Entertainment : \'Upcycling:\' Vocal Trash concert to include environmental theme

Vocal Trash uses various 'upcycled' instruments says Steve Linder (playing the water bottle toms).

When Steve Linder talks about the instruments that he and his musical partners in the band Vocal Trash use for their concerts, he uses a word that may be new to some people: Upcycling. 

"Upcycling is taking something and reusing it for an even better purpose," said Linder. He and the band will perform in Vinton for the Party in the Park Saturday night show on June 23. He spoke to Vinton Today this week from Miami. 

All but one of the instruments the band uses is recycled, says Linder. His favorite is the tom-tom apparatus he made using three large water bottles. 

"We get those bottles from the factory that makes them," he says. "They were defective, and would have ended up in a landfill." 

The group makes music with hubcaps, garbage cans (and lids) and a variety of other items that might surprise the audience.

The Vocal Trash show also uses a steel drum that was made from a 55-gallon oil drum. 

"This was the first item to ever be recycled into a musical instrument," says Linder, adding that the musicians in the Caribbean, where steel drums are quite popular, have learned to recycle the large drums into something musical.

While the environmental message of Vocal Trash is not "preachy," says Linder, the group tries to get its audience to understand recycling and other environmental issues.

"People either get it, or they don't," he says. "And most people get it."

Vocal Trash has been performing for 11 years. Linder, who organized the group in 2001 first as a percussion band, said he continues to be surprised by the band's success.

"We perform about 180 to 190 days each year," he said. 

The show, he said, is meant to be "fun and family-friendly." In addition to its musical concerts, the group also does educational presentations for schools and other org

For more information, visit the Vocal Trash Facebook Page. Linder says the band loves interacting with fans via this page, sharing musical and environmental ideas.