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Must battle social exclusion
Blind promoter sees talent in young musicians
by GWEN TUXBURY
One of Philadelphia’s most trustworthy and knowledgeable music
connoisseurs works as a music journalist, talent scout, promoter, booking
agent, show host, manager and publicist. In addition to his many talents,
he is also blind.
David Wannop currently resides in Center City, where he lives independently
and alone (except for the company of Fraulein Feline, his cat). Originally
from Plymouth Meeting, he moved to Philadelphia five years ago and did
not have the smoothest of transitions into his current career. After graduating
from Temple University with a broadcasting media degree, Wannop decided
to join the Peace Corps and tutor English, traveling to Morocco and North
Africa, in hopes of fostering his life experiences in a way that the job
market painfully was not doing. “It was right after a period of
unemployment,” he said, “I think that’s why most people
join the Peace Corps.” He stayed there for the majority of 1996,
but due to illness and a lack of proper computer equipment was forced
to forego the two-year tour of duty.
According to Wannop, who would not reveal his age, blind people have
about a 75 percent unemployment rate; if they attend college, that figure
drops to about 55 percent, but the odds are still heavily negative. “Any
other group of people with the amount of social exclusion that blind people
get would have a revolution on their hands. It’s really awful,”
said Wannop.
David lost his eyesight when he was about four years old, possibly due
to encephalitis, a swelling of the brain sac that puts pressure on the
optic nerve, controlling vision. “I’d certainly like a definitive
answer after all these years,” he said. “Encephalitis is a
symptom, not a disease, so what triggered that we’re not at all
sure. It’s a little blurry, pardon the pun, as to why my optic nerve
stopped functioning.”
Wannop prefers living in the city to the car-oriented suburbs, and relies
on his hearing, counting the streets, having a sense of time and distance,
and finding certain markers to travel, including “this little newspaper
box that’s right before this one market where I sometimes pick up
milk. I know the market is a couple of doors down from the box. You use
little tricks like that to find things.”
During the Republican National Convention, city officials cleaned the
Market – Frankford L subway station. Wannop and one of his friends
were unable to find the subway stop and realized that they had previously
never used any markers to help them. Later, he discovered an orange-scented
cleaner had been used in the subway. “We couldn’t find it
because we couldn’t find the typical ‘L’ stench,”
he said, “and we didn’t even realize that was the way we were
finding it; it was subconscious, I guess. We were waiting for the GOP
to go home so things could stink the way they normally stink.”
The most difficult aspect for Wannop in traveling the city is when others
try to be helpful and actually end up breaking his concentration. “People
often think that you need to do things in a gimmick way; they don’t
think that you can do things in a day-to-day, productive way.”
Wannop credits his upbringing for his love of music. The youngest child
of seven, he was surrounded by many genres of music at an early age. He
vowed to hear every rock hit from 1955 and beyond, and believes he accomplished
that goal around 1989. He doesn’t have a favorite genre, but tends
to prefer fast tempos. “That could be the string quartet or ragtime
or boogie woogie; it could be a dance club record, it could be anything
punk rock,” Wannop said, “but I like things to be on the lively
side.” He defines himself as a rock and roll fan, but will enjoy
anything from country to classical to R&B.
His current connection to the music industry had evolved from music articles
he would write for a local newspaper. He couldn’t write about certain
artists unless they were having a show locally. “If I thought a
certain performer was excellent, it was a shame I couldn’t write
about him because he didn’t have anything booked in the newspaper’s
territory,” he said, “so I went from suggesting gigs to, after
the story was written, keeping in touch with the bands and booking them
more gigs.”
Wannop also did several charity shows to learn the subtleties and nuances
of putting concerts together. “After a while I knew I wanted to
get into this concert thing, so I started to get these players together,
and it started to evolve into all these independent projects.”
Generally, the problems that occur during his shows result from common
double bookings, but one particular incident was connected to his being
blind. At a CD release party, Wannop was introducing an artist on the
Grape Street Pub stage in Manayunk along with Karen Gross, a musician
from Chestnut Hill. “My foot began to snag on a wire… and
in a perfect reflex moment, Karen Gross did a perfect catch. That was
probably my luckiest moment, not going headfirst into the floor,”
he said.
Wannop has traveled everywhere from Greenwich Village to suburban coffee
shops to find new talent. About 80 percent of his business is with female
talent because he has a knack for being able to judge where they fit in
musically very easily. Among the performers he works with are Gillian
Grassie and Adrien Reju, for whom he is publicist and manager, respectively.
Many very successful managers don’t have the time to do artist development
on a new act, but Wannop will give advice and consideration to all performers.
“I’m thought of as the most trustworthy and respected bottom
rung of the business,” he said. “I’m a caretaker by
nature.”
David hopes to become connected to a record label or publicity house
in the future, to allow deserving performers to rise more quickly. “On
the promotion side, you’re never really satisfied,” he said,
“but getting that loyal audience is their dream, and hopefully I
am helping to facilitate that.”
Wannop will be having a show on Saturday, January 28, at the Tin Angel,
20 S. 2nd St., at 7:30 p.m. The performers include Joao Macdowell, Amanda
Kaletsky, Mia Johnson and Chestnut Hill resident David Cope. The four
artists will be alternating songs in the round. Admission is $10. (Wannop
can be contacted at davidwannop@juno.com, the Tin Angel at 215-928-0978.)
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