EXETER — As part of their ongoing Second Friday music series, the Seacoast Artist Association in Exeter is hosting Portsmouth’s Carol Coronis on Sept. 13, from 5-7 p.m. Her exuberant performances are well-known on the Seacoast.
“Before I was born, I was hearing the jazz and Greek music my dad would play,” says Coronis. “He was a phenomenal musician, and my ears were honed on funky modes and time signatures. When I was learning to walk, I’d hold on to the living room furniture and make my way to his very pretty orange Gretsch Chet Atkins guitar and one of his Gibsons, and I’d strum the strings at the tailpiece because they sounded so cool.
“That Gretsch—well, the case was this real nice off-white color with mahogany leather binding and one day when my mother was busy working at the kitchen table, I was on the floor in the living room with my crayons next to the guitar trying to decide whether to color his guitar or the outside of the case. I decided the guitar was such a pretty shiny orange that I’d leave that alone and I decorated his guitar case—yup, with my crayons. When he came home and saw it, I think the only thing he did was groan and say ‘Oh, Carol.’ He was pretty mild-mannered. Then I got my own wall in the kitchen to color on.
“My first instrument was a tiny child’s accordion and the second was a piano, which was so NOT in tune. I graduated to the real piano at around age six—unfortunately, I’d hear what my piano teachers would play, and I’d replicate it right back, so they thought I was reading music. By the 4th piano book, I wasn’t getting every note, so it was at that point I had to learn to read. Since I play intuitively, my sight-reading is only okay and just about everything do, learn, and play, is with my ear.
“I love anything upbeat, preferably in a minor or a modal key. I still maintain that there are more sad songs in major keys than minor keys, and You Are My Sunshine made me cry as a child. One I do love to perform is Xanthia Tsigana, or Blonde Gypsy, written by bouzouki extraordinaire Manolis Hiotis and sung by his wife Mary Linda. It’s wild and it’s in a major Greek mode, but those two changed notes (Hicaz mode; similar to Ionian mode but flat 2, flat 6) make it so different. Hiotis was a killer zouk player and brought the Greek bouzouki from six strings to eight. Sadly, he passed away on his 50th birthday in 1970. Mary Linda is still gigging!
“I returned to N.H. because of friends and family and then a job I loved. I started playing music in the area, and the years flew by. I started co-hosting ‘The Ceili Show’ Sundays on WUNH in November 2007 with Roland Goodbody, who had been hosting the show for decades. He was getting pretty busy acting and traveling, and he was looking for someone to share the show with. A friend suggested I give him a call, but the last thing I wanted ever was to get on a mic on the airwaves and do anything with knobs. So, just to appease my friend, I gave Roland a call, thinking he’ll just thanked me and say he was all set. Instead, he said, ‘Great! Come on into the studio this Sunday.’
“Around the same time, one of my former high school math students thought I’d be a great DJ, and of course I disagreed with her, but I figured, okay, let’s see where this goes. Both Roland and she trained me, and I realized no one could see me and probably no one was listening anyway, so I kept going back to do the show and loved getting my ears all over the extensive collection of music at the station. Then someone else suggested I do a Greek/Turkish show in the empty time slot after Gary Sredzienski’s Polka Party on Saturdays. Aegean Connection was born, and now I spin music from Greece, Turkey, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Northern Africa.” Coronis can be heard on WUNH 91.3FM Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the Aegean Connection and on Sundays, 12-2 p.m., for The Ceili Show. See more at carolcoronis.com.
“I love playing at the SAA. Love seeing the incredible art! Performing there is pretty low-key with a super friendly vibe, and people are so appreciative and nice. And the food they provide is really good!
It’s such a beautiful marriage, art, and music, and one of these days I’ll get out those crayons again! Artists and musicians may or may not see things differently from non-artists and non-musicians, but not necessarily from the way other artists and musicians might see things. One thing we do differently, though, is we’re usually going to work at night or on weekends when most people are off. When you consider the visual and acoustic aspects of life, when it comes to surroundings, I think creative people have a heightened sensitivity and experiences are intensified. They pick up on patterns where others might see things as random. I often wonder what I’d do differently if I didn’t play music. Probably devote my years to art, my second passion!”
The Seacoast Artist Association is in historic downtown Exeter and is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 1-4 p.m. Their monthly artist receptions are held on Second Fridays, 5-7 p.m. The public is invited, and donations are appreciated. See more at seacoastartist.org and follow them on Facebook for updates.