael, Sharon, Sandy & Rick – photo by Bruce Soifer
This rare Theater of Sound concert strove to fill the hearts and minds of our audience with inspiration and feeling and, by all accounts, we were successful.
Also, check out the short VIDEO that Sharon put together to promote the show.
Throughout the pandemic we continued to play in our living room with our compatriots, Sandy and Michael Bashaw, AKA, The Elements.
Steadily adding to a strong base of original topical songs and tasty classic covers, we are more determined than ever to rouse the rabble and raise consciousness with the power of music.
ONE HEARTBEAT
In our desire to be a healing force on an ailing planet, The Elements once again turned to the power of music, dance and theater to foster joy through human interaction. With support from Culture Works of Dayton, we developed a new work we called One Heartbeat .
Designed as an immersive, site specific, interactive arts experience, the performances took place throughout 2023, in Michael’s Davis Building studio at 400 Linden Avenue, home to the magnificent Sound Sculptures that were featured in the program.
Rick, Sandy, Sharon and Michael – photo by Richard Nordstrom
On the path toward a fulfilled life and an enlightened society we learn to see ourselves as part of a whole. Nurturing social bonds, not just within groups, but among groups of people, and creating opportunities for gathering, have been at the heart of our work for the past forty years.
With giant kalimbas, leather-soled shoes, banjos, flutes, guitars, harmonicas and drums, we lifted our voices in song, and by encouraging audience participation, the experience magically evolved from passive consumption to active engagement..
A couple more noteworthy concerts…
… a memorable evening with The Elements and Puzzle of Light at the Levitt Pavilion in Downtown Dayton on Thursday, the July 21,2022.
… and on October 7, 2023, at the SRS Rehearsal Stage in St. Anne’s Hill (more commonly known as Jim Foreman’s Church), we had the rare privilege to present an evening of music and poetry with our old friend and slam-artist extraordinaire, Jim Dwyer. If you were there, you probably feel sorry for those who weren’t. It was a beautiful flashback.
HEAR THE ELEMENTS NOW
1. Green Door (Bob Davie & Marvin Moore) – Sandy: lead vocal
2. He Called Me Baby (Harlan Howard) – Sharon: lead vocal
3. At the Edge (Rick Good) – Rick: lead vocal
4. Georgie Buck (traditional) – Michael: lead vocal
5. The Moon Came Down (Rick Good) – Sharon: lead vocal
6. If Not for You (Bob Dylan) – Rick & Sharon: duet vocal
7. Pastures of Plenty (Woody Guthrie) – Sandy: lead vocal
Performing at Gilly’s in Dayton, OH – photo by Jan Underwood
And also check out the video, Where There is Love, one of Michael and Sandy’s many fine songs with their band Puzzle of Light. The video was part of the Playing for Change movement and was made in Dayton, by Dayton artists.