Students slowly trickled into the Jonsson Performance Hall the evening of Sept. 19 for a concert featuring vocalist Brandi Estwick and guitarist Eddie Healy, open free to the public. Armed with only a cursory read of the poster and scattered mentions in class, I was unsure of what I had walked into. Two empty seats on stage, some mics and a rustling curtain left us in suspense, and our conversations died down as the lights in the auditorium dimmed.
As the show began, event organizer James Wilder, interim head of guitar studies at UTD, introduced his long-time friends Healy and Estwick, both Dallas locals and professors at Eastfield Community College and Louisiana Tech respectively. For the remainder of the show, the audience could feel the deep bond between the trio, turning what was originally meant to be just another concert into a gathering that welcomed the audience into their intimately organic friendship.
“Having the opportunity to perform with [Wilder] and to bring him together with Estwick was very gratifying,” Healy explained. “We plan to do it again very soon and I hope we will create other excuses to perform together many times.”
Although a crowd of 100 is not small by any means, the spacious auditorium capable of holding 200 made the audience appear sparser than it was. Yet, instead of diluting the performance, every blank space beside an attendee made the audience feel closer to the performers, as if this was a small show for a few loved ones. Healy’s “good evening” was met with engaged responses and his intermittent humor held everyone’s attention and kept spirits high.
Every blank space beside an attendee made the audience feel closer to the performers, as if this was a small show for a few loved ones.
By the end of the event, the connection I felt to the artists made me forget I was attending a concert at all. The difference between the spotlight and the shadowed seating dissipated. Instead of a performance, it felt like hanging out with a friend practicing an instrument in their room. The performers let their guard down, cracked jokes and kept the conversation lively even though the audience didn’t speak a word for most of the show.
Throughout the show, Healy’s hand intermittently shot up to courteously direct applause to his fellow guitarist. The unique cowboy-like motion with which Healy raised his arm appeared almost like a duel between the two of them. After the applause died down, he let us in on their inside joke. Every concert, they try to gesture before the other to show their respect for each other, mixed with their own comedic twist. There was an undeniable platonic chemistry and harmony between the performers.
“Eddie has been with me through a great many world travels and we’ve played a lot together,” Wilder said. “A lot of my first times like going overseas to play were with Eddie … We had a great camaraderie.”
Passing through memory lane, Healy said he and Wilder met when their former teacher encouraged them to begin playing together, and he and Estwick met when Healy was teaching at Collin College. Much like his friendship with Wilder, Healy said that after first becoming close friends with Estwick, they began collaborating together, travelling across the South and to Spain to perform.
As the concert went on, Healy began a few solo pieces, tuning his guitar on stage between songs. At this point, Healy’s roots in academia became evident. He combined his passions for music and history by using these tuning interludes to share the backstory behind each song, transforming a mundane task into a wholesome experience for the audience.
“I enjoy how curious UTD’s audiences are about the cultural and historical contexts,” Healy mentioned. “They are energized by communicating with a performer on multiple levels and I appreciate and thrive in that environment as well.”
I enjoy how curious UTD’s audiences are about the cultural and historical contexts. They are energized by communicating with a performer on multiple levels and I appreciate and thrive in that environment as well.
— Eddie Healy, concert guitarist
Even judged purely as a guitarist, Healy was fantastic. His fingers danced across the fretboard played out stories rather than mere sounds. The notes, tempo and rhythm made all the more sense with the context he provided, allowing us to imagine the vivid scenes that had inspired the musician and composer. Every work was prefaced with an explanation of its cultural relevance and personal significance, giving us a deeper understanding of the guitar he held.
After Healy’s solos, Estwick was brought on stage. For those unfamiliar with her work, like I had been, her opera-like vocals accompanying Healy’s guitar presented a pleasant contrast. Much like Healy, she too excelled with her performance. The highs, lows, pauses and warbles added emotional depth to the music, bringing it beyond mere notes.
Through it all, the friendly banter between Healy and Estwick filled the evening with ease and camaraderie. During one of his pre-song descriptions, Healy explained that Estwick refused to change aspects of the song because musical tradition required opera music be kept unedited. Later, Estwick revealed to the crowd that she lied to make vocals easier for herself, a playful confession eliciting laughs from the audience. It was these small moments that brought the audience into the friendship between these performers.
By the end of the hour, the performers had gotten into a flow. Now singing in Italian and Spanish, the duo still brought through their emotions and a personal touch, making it feel as though each culture demonstrated had gotten its special moment. Even as an audience member unable to understand a single word of what was sung, I still understood the story being told on stage. Estwick’s intonations matched perfectly with Healy’s guitar, and for the final songs, Wilder joined with a guitar to harmonize, moving to the music the three of them created.
Even as an audience member unable to understand a single word of what was sung, I still understood the story being told on stage.
“My favorite part of the concert was the Zarzuela [a lively Spanish opera] … It’s hard not to move and to hop at a lovely little piece that’s this chipper,” Wilder said. And truthfully, I found myself with my eyes closed, swaying and bobbing to that same Spanish twist on the Italian Tarantella. I was lost in the music.
After the final piece, the three performers took their bow. In that same cowboy fashion as before, James Wilder drew his arm up towards his companions on stage. Healy and Estwick took their bow while the crowd applauded, snickering now that they understood the inside joke. A tradition between the three of them now belonged to us as well.
