Withey Remembered At Benefit Concert

By Lisa E. Crowley
BrocktonPost
BROCKTON—If Brockton's Frank Withey were with his friends Saturday night at the Shaw’s Center, those friends believe he would have been impressed at the level of talent, delighted with the turnout and rocking to the jams of a group of high school students who closed the show with a 10-plus piece jazz blowout.
“He would have loved it,” said Bill Sciore, who was one of about 300 people who attended the Frank Withey Scholarship Concert held Saturday night at the Shaw’s Center.
The center was turned into a 6-hour musical extravaganza featuring dual stages and a nearly constant lineup of bands filling the Shaw’s Center with foot-stomping blues, note-chasing jazz and soulful acoustic numbers.
Sciore, 55, who went to Brockton High School with Withey—a renowned musician and teacher—said when Withey was alive he brought people together and now nearly 5 years after his death, Withey is still packing the house.
“He seemed to be the catalyst for all of us to come together,” Sciore said. “He’s doing it even more now then when he was alive,” he said.
Withey, an associate professor at Berklee College of Music, died in 2006 of an overdose.
Initially, in 2006 friends thought they would attend a show at Scullers in Cambridge when Withey was expected to feature a new band he had put together. Instead, friends were dismayed to learn Withey had unexpectedly died and the concert turned into a memoriam night at Scullers.
The Withey Scholarship concerts were born and have been held at the Canoe Club in West Bridgewater and having grown to 16 bands--have since moved to the Shaw’s Center.
Linda Lovett, who manned the raffle table with her husband Tom, said she went to high school with Withey—someone who was one of those people who got along with everyone and everyone loved.
“He was a great guy—and a great musician,” she said.
Stanley Caperneros, one of the newly formed nonprofit foundation’s advisory board members, said he and other organizers thanked everyone who helped out, from the musicians who donated their time and talents to the event, to the lighting and sound people, to the hundreds who attended.
Capernaros said he particularly wanted to thank the high school students who began the show and ended the show.
“We wanted to highlight the kids,” Capernaros said. “Frank loved being around the kids,” he said.