LAKE MARY, Fla. – This weekend, Celebrate! Lake Mary is returning to Oval Park. The free event is in its second year. The city launched it last year during its 50th anniversary. It features live bands, craft drinks, food trucks, a family fun zone and more.
The two-day event includes a concert on Saturday night, with Sister Hazel headlining.
The band first gained in popularity in 1997, when their hit song “All for You” topped the adult alternative charts during the summer and the success propelled their album to platinum status.
Their music has also been featured in movies and soundtracks like “The Wedding Planner” and “10 Things I Hate About You.”
Originating from Gainesville in the early ‘90s, the band consists of six seasoned musicians, including drummer Mark Trojanowski.
He said his uncles got him interested in the drums, and since he was 10 years old, he hasn’t stopped playing.
“I kind of wanted to play for a while, and my parents weren’t sure about it. Then one Christmas, when I was 10, we were at one of my uncle’s houses, and he had a bunch of drum sets in the basement, and I spent all day down there, and both my uncles told my parents, ‘You could take him for lessons,’” said Trojanowski.
He said that originally, he planned to play for another artist, which is when he had the opportunity to join the band.
“I didn’t have the original band kind of in my sights, but you know, it was something that I said, ‘Oh, let me give it 12 to 18 months, see what happens,’ and you know, never looked back at that point,” he said.
When they first got started, the band’s singer, Ken Block, decided to name themselves after Sister Hazel Williams, who ran a homeless shelter.
Growing up in Gainesville in the ‘70s and ‘80s, he would always see commercials on TV for Williams and her rescue mission. He felt as though the songs he was writing represented all the good work she was doing.
When Block named the band after her, he actually thought she was dead at the time. It turned out that she was away on missions.
“It was interesting when she came back to Gainesville and saw her name kind of all around town. The two of them, you know, actually sat down at a Perkins one morning to discuss all of it,” said Trojanowski.
“She was really appreciative of, you know, him wanting to name the band after her and we had done a bunch of things for her charity over the years,” Trojanowski explained.
Williams later died in 2016 at 91 years old.
Sister Hazel takes the stage in Lake Mary on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. See the full schedule for Celebrate! Lake Mary here.
After that, you can catch the band at their fan-centered events, including Hazelnut Hang in Isle of Palms in South Carolina in August.
See Trojanowski’s full interview with Brooke Savage, the Setting The Stage newsletter writer, where he also talks about what it takes to be a drummer and how he prepares for such a physically demanding performance:
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