NEW Video: Accafest in Cleveland, OH

CLEVELAND, OH- A few months ago I was approached to perform and teach at an acappella festival just outside of Cleveland, OH. In my interview process I was asked what I feel comfortable teaching. Naturally I expressed an interest in live looping, but also music business. So where do you start in teaching music business? I put pen to paper in the weeks leading up to the fesitival and gauged my experiences and knowledge base to the audience I would be in front of. In this instance...it was primarily high school students and a light dusting of middle school students.

I thought back to my college years and how I was taught how to play instruments, Mozart's womanizing ways,famous sculptors sexuality and that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. What I was never taught: How To Be A Musician. I was never taught what it takes *offstage.* So I put a presentation that gave the students the primary building blocks that they could immediately put into action. They were very interested in the nuts and bolts of what it takes to get onstage night after night and run your talent through PA's that don't miss a beat....and lighting systems that illuminate every part of you....like it or not.

Another part of my assignment was to perform on the first of two headliner nights. It was a learning opportunity to perform at my first acappella festival. It is it's own culture and vibe. I learned alot and had my own set ups and set backs....but thats another blog for another time. I flew home with a head full of ideas....and by the time I landed in the American Southwest that I called home....I was already primed to get back onstage with these young artists. Check out the short video I pieced together that highlights my time onstage...offstage and in the classroom with these young artists.

The kids are alright ya'll.

-JA-