Someone once said, “You’re never too old to learn something new.” Beth Pestka — a lifelong resident of Lake Bluff, bookkeeper for 15 years
for Bruce and Bruce Co. in Lake Bluff and, like her husband Stas and their children Shannon, Adam, and Allison, a graduate of Lake Forest High School (class of 1974) — teaches life lessons with her fellow lady musicians in their group, “Sheboom.” “Sheboom” represents the epitome of what can happen when you’re open to trying something new, and this group of ladies seems to be developing quite a name for themselves in the process. “Sheboom” consists of five ladies, ranging between 46 and 57 years old, who perform together in the style of West African drumming. They started drumming together in a drum lesson with facilitator and Master Drummer, Rick Neuhaus, around four years ago. Soon they formed their own group, calling themselves, “Sheboom,” and now have performed in clubs around the Chicago area, as well as, for fundraisers, schools, charity events, and even an invitation to audition at McCormick Place for the “America’s Got Talent” television show last month. Beth recalls, “I first starting drumming with friends and ladies from Lake Bluff. We used to drum on the beach. One time, we took a bus down to the city, about 15-20 ladies for a drumming night at a club called Rhythm. I had already learned three ‘notes,’ which we call: ‘slap, tone, bass.’ Rhythm was a fabulous, fun, incredible place. Everyone had incredible smiles on their faces, grinning from ear to ear. I knew I had to have some of that.” Neuhaus, instructor at the Old Town School of Folk Music and the Flamenco Arts Center (both in Chicago), said, “In the past 20 years, West African drumming has been an escalating interest around the world. All of this music is for the dancers. This tradition started with women doing daily chores and creating rhythm songs while they worked. Their rhythms depicted daily life, and celebrations. Every culture has a rhythm-based way of joining together, except the United States, to a certain degree. The drum is about communication and joining people together.” Beth’s fellow drummer Corkie Neuhaus, a Chicago artist for 30 years and owner of “Mo Faux,” (responsible for painting murals in many “Lettuce Entertain You” restaurants), shares, “Drumming has changed all our lives. It has been a way to share with the community. You can do something different.”
Fellow drummer Aimee Bass, who lives in Chicago and teaches drumming in the West African style at a Chicago public high school, and as a part of the “Life-Long Learning Program” through Oakton Community College, adds, “West African music has a connection to other kinds of music that we love and listen to. We all share that passion. In ‘Sheboom,’ we’re all baby ‘boomers’!”