BAND DETAIL: Soundpost
Soundpost is a party band serving the greater Dallas Fort Worth
metroplitan area of Texas. The band, comprised of full-time cast of six
members, performs regularly at weddings, parties, dances, and other
social gatherings. Soundpost is able to play a wide variety of songs of
varying styles in order to meet the specific musical requirements of an
event. Read on to learn about the band members.
Dave West, lead singer for Soundpost, couldn't imagine what it would be
like to not have music in his life. In addition to singing, he enjoys
playing the violin, guitar and piano. His musical journey began at the
age of 10 when he started playing the violin with the school string
program in Tupelo, Mississippi. After a couple of years playing Brahms,
Beethoven, and Bach, he was introduced to fiddle by one of his fellow
orchestra students and another world of music opened up. Before going to
college, Dave was playing violin professionally to pick up some much
needed spending money. A full music scholarship to Sewanee was available
but he felt that a career in music wouldn't "pay the bills," so he
packed his suitcase and headed off to Los Angeles for college. It was
during college that Dave joined a performance group named the "Young
Ambassadors" that really helped him shape his singing skills. Performing
for the Queen of Thailand was one of the highlights of his stint with
the group.
After college Dave helped form a L.A. cover/party band named "Secret
Spice." Dave was the lead singer for the group and performed with them
until just before he and his wife and new daughter moved from California
to Kentucky. It was in Lexington that he was able to break out his
fiddle and join in with the locals playing bluegrass. In 1995, the West
family (including a second daughter born in KY) moved to Fort Worth. A
few short years later Dave received his MBA and was finally in a
position to do something he really loved, perform with a live band
again.
Oliver Hooser
Oliver, vocalist for Soundpost, has been singing everywhere from Cowtown
to Carnegie. At Kennedale High School, his musical endeavors included
everything from singing in the choir, playing french horn in band, to
performing lead in musicals. While in high school, he traveled with the
choir to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York.
While attending Ambassador University, he joined the Young Ambassadors
and took part in several performance tours for churches across the
country. He also studied music at Texas Christian University in Ft.
Worth while getting his Bachelors of Business Administration in
Marketing. At TCU, Oliver sang with the Concert Chorale and performed
with the TCU Opera. However, he didn't totally convert to the operatic
style, but also used his golden cords to sing show tunes and jazz while
working as a singing waiter at the Italian Inn Ridglea during college.
Today, in addition to singing with Soundpost, Oliver enjoys performing
with the Plano Civic Chorus and is the choir director at the United
Church of God Dallas congregation.
David Whitlark
David Whitlark, guitarist for Soundpost, whose career-defining musical
achievement was "a delightfully painful improvisation" of three measures
of Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" at a 6th grade piano recital, brings
a wealth of musical skills and abilities to Soundpost, including "the
ability to lose newly printed sheet music in under 30 seconds." While
Mr. Whitlark certainly appreciates participating with Soundpost in their
fleeting dreams of rock 'n roll stardom, he is contented at the current
time to wear black leather pants, spike his hair, and play on the
weekends, while still working in the "real world" as a network engineer,
database administrator, web designer, computer graphics artist etc. at a
Metroplex-based media development company.
When not practicing the never-ending torrent of new cover songs assigned
to him, David can most likely be found playing X-Box for hours on end
while sampling only the "finest" beers that, to the average Coors Light
drinker, resemble and taste like dirty motor oil.
Mike Whitlark
Mike, bass guitarist for Soundpost, claims that he was forced as a young
child to take piano lessons for what he quotes as "four long years." He
hated pretty much every minute of it, but credits the piano lessons as
having taught him the basics of music. This musical background allowed
him to pick up other instruments quickly, like the trumpet and trombone,
which he played in junior high school. His next musical conquest was the
bass guitar, which he taught himself to play in two weeks. He played his
five-stringed bass for two years in the Northwest High School Jazz Band.
College and working to pay for it didn't leave Mike with much time for
bass guitar and the pursuit of a band, so he stuck with playing at
church on occasion. Now that he has graduated from UNT with a B.A. in
Biochemistry, he finally has the time and a great group to jam with.
Mike plans to pursue a Doctorate of Pharmacy at University of Texas in
Austin beginning in the Fall 2003 semester. Needless to say, he and his
wife (the keyboardist) will be making a lot of trips back up to the
Metroplex for band practice on the weekends.
Davina Whitlark
Davina, keyboardist for Soundpost, begged her parents for a piano from
the time she was 8. Whenever she would go to anyone's house that had a
piano, she would sit down and pretend to play. Perhaps playing the flute
in the school band starting in 5th grade should have knocked the
yearning for piano out of her, but it never really did. When Davina was
12, her parents secretly purchased their minister's old piano for $300,
and surprised her with it when she came home from a friend's house one
weekend. She would like to say that it was beautiful, but it was missing
some of the ivories in the extreme high and low registers and generally
looked rough. But it didn't matter that she had to dodge splinters from
the bare keys because her dream had come true: she had a piano!
She has been playing ever since and loving it. During her time pursuing
a BS in Music Therapy from Texas Woman's University, she picked up
playing the guitar. Davina graduated with honors from TWU in December
2002 and is returning once again to the university grind in January 2003
to pursue a teaching certificate in Music Education. In addition to
being a student, Davina is also a teacher, currently instructing 16
piano students. She actively accompanies soloists, choirs, and
instrumentalists at her local church congregation, as well as plays for
banquets, weddings, and other functions.
Jose Rodriguez
Jose, drummer for Soundpost, was very young when music began to make an
impact on him. He remembers playing records on his dad's phonograph,
listening to everything from Tchaikovsky to Tejano. He first started to
beat a drum at age 4, when his mom bought an old snare drum at a garage
sale. He enthusiastically beat the skin to a pulp, but shied away from
playing in front of a crowd, now proclaiming himself to be a recovering
"closet drummer." He recalls his first "drum set" as consisting of an
aluminum trashcan (snare), several plastic plant pots (toms), and the
lids of the trashcans (cymbals), but even playing on this rudimentary
drum set did wonders for his timing and rhythm.
Jose credits his dad, Ray Rodriguez, accordionist who on occasion plays
with Soundpost, as having a major influence on him and instilling in him
an overall love for music, along with Adam Garza, drummer for a
well-known Tejano band. Outside of music, he enjoys the outdoors,
baseball, basketball, "his" Dallas Cowboys, golf, golf, and golf! His
wife and three kids are his pride and joy and his biggest fans.
Song List
