Dave Kelleher (left) and Ed Commons in the Big Horn Basin, Wyoming
Photo: Paul J. Hughes
The uncommon Ed Commons
By Kathie Stamps
Columnist: Stamps' Collection
For Lexington audio/film veteran Ed Commons, his work in the production industry has certainly taken him places. Over the years, it has put him in the middle of a meat processing plant at 6 a.m., close enough to a bridge demolition on the Ohio River to make it exciting, and even on top of a volcano somewhere in Panama.
It was all part of the job for the man known in Lexington’s advertising and production circles as “the Legend.
Common’s audio/film career began in Pittsburgh, where he went to a professional school to be an actor, but wound up specializing in audio and lighting and directing. “Things I still do, he added. Ear ly on, he worked on industrial films for Sperry UNIVAC, Dow Corning, Westinghouse and other corporations. “They were exciting years, he said. The UNIVAC film even won a Gold CINE
(pronounced “sinny” ) Award.
When his father got a research job at Spindletop, Commons made the move to Kentucky with his parents. “They retired in 1965 and I stayed on, he said. In Lexington, he sang in nightclubs when he wasn’t running audio or shooting film for ETF, the first film company in Lexington, with which he visited all of the interesting locations previously mentioned and more.
In 1972 he opened House of Commons, a film and audio company whose clients included Barney Miller’s and Keeneland. The 6,000-square-foot studio had a sound stage and voiceover booth, and besides putting out quality work, it was known for its annual Guy Fawkes party. He closed the studio around 1990. “The market was changing drastically, he said. “The services I used to spend money on, you didn’t need anymore. I would go to Nashville [for post-production] and now it’s done on a desktop. Having a home office these days is a blessing and a curse, according to Commons. “No one knows if you’re in your PJs, he said of the blessing. “But the down side is you’re always at work. It never goes away.
In the 1990s, he spent three years on the audio and video portion of the UK Basketball Museum and then worked with the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Renfro Valley (he’s still on the Music Hall of Fame’s advisory board, sits on the board of Kentucky’s Mighty Wurlitzer, chairs the Lexington Advertising Club and is in his third term as president of his homeowner’s association). On both museum projects he worked with Marilyn Myers, and the two of them became partners in a project called Red Barn Radio.
“There’s an incredible depth of talent in this state, Commons said. “ Bluegrass, jazz, folk, opera, you name it. Red Barn Radio gives a weekly stage to up-and-coming and veteran musicians alike, primarily bluegrass and acoustic blues. Red Barn’s fourth season starts January 11 on Wednesday nights at ArtsPlace. Its music that “harkens back to the land and its people, said Commons, who is trying to find a station to air their hour-long radio program. “Since WRVG was sold, we’re not on in the Lexington market, he said. “It’s more than the music; it’s what we’re about in the Commonwealth.
The venture isn’t funded, but Red Barn Radio would love to find a sponsor and sell the show across the country and around the world. “It needs to be out there in urban markets where people don’t have access to bluegrass music, he said. Red Barn produced a CD last year of the New Kentucky String Ticklers, a jazz-influenced bluegrass band. Commons would love for Red Barn Radio to produce another CD soon.
For the last five years, his other pet project has been a documentary about Old Trail Town and its owner Bob Edgar in Cody, Wyoming. “I’m not interested in battles of blood, he said, “but (I appreciate) the people. He has 30 hours of material from eight trips to the American West and hopes to finish the 90-minute DVD in 2006 for tourism groups and museums in the Equality State. He’s also working on a documentary about William (Bill) Petrie. “He was a man who collected people, he said of the late Grant County artist. “You don’t realize what you’re sharing until it’s all taken away.
For his part, Commons plans to keep sharing his gifts. He says he should’ve retired in 1995, but these audio and film projects keep calling his name. “When you’re active and out there doing your thing, you tend to stay young, he said. “You can always look back and say, ‘I would have done things differently,’ but I’ve never played the what-if game. The reality is, it’s about what you’re doing right now and the friends and folks you’re doing it with.
Jan 1, 2006