Fanatics & Traitors

11/20/2009 8:41:00 AM
Fanatics and Traitors to perform at Hospital Gala
Event is Saturday


By MEREDITH CREEK
Staff Writer


Area band Fanatics and Traitors will return to Hillsboro Saturday to perform at the Highland District Hospital Foundation's annual Hospital Gala at the Elks Lodge beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Formed in 2008, Fanatics and Traitors is comprised of Hillsboro native Allee Thompson, Sharon Udoh, Brent Olds, Peter Adam, Matt Petroziello, and occasionally JP Decker and Matthew Shelton.

The band has taken to small circuits such as coffee shops, festivals and fundraising events in Cincinnati and surrounding counties.

They performed in July at the Colony Theatre during Hillsboro's annual Festival of the Bells.

"There was a lot of stress leading up to that event," Thompson said. "Our bass player was out of the country and Sharon had some unfortunate events that occurred last minute making it impossible for her to play with us ... We put the entire set together in less than 24 hours..."

Her friend and local musician, Matthew Shelton, stepped in to play and Thompson said "it was surreal playing between him and Peter Adams, creating this simple and beautiful sound in a building where I came as a child to watch movies."

Thompson said her favorite moment during the performance was when Fanatics and Traitors played a song she had written for her grandfather.

"Matthew's picking on the guitar and the addition of his vocals made the song incredibly special for me," she said.

Thompson's musical journey began when she was a young child participating in the church choir.

"I think I have always been interested in music," she said. "If you watch home videos of me as a young child, I am always humming a tune ... I was involved in any music or theater that I could become involved in including the bell choir and playing percussion my senior year in high school."

After graduating from Hillsboro High School in 2001, Thompson went on to receive her bachelor of science in communications in 2004 and a master of arts in counseling from Xavier University in 2008.

She moved to Cincinnati in 2005 and began attending local music acts and becoming friends with many musicians. Eventually, she was presented with the opportunity to create her own music.

Thompson, the band's songwriter, said she handed lyrics over to Udoh and together the two began building the project that became Fanatics and Traitors.

The band presents folk and Indie music, combining vocals with the sounds of the guitar, keyboards, banjo, violin, and bass. The band has a sampler CD available and Thompson said they hope to record more songs in the future, as well as play more out-of-town shows.

While Fanatics and Traitors is making a name locally, Thompson maintains a full-time job as a counselor at St. Aloysius Orphanage, helping children, adolescents and families in Butler County. She is currently working to become certified in play therapy and is on track to receive her professional clinical counselor license in the summer of 2010.

"If I had the opportunity to pursue music as a career, and pay bills, I would take a chance at a music career," Thompson said. "I really enjoy helping children and their families. I think the right opportunity and just that feeling that this could work has not presented itself for me to feel comfortable making music my career."

She advises other musicians not to give up on their dreams.

"If you want to make music, continue to learn, practice, and network. You never know when you will meet someone who you can work with and start a band," Thompson said. "Having good people skills and professionalism can help you with establishing shows, as well as a music career. Be open to anything and anyone who can help you go where you want to go with your music."

Thompson said she had accepted her role as a consumer of the music industry.

"However, because I kept in contact with a musician, I was able to become involved in the (industry)," she said.

Thompson is the daughter of Steve and Susan Thompson of Hillsboro. She has one sister, Andrea Thompson.

More on Fanatics and Traitors can be found at www.myspace.com/fanaticsandtraitors.

- The Hillsboro Times-Gazette