TVS and two fingers
TVS and two fingers have been creating their unique combination of performance poetry and sound art since the group’s debut performance in Fort Collins, Colorado on New Year’s Eve 1996. Poet Tim Van Schmidt joined forces with Mark J. Rosoff and Dave Zekman, members of the experimental music group two fingers, in the Fall of 1996 to record their first independent album release, “More Poets Inside,” a limited edition cassette. The group debuted the album and their act during their hometown’s inaugural First Night festival.
Since then, TVS and two fingers have performed extensively in Colorado and Wyoming, as well as in the East Coast states of Connecticut and Massachusetts. The group has also released three more independent albums, including “Live,” “Dreaming of the Pyramids” and the most recent recording, “Air and Words,” also the title of the group’s first book. TVS and two fingers have appeared on two albums by Australian storyteller and didjeridoo player Paul Taylor and on a CD compilation of poetry from Sparrows, Colorado’s Performance Poetry Festival. They also recorded and produced the recent CD release by award-winning Colorado poet James Tipton, “Letters from a Stranger.”
TVS and two fingers have sought out a wide variety of venues for presenting their art. They have played in coffeehouses, nightclubs, book stores, theaters, festivals, residential treatment centers, craft shows, art galleries, museums, parks, libraries, arts centers, living rooms, churches, urban youth centers and on radio. TVS and two fingers have also supported a variety of nonprofit organizations by playing numerous benefit performances, including appearances for Public Radio for the Front Range, Swallow Hill Music Association, Friends of the Library, Rocky Mountain Center for the Book, Open Door Mission and the American Cancer Society. Not only does the group perform, but they also host open mike opportunities for other poets to read to improvisational background sounds.
Along with performing to the general public, TVS and two fingers have worked extensively at schools, doing performances and workshops for students in all grades- from pre-school through university graduate level. On two occasions, they did performance workshops with Columbine High School students in the time of healing following the Columbine tragedy. TVS and two fingers have worked with a variety of school organizations, including special performing arts schools, charter schools and public schools.
TVS and two fingers
Fort Collins, Loveland: First Night Fort Collins, Stone Lion Bookstore, Bas Bleu Theatre, Avogadro's Number, Lincoln Center, LOFI Gallery, NewWestFest, Fort Collins Public Library, Max's Subsonic, The Starlight, Everyday Joe's, Jade Creek Bookstore, Starry Night Coffee Company, Colorado State University, Jon's Blue Note, Old Town Square, Sunset Events Center, Rocky Mountain Coffee Connection, Aggie Theatre, KKPI-FM, KCSU-FM, KRFC-FM, Foote Lagoon Amphitheatre, Rialto Theater, Loveland Museum, Java Hut.
Red Feather Lakes: Rocky Mountain Shambhala Center.
Denver: Swallow Hill Music Association Folkathon, Bug Theater, Colorado Performing Arts Festival, Daily Grind, Rocky Mountain Book Festival, Northglenn Recreation Center, Columbine High School, The Spot, Mercury Cafe.
Boulder: Penny Lane.
Salida: Sparrows Colorado's Performance Poetry Festival.
Wyoming: Laramie County Library System, LCCC Playhouse, Sheridan College, Fulmer Public Library, Pine Bluff Public Library, Hitching Post Inn.
New York City: Swift.
Northampton: Fire and Water
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TVS and two fingers
"Poetry that is witty and insightful melded to what can only be called 'sound art' creates a unique presence on stage. Both playful and serious, TVS and two fingers can take you places no other group even knows about!"
Jim Schwartzkopff, Coordinator for Secondary Stages, A Taste of Colorado
"In addition to traditional instruments such as steel guitar, a baritone, a piccolo and a flute, the group utilized sounds created with ordinary household items. Masking tape was ripped in rhythm; scissors and hedge clippers snipped in time with one another; pot lids doubled as drums and cymbals, and bicycle ringers rang at different pitches. Large screeching and snorting balloons and a blatting baritone made the sounds of Godzilla. Whistles and tooters imitated bugs and beetles, and a thunderstorm emerged from tin foil, PVC pipes with springs, snapping bubble wrap and a tambourine. Coffee cans, authentic bundt cake molds, electronic toys, wood blocks, mixing bowls with water in them, squeaky dog toys, twirling plastic tubing and even an Australian didjeridoo player from the audience contributed to the performance."
Kiah Wilkins, Laramie County Community College Wingspan
"Parkview has had the pleasure of having TVS and two fingers present to our students on three separate occasions. The last visit to our school was a three-day artist-in-residence stay when they worked with all elementary and middle school students, and with our Destination Imagination teams more intensely. Their time culminated in a public performance, which was attended by a nearly full house- an audience full of fans and of those who heard of them through word of mouth. Our students have a better appreciation for rhyme, rhythm and the creative touch after spending time with these three wonderful creators/performers!"
Mary Lansing, Principal Parkview Elementary, Rangely, Colorado
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by TVS and two fingers
TVS:
My path started in Germany, England,
Canada, the farm lands of Illinois
It got big when we moved out West,
shallow roots in the desert soil
In the city I got LA wings,
then I perched high in a rainforest tree
I settled near the mountains to love and breed
and now this poem is coming to me
My path doesn’t have a name
There is no direction it’s an inner flame
My path is not completed yet
And what you are is what you get
MJR:
My path started in Connecticut
UMass, New York, Jersey and the rest
Married early, chose the best
Moved around and headed West
My path picked Colorado
A small town city to build a nest
Evolving into new choice
Giving art another voice
My path has been changed
Chosen new and left the blame
My path is growing still
And what you get is what you will
DZ:
The road behind me
Had flowed through Russia
Down to rivers of Hungary
Sailed to lands of distant freedom
Onto these shores as émigré
My road sprouted o’ deep western
Ran down east to waters of Maine
Turned Northwest to lands of lava
Churning in circles and turning again
The road behind me is laced with silver
The road ahead a boundless plain
I walk my path in big glass slippers
From time to time there is some pain
All three:
Three paths,
collaboration,
An invitation to the integration of imagination
To life…to words…to song
Three paths talking it out,
Mixing it up, overcoming doubt
Three paths converging here
Including you and your ears
Three paths working as one
Music and words, moon and sun
Three paths dancing with sound
Whatever it is keeps us around…
TVS and two fingers
Colorado: Columbine High School, Colorado State University, Parkview Elementary, Parkview Middle School, Early Learning Center, McGraw Elementary, Pioneer School, Fort Collins High School, Salida Middle School, Preston Junior High, Mesa County Library, Fort Collins Public Library, Lost and Found Boys Residential treatment Center, The Spot Urban Youth Center, Sparrows, Colorado's Performance Poetry Festival, Kidspree, Boys and Girls Club.
Wyoming: Laramie Community College, Lander Elementary, St. Stephens Indian School, Sheridan College, Highland Park High School, Laramie County Library System, Fulmer Public Library, Pine Bluff Public Library.
Connecticut: CES Middle School, Coleytown Elementary, Bassick High School.
Massachusetts: Pioneer Valley Performing Arts High School, Hilltown Elementary
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