Members James Clausen Posted July 4, 2013 Members Share Posted July 4, 2013 For the last 4 years some friends and I have played on the square of our local town before the 4th of July parade. I live in rural southern Iowa and there are no venues to play around here Although I played in bands before moving here, this is kind of a cultural desert. Most of the older people in the Community grew up hearing live music and show up to hear it now. These people tend to be in their late 60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted July 4, 2013 Members Share Posted July 4, 2013 So it must be the case that your school system has no music courses, no bands, no orchestra, nothing at all. Are there no private piano (or other instrument) teachers in any local community within driving distance? 'Cause rural folks are usually used to driving quite long distances to get to anyplace with some shopping, movies, medical care, government offices, and so on... If so...wow, that's truly a cultural desert. I'd suggest moving...or promoting a Burning Man sort of annual festival... nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted July 4, 2013 Members Share Posted July 4, 2013 I live in the greater LA area, the scruffily multi-culti Long Beach, and this urban area is lousy with neo-hippies and old-time music folks playing mandos, banjos, and the like, along with the de rigeur punks, neo-punks, jazzers, math-rockers, beat boxers, and outsider music types. And loads and loads of blues guys, of course. Many of them grew up here, but we also get an influx from around the country of people looking for more opportunities to play.That said, some years back I found myself talking to a Vietnam era vet (a former sniper, no less!) who set up a coffee house in a little town in Arizona not known for its cultural opportunities. After all the killing, he decided to commit himself to promoting peace, community, and the arts. He opened it up to all the disaffected youth of the area, all the musicians, artists, and poets of all styles and gave them a place to hang out, perform, and be themselves. (All under his watchful, sadder-but-wiser gaze. He felt that troubled kids needed someone who could lay down broad but firm ground rules and explain to them why the rules would work out for them and their little community.)He said it grew slowly, but eventually more and more people became part of that little community, even including 'straights' from the larger community who had finally found a safe venue where they could pursue their own musical, poetic, and artistic ideas and goals.Sometimes it just takes a seed in ground that you didn't even realize was fertile... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members James Clausen Posted July 5, 2013 Author Members Share Posted July 5, 2013 Kids go into the music programs here in the 5th grade and drop out en-mass in the 7th grade. This is because the music played is almost exclusivly marches (although there are no marching bands). No one is expanding their palette in the schools and they loose interest. No opportunities to hear music that they might be interested in other than through their mp3 players. Nearest opportunities are 90 miles to Des Moines or 120 miles to Kansas City. Perhaps opportunities will come when they graduate and leave the area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RockViolin Posted July 5, 2013 Members Share Posted July 5, 2013 I grew up in Sioux City. I'm not neccessarily speaking 'bout me, but a surprising amount of musical talent has come from that town. One of the colleges there (Morningside) had a music department that was far better than one would expect. My Dad taught voice there. Both of my brothers married farm girls from the area that were voice students of his. Just to say, there's music out there in those corn fields.But yeah, music in the schools was not cool at all back when I was there. I don't suppose it's easy to walk to school with a violin anywhere, but it was downright dangerous in Sioux City once I was in junior high school. So, I left, and finished school at The North Carolina School of the Arts. It seems to me that you're going to have to build it yourself, or go to where the action is. Maybe that's just another RockViolin redux. Maybe it's just that simple. Dig for it. Get in your car and knock around. There's bound to be other's like you out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted July 5, 2013 Members Share Posted July 5, 2013 James Clausen wrote: Kids go into the music programs here in the 5th grade and drop out en-mass in the 7th grade. This is because the music played is almost exclusivly marches (although there are no marching bands). No one is expanding their palette in the schools and they loose interest. No opportunities to hear music that they might be interested in other than through their mp3 players. Nearest opportunities are 90 miles to Des Moines or 120 miles to Kansas City. Perhaps opportunities will come when they graduate and leave the area. Wouldn't it be amazing if public school music programs (the tiny handful that still exist) taught music using music that kids actually want to play on instruments they want to play it on?That said, as a lover of jazz and classical, it would be a very dreary, rather nasty world if music was only made on guitars and synthesizers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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