Charles Law | fearless band leader, set drums

Chris H. | electric bass guitar

Arlene Chan Welch | lead pan

Judy Cumming | cello pans

Kevin Sherman | double second

Charles Law | Vibes, MalletKat

Jonathan Manley | percussion

Darrell Johnson | set drums


Chuck's story:

Mr. Law is the Principal Percussionist with the Arkansas Symphony and is a much in-demand substitute for many nationally known acts and productions thanks to many years of study with some of the top percussion names in the United States. In addition, he is the Percussion and Band Director for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and is Director of The Arts Center of The Grand Prairie in Stuttgart, Arkansas. He is married and has two children, a Mongolian exchange student, two cats, a dog named Amber and a guinea pig named Mark. In his spare time, Mr. Law enjoys the works of Ozzy Osbourne, model shipbuilding (the ones with six-hundred plus parts), spending time fishing and doing research on cognitive learning theories and techniques. Despite the serious tone of this bio, Mr. Law is a really cool guy!
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Arlene's story:

A native of Singapore, Arlene grew up in a loving Chinese family. Her first formal music education was at 4 years of age at the popular Yamaha Music School. At 14, she achieved the U.K. Associated Board of Royal School of Music's grade 8 pianoforte certification. She feels music is an essential part of K-12 education and will continue to educate herself and others, particularly her daughter Cameron and son Carter. She enjoys swimming, reading, working out and globetrotting. Now, you'll never guess that her favorite TV series is...Queer As Folk! When really bored, she indulges in eBay sniping! acwelch@gmail.com

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Judy's story:

A founding member of The Pangolins, Judy (a.k.a. Elfmom) is Director of Music & Liturgy at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, Little Rock. She lives on 80-plus acres in Perry County with her husband, Chad, and a current menagerie of 6 cats, 3 dogs, 15 chickens, 1 rooster, 1 guinea fowl and 2 ferrets. There are hopes for a llama and goats in the future.... The Pangolins have Judy to thank for their name. (Can’t imagine why!)

Judy studied applied organ with Miriam Clapp Duncan at Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Appleton, Wisconsin. She also studied organ with Dr. Ralph von Sydow, Hillsdale, Michigan and Robert Ellis, Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

According to Judy, playing the Steel Drums is the most fun thing she’s ever done. (We should talk to her husband.) She was introduced to steel drums when she took an introductory percussion class from Charles Law at UALR. She was immediately captivated by the sound and couldn’t refuse the offer when she was invited to join the band.

Since Judy was trained as a concert organist and an Anglican Church musician, that didn't include any rock, Caribbean or reggae! But, she’s certain JS Bach is looking down and smiling approvingly every time we perform! Judy has successfully incorporated her steel drum playing into her Church music. Talk about unique! ElfMom@hotmail.com

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Kevin's story:

Kevin is a band director in Stuttgart and performs as a freelance percussionist with the Arkansas Symphony, the UALR Percussion Ensemble, the Little Rock Wind Symphony and for anyone else who will hire him. He became interested in playing steel drums while attending Sam Houston State University in Huntsville Texas, where he earned a Bachelors degree in Music Education in 1997.

Upon graduation, Kevin moved to Arkansas and met Charles Law and began studying with him. Chuck came up with this hair-brained idea about starting a steel drum band in Little Rock. Crazy as it sounded, Kevin’s decision to play in the group was easy.

His musical background started when he joined the Flying Dutchmen Drum and Bugle Corps in his hometown of Quincy, Illinois. He then moved on to perform with the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. While attending Sam Houston State, Kevin performed in the Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Marching Band, Jazz Lab band, and a really bad Country and Western band.

Kevin's hobbies include playing golf, hiking and boating, although he does not own a boat. If anybody has a boat they want to get rid of, just drop him an email. KevinSherman@hotmail.com
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Jon's story:

Registering-in as the youngest member of the band at 26 years old, Jon is a Software Engineer at Winrock International. After mastering the tambourine and signing-up to be Uncle Sam’s little drummer boy in the 106th Arkansas Army Band, he sought to challenge himself by studying Latin Percussion. He first heard the sound of the steel drum band while playing in the UALR Percussion Ensemble and now adds lots of spice to our musical soup! Jon joined The Pangolins in the fall of 2001. Or was it spring? He can’t seem to remember... Jon_Manley@yahoo.com

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