I just learned that Keith Parkinson (who passed away last year) and Tim Truman used to play in a band together. Several bands, actually. Tim–who is set to take over the reins as the writer of the monthly Conan comic for Dark Horse Comics later this year–met Keith back when they both worked as illustrators at TSR, creating fantastic artwork for Dungeons & Dragons. Years later, they ended up in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, area together.
In honor of his old friend, Tim is getting the rest of the band back together for a benefit concert. Proceeds go toward funding the First Annual Keith Parkinson Scholastic Art Awards, to be given to a senior illustration student at college of art and design near or in Lancaster.
See the full press release after the break.
MUSICIANS SPONSOR BENEFIT CONCERT TO AID STUDENT ARTISTS
Place: Lancaster Dispensing Company.
Venue Address: 33 Market Street, Lancaster, Pennsylvania Phone: (717)
299-4602
Information: t.truman@verizon.net and http://www.timothytruman.com
Date: Friday Night, March 24, 2006Lancaster (Pennsylvania) area band Radio 73 will be sponsoring a benefit concert to be held at Lancaster Dispensing Company, Friday night, March 24, 2006. Proceeds will help fund the First Annual Keith Parkinson Scholastic Art Awards, which will be given to a senior illustration student at a Lancaster area college of art and design. The recipient of the gift award will be a student showing merit in the field of realistic figurative illustration as chosen by a volunteer panel of area art
instructors.The award is named after world famous science fiction and fantasy illustrator Keith Parkinson, who lived in the Lancaster area until the late 1990’s. Keith created cover paintings for best selling books by Terry Goodkind, David Eddings, Anne McCaffrey, Orson Scott Card, Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis, C.J. Cherryh, Terry Brooks and Dennis McKiernan. In 2004, Keith was diagnosed with leukemia and after a valiant battle succumbed to the illness in fall 2005.
Besides being a world class illustrator, Keith was also a gifted drummer. During his years in Lancaster, Keith played in A number of Lancaster area bands.
Key members of those groups have reunited to form Radio 73. The band specializes in classic rock of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, playing a their own arrangements of songs by Eric Clapton, Robin Trower, Cream, Traffic, Bob Marley, Curtis Mayfield, Neil Young, the Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt, Fleetwood Mac, and others, as well as some original material. The band members are: Chip Ames, bass; Jeff Chambers, drums; Clare Daher, lead vocals; Mike Diehm, guitar; Terry Frederick, vocals; and Timothy Truman, lead guitar.
Like Parkinson, Truman is a science fiction and fantasy illustrator who has also done artwork for such rock acts as the Grateful Dead, Santana, and Hot Tuna. Timothy met Parkinson in the early 1980’s when the two were doing artwork for Dungeons & Dragons role playing games. “After we learned of Keith’s tragic death, everyone in the band wanted to do
something to honor his memory. The concert was the idea of local emergency services worker Mark Seigford, who was always a big fan of the various bands we’d put together with Keith. We thought it was a fantastic idea.”The band hopes to make the concert an annual event. “We’d like to make the Keith Parkinson Scholastic Art Awards an ongoing program. It seems like a great way to honor Keith and recognize the monumental impact he had on the illustration field. ”
Besides music, there will also be a raffle of signed art prints donated by Truman and several of Parkinson’s other professional friends, among them legendary fantasy artist Larry Elmore.
Members of Radio 73 extend their heartfelt thanks to Lancaster Dispensing Company for hosting the event. “The management and staff of the Lancaster Dispensing Company have been really amazing. All of us hope that Keith’s friends and fans, LDC’s regular patrons, those who support the arts in Lancaster, and anyone who enjoys classic rock, great food, and good company will join us on March 24th.”
To learn more about Keith Parkinson and his work, visit his website at http://www.keithparkinson.com.
