Hobby plays out as music to students' ears

By Michael Knoll

Special to The Seattle Times



JEFF VERHOEF

"Workin' on a looo-oove letter!" wails Robynne Parkinson, part-time rock singer and full-time attorney at Groff Murphy Trachtenberg & Everard.

"Chick-a-chick chow chow!" reply the guitar, bass and drums of her weekend band. The snappy beat is anchored by Douglas Roach, part-time drummer and general counsel of Howard S. Wright Construction.

They are rehearsing for Lawyerpalooza, tonight's annual fund-raiser gala that showcases hobby bands featuring a growing number of local attorneys-by-day, aspiring-rock-stars-by-night. The event, which last year drew about 400 attendees and raised nearly $20,000, benefits Seattle public schools' music programs.

The event started in 2003, the brainchild of co-organizer Mike Nesteroff, a partner at Lane Powell, and fellow attorney and colleague Mark Asplund. The two guitar players had formed a hobby band that was a smash hit — OK, a modest success — at their firm's holiday party, playing "Take Me to the River." ("They sort of liked us," Nesteroff said.)

Suspecting that other law firms might also have pent-up musical talent, they imagined a showcase where people could see a side of the legal profession "other than lawyers suing each other."

The first show drew hundreds of enthusiastic supporters, so last year they repeated the event with six bands — all of which are returning tonight.


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Their haul from the first two events has gone to work in the music classes of Seattle's public schools, where budget shortfalls have slashed elementary music programs in half. District program manager Marta Olson has helped funnel Lawyerpalooza's money to a handful of needy schools, including Pathfinder in West Seattle. "I don't think you can find anybody who's against music in the schools." Nesteroff said.

In fact, many of the Lawyerpalooza musicians, now affluent enough to afford expensive guitars, are motivated by memories of less-than-privileged childhoods.

When Kathy Gehrig started music classes in fifth grade, her parents couldn't afford a trumpet, so her school loaned her a French horn. She went on to major in music, and launched a career in musical theater.

Now Gehrig runs computer networks at the law firm Preston Gates, but she is still pursuing a music career, in rehearsals and gigs with Fall City, the band she formed with colleagues at Preston Gates.

In contrast to the crisp, spare Bonnie Raittlike style of Parkinson's band, Gehrig's cover rough-hewn rock. Despite her classical background, Gehrig has a gravelly voice that's just right for belting Janis Joplin songs like "Piece of My Heart."

Flanking Gehrig at a recent club performance were guitarist-lawyers Jason Holtman and Mark Bailey and bassist Athan Tramountanas. They swooped around the stage like telemark skiers. All three are attorneys in their mid-30s, married, with wives they say support their hobby.

During a break, Bailey (who recently left Preston Gates for Beresford Booth), seemed pensive during a break in rehearsal. Was he thinking about a pending case?

"No, no. Sadly, no," he said, shaking his head ruefully. "Otherwise I'd be billing."

At Lawyerpalooza, for one time only, Fall City will call itself Pro Roc Vice, a play on "pro hac vice," a legal term that means "for this occasion."

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, fifth graders in Randall Davidson's class at Bailey Gatzert Elementary were practicing for their planned cameo appearance at Lawyerpalooza. They hadn't settled on a song, but a passage from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is a favorite.

"One, two, three, four!" the teacher counted out, tapping a pencil on his music stand.

"Do do do dee dee doooo!" honked a trio of clarinets, calling out like geese. Peering intensely, the fifth-graders seemed oblivious to everything but their sheet music.

After practice, the kids were asked if they planned to continue playing music in middle school. Four of five said yes.

Celeste Gaines said she wants to continue on piano. Taitu Lulu dreams of switching to guitar or drums. Michelle Nguyen has her eye on piano, too, or maybe flute. Jennifer Charmley, a whiz on the violin, announced she's about to audition for the orchestra at Washington Middle School, but has different plans for after that.

"I want to be a lawyer when I grow up," she said.


Lawyerpalooza:
www.lawyerpalooza.com

When: today, 6 p.m. to midnight.

Where: The Premier, 1700 First Ave. S., at South Massachusetts Street.

What: Battle-of-the-bands benefit showcasing six bands made up of attorneys and their friends and colleagues. Silent auction.

Why: Benefits music education for Seattle schools.

Emcee: Spike O'Neill of KZOK-FM

Judges: Alan White, drummer for rock band Yes; Anne Bremner, attorney and TV commentator; Gene Stout, pop-music critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

This is utstanding I just read yesterday the California schools budget has been cut TW >BILLIN DLLARS