Today we’d like to introduce you to Von Lewis.
Von, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I first moved to Los Angeles back in 2012, after working for a summer at the Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville near Pismo Beach, CA. Performed all over Southern CA in various traveling shows or lounges. Now, I have my own production company called Lewis n Clark Productions. We continue to tour and produce live shows all over the country. Performed at the Catalina Jazz club this year and recently, I played the role of Bobby Rydell in the Oscar winning Best Picture, Green Book. I sang at the beginning of the movie singing That Old Black Magic.
My duo act, Lewis n Clark, is made up of me and my wife. We perform shows about some of the greatest singers and song writers from decades past. See the bottom of our webpage: www.LewisnClarkMusic.com to see a list of those shows and artists we celebrate.
We keep vintage music alive and share stories on the artist’s legacies. It’s quite educational and entertaining. Emailed also, some other links to my pages. Thanks to our Lewis n Clark booking agent, we are booed traveling non-stop and continue to make our living doing this work. His name is Bill Stafford of Stafford Entertainment and Talent
Has it been a smooth road?
The entertainment industry is ALWAYS filled with frustrations. I had a lot of people tell us “No” or “your musical style is too old.” or “nobody is buying tickets to that kind of shows.” well…My wife, Abbey and I, always stuck to our guns and did what we did best…. pretty soon it turned out after those “no’s”, we’d get a yes! or a sold out show!
Recently, we have just had our first child. GRADY. He is four months old now. The transition has been hard but we are starting to find our footing again. Grady is just gonna grow up on a stage. 🙂 I can go into further detail on this when you call for the follow up…
Tell us about your company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
Lewis n Clark Productions is a traveling, show producing company. Right now we are mostly producing shows we perform in, or teach workshops on voice, acting, and performance technique. Eventually, we hope to train our students to start appearing in our shows.
I am most proud of the fact that we are keeping a style of music alive. We have recently done our Lewis n Clark “Expedition Tribute” shows on Frank Sinatra, Patsy Cline, Burt Bacharach, James Taylor, Carole King, etc. and EVERYTIME we get done with the show we go out into the audience for a meet and greet. So, many of our audience members exclaim when they see us and tell us how much the music and stories we shared brought them back to their youth, their first loves, the memories are unlocked. They are very vocal during our shows. They hear the first few lyrics of a good song and you hear a communal *gasp* among the crowd. That is just what we want. To help our audience escape for the moment, and say “wow”.
Recently, as well- we have been traveling with Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., winner of America’s Got Talent 2011. He sang the Sinatra tunes. He is a delight and such a natural, genuine, heart-felt performer. We are now expanding into the New York traveling circuit by being showcased at the APAP conference https://www.apap365.org/
Something that sets us apart? We’ve been told that we have undeniable chemistry on stage and our audiences love seeing my wife and I interact with each other. We are our true authentic selves up there on stage and represent a loving and respectful marriage and partnership to our audience on and off stage. We have also performed our act on cruise ship lounges in Hawaii and Australia
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Last I was there, I loved the Gaslight district. The Zoo is always a must and my friend Steve Freitas performs regularly around town in great shows. He recently played in Avenue Q and Full Monty with San Diego Musical Theatre
Contact Info:
- Website: www.VCLEntertainment.com, and www.LewisnClarkMusic.com
- Instagram: @LewisnClarkMusic and @VonLewisOfficial
- Facebook: @LewisnClarkMusic and @VonLewisOfficial
- Twitter: @LewisnClarkMus and @VonLewisOfcl
Image Credit:
Amanda Pumphrey Photography : Images A23A0569 (1) & A23A9995 2 (1)
DJ Brinson Photography : IMG_8921, IMG_2929, IMG_3141
Nick Matthews Photography: A23A0569, & 88
Howard Neviser: IMG_8373
Norman J. McCullough: 123-LivingstonTaylor 4-12-2018 2.jpg (Tyler Griffin on Piano at our opening act for Livingston Taylor concert, James Taylor’s brother)
Liv Hefner Photography: IMG_9007 (Our Wedding photo from 2016) I colorized with fiter
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