South Plains College

We had the honor of going to South Plains College in Levelland, TX at the start of the month so Susan could talk to some of their classes and so we could perform on Thursday Night Live, their monthly student-produced TV show (a la Austin City Limits). This school has the coolest music program ever...it produces working musicians who have studied everything from sound, lighting, arranging, and performing. You can get a degree in BANJO. Heck yes. Our good friend Kate Hearne goes to South Plains, so we hung out with her all day and saw some classes. Susan talked to a couple of class sessions, we played some and then talked about everything from writing to booking gigs to owning your own business. Kate plays on Thursday Night Live like a rock star. We snuck a peek at the backstage dressing rooms for the student performers... This is the girls' room. And this was the boys'. We thought this was funny. Then we had a grand old time playing and afterwards, I snapped this photo of a million little Susans everywhere. I wonder if they could sing in harmony with each other. I don't regret my life path one bit, though if I had known about South Plains when I was college hunting, I might have ended up there. Trade school for musicians, much like my "folk music grad school" at Red Leaf -- gives you such an advantage when you start trying to make a living.

Everyone's a Lobo: Woof woof woof.

(I kid you not, that was the school chant at UNM.) We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog post for a trip down memory lane: So one year I went to Homecoming and then we lost but that's ok because I got a tattoo on my cheek. I'm glad it washed off. I got kind of worried that I had made a bad life choice for a while, and then Beth (she was my roommate) told me, "Jana, it's temporary." And I said, "Well if it's temporary why didn't I get six more?" I am rather burnt in that photo. I think we sat on the sunny side of the stadium. Plus I wanted to show off as much cherry and silver as I could. End of nostalgia break.

Rock-n-Roll Singer's Survival Manual

I'm reading a book by Mark Baxter, Dan's former voice guru, and it's quite the good read. He approaches singing like we're approaching this whole folk music grad school thing...on a holistic level. Chapter one is all about general care-taking...it could probably stand to be the first chapter in a lot of "how-to" books. Basically, you sing what you are, so you should take good care of yourself. Points Baxter makes... - I should quit smoking. Oh wait. I don't smoke, hehheh. But the description of burning your throat is enough of a permanent deterrent for me, I think. - No dairy, not much meat, very little red meat. Well that's handy, too. I have had a year full of indecision, but I haven't eaten meat since I don't know when and I take extra care to be vegan in my food choices (still cannot turn down Mom's rhubarb pie, though!) It does make a difference, I think. So far, knock on wood, I have not gotten my usual winter cold (which could just have to do with the fact that it's not really winter in Austin, just mildly cloudy and 55 degrees. Brr.) But I also don't get phlegm in my throat anymore. Dairy makes phlegm. Veganism and throat health seem to co-exist in harmony. - Stress. We all know stress takes a toll on your body. It takes a toll on your voice, too. Handling it makes for good singing, which I think makes for less stress. When I figure that one out, I'll let you know. If I ever let you know, it'll probably be from a small island and a beach chair. The most interesting point is that most musicians are really obsessive about their instruments and the environments they live in. I won't leave my guitar in a car, I hate playing outdoors when it's reallyreally hot or reallyreally cold, I humidify if it's dry, I keep it in the case when I'm not using it (hanging your guitar on the wall is bad for it! Stop that!). But your voice IS an instrument, and the throat gets some pretty bad treatment sometimes. Even just standing near a street and inhaling a big cloud of smog will knock you out for a while. Would you stick your guitar in a BBQ grill? I type this as I drink a Coke, which is...well, nothing natural. Clearly I've not mastered the treatment of my voice, but it's good to be thinking about these things.

Folk Music Grad School

So...I told myself I was going to have to treat life in the post-bachelor's degree world as "Folk Music Grad School." I've got friends working their butts off in medical school and getting PhDs in Political Science and Musicology. I am mucho impressed with them. While I would not trade the experience of my undergrad years for anything, I know my path at the moment involves non-academic education. To be a singer/songwriter and entrepreneur I need the freedom to work on it as much as possible, to be actually gigging, and to be around people who know what they are doing. Austin seems to be the right place for that. I had decided a couple of months ago that I somewhat missed the scheduled, formatted rigor of college, and if all my friends were continuing their educations to be who they wanted to be...why not me? About that time I stumbled upon Red Leaf School of Music and their Professional Development program. A few emails and chats with Dan, the owner and founder, and I was ready to go. Dan understood the grad school metaphor immediately, and put together a pretty rigorous set of classes for me. I've been in it for 6 weeks now and feel like I am growing like a...red leaf. :) I am loving every minute! Even though I have been doing this for 12 years already, and it is flattering when people say, "WHY are you taking guitar lessons? You play guitar already," -- that's precisely the answer. I play guitar, and I love it. If I love it, why would I not steep myself further in the craft and the art of it all? I suggest you all take a look at something you love to do and see what your next step is...you'd be amazed at how things that are old hat are suddenly fresh when you collaborate with the right teachers. Next Thursday, July 26th at Lambert's on 2nd and Guadalupe, Red Leaf students will show their stuff and party hardy, and I will be doing a set as well (then I'll party...or perhaps party during my set?) Porterdavis (Dan's awesome band) will be playing that night too. Sounds like you need to be there, huh? I thought so. Red Leaf Big Huzzah! Thursday, July 26th Lambert's on 2nd and Guadalupe (map) 7:30 PM Technorati Tags: gradschool, music, folk, education Powered by ScribeFire.