Making Music with Friends
14/01/12 05:39
Guitar sales were strong when I was in high school. There were a lot of us who started by learning a dozen chords and the rhythms to popular songs. We would get together and play. Sometimes there were other instruments such as drums and maybe a bass guitar. The first generation of chord organs was coming out, but there were no truly portable keyboards available yet. Everything that was lightweight sounded terrible. Still we all had dreams of being in a rock band or a folk act and appearing on a big stage.
I still have that Yamaha 6-string guitar and play it for myself from time to time. In college, I picked up a 12-string guitar that I played for years before trading up to a used Gibson about 20 years ago. A guitar is a good instrument for a youth minister and my guitars have been to a lot of camps and youth rallies over the years. Not too long ago I began to notice that I was often the oldest one at youth events. Some of the youth leaders are the age of our children these days. Now I notice, from time to time, that the second oldest at the event is my guitar. No worries, there are plenty of old coots playing the guitar. Some of them sound fantastic.
I never practiced enough and I don’t have the raw talent to make my living by singing and playing the guitar. It is just a fun way to sing some fun songs and a pleasant entertainment to share with friends.
From time to time I do get to witness real talent, however. I never have lost the joy of hanging out with people who make music. Since moving to South Dakota, I have made friends with fiddle and banjo and bass and piano players. I have found myself hanging out with musicians and attending their performances. We have a wonderful combination of world-class talent and people who just enjoy making music. Our community is small enough that the musicians get to know one another and play in various combinations. Our church has a strong musical legacy and we have been able to attract many local musicians to sing and play on various occasions.
Early last evening we headed down to the Dahl Arts Center. Part of the remodeled facility is a room called the Bruce Lien Cultural Café. A week ago they started what is hoped to be an on-going series of performances they’re dubbing the “Emerging Artists Program.” The vision is fairly simple. The Dahl is providing a performance space for youth. There are plenty of bars and other places where older musicians can perform, but there are fewer opportunities for younger musicians. One night each month there will be an open mic and auditions. In the middle of the month, a local artist or group will be selected to perform. On the fourth Friday each month older artists will team up with younger musicians for mentoring and just having fun playing together. The folks they have lined up for the first month are all people I know and last ‘s artists as well as the one for next week are folks from our church.
Not only did we know the musicians, we also knew most of the folks in the audience.
I happened to be present the first time Siri Palm and Layne Putnam played and sang together. We had a gathering of our youth in the home of one of our members and after lunch we persuaded Layne to pull out her guitar and sing us a song. That was so much fun that soon Siri’s brother was dispatched to go get another guitar from home. I remember that part of the day because the cars were all backed up in the driveway of the home and we sent Jorgen, the brother, off in our car instead of having to move other cars to get his out of the driveway. Since we drive the same make and model of car that seemed the easy way to get the guitar. We all enjoyed hearing the girls play and sing together.
Soon they were hanging out at each other’s homes playing the guitar, singing, and writing songs. It turns out that Layne has written enough songs for a whole CD of original pieces.
So last night I was really enjoying their playing and singing and as we sat in the audience I was once again amazed at the talent of young artists.
They sang songs about growing up and family as well as songs about romance and breaking up about anguish and questing and a variety of other topics. Now I have to put all of this into context from my point of view. Both of these girls were babies when we moved to South Dakota. Both were born within a year of the time we moved. They both grew up in loving and supporting families. They are both high school students in our community. Although they have drawn on the well of personal experience to come up with their songs – that well isn’t all that deep. They haven’t loved and lost and loved again. They haven’t seen the dark side of the world. They know school and church and families of talented and creative people. They have moms and dads who have, until the last couple of years, driven them everywhere they needed to go. Both have taken some big trips with their families, but they haven’t been out on their own and that is a good thing. Life still has a lot of experiences to add to their lives.
Our friend Scott Grote, in the introduction of the duo, commented that he’s been playing music with Layne for at least 15 years. That made me laugh because Layne is only 16 years old. Scott has definitely been playing with Layne’s dad since before she was born. She grew up in a house where musicians gather and sing and play together. We’ve been over there many times to enjoy the fun and artistry of the people who gather at their home.
If their music is this rich and touching at 16 and 17 years of age, just imagine what might emerge in the next couple of decades. The power of music in our lives is great.
I am certainly glad that our local arts center has found the vision to open this performance space and is allowing our community to celebrate the talents of emerging artists. There is a lot of good music that is yet to come.
I still have that Yamaha 6-string guitar and play it for myself from time to time. In college, I picked up a 12-string guitar that I played for years before trading up to a used Gibson about 20 years ago. A guitar is a good instrument for a youth minister and my guitars have been to a lot of camps and youth rallies over the years. Not too long ago I began to notice that I was often the oldest one at youth events. Some of the youth leaders are the age of our children these days. Now I notice, from time to time, that the second oldest at the event is my guitar. No worries, there are plenty of old coots playing the guitar. Some of them sound fantastic.
I never practiced enough and I don’t have the raw talent to make my living by singing and playing the guitar. It is just a fun way to sing some fun songs and a pleasant entertainment to share with friends.
From time to time I do get to witness real talent, however. I never have lost the joy of hanging out with people who make music. Since moving to South Dakota, I have made friends with fiddle and banjo and bass and piano players. I have found myself hanging out with musicians and attending their performances. We have a wonderful combination of world-class talent and people who just enjoy making music. Our community is small enough that the musicians get to know one another and play in various combinations. Our church has a strong musical legacy and we have been able to attract many local musicians to sing and play on various occasions.
Early last evening we headed down to the Dahl Arts Center. Part of the remodeled facility is a room called the Bruce Lien Cultural Café. A week ago they started what is hoped to be an on-going series of performances they’re dubbing the “Emerging Artists Program.” The vision is fairly simple. The Dahl is providing a performance space for youth. There are plenty of bars and other places where older musicians can perform, but there are fewer opportunities for younger musicians. One night each month there will be an open mic and auditions. In the middle of the month, a local artist or group will be selected to perform. On the fourth Friday each month older artists will team up with younger musicians for mentoring and just having fun playing together. The folks they have lined up for the first month are all people I know and last ‘s artists as well as the one for next week are folks from our church.
Not only did we know the musicians, we also knew most of the folks in the audience.
I happened to be present the first time Siri Palm and Layne Putnam played and sang together. We had a gathering of our youth in the home of one of our members and after lunch we persuaded Layne to pull out her guitar and sing us a song. That was so much fun that soon Siri’s brother was dispatched to go get another guitar from home. I remember that part of the day because the cars were all backed up in the driveway of the home and we sent Jorgen, the brother, off in our car instead of having to move other cars to get his out of the driveway. Since we drive the same make and model of car that seemed the easy way to get the guitar. We all enjoyed hearing the girls play and sing together.
Soon they were hanging out at each other’s homes playing the guitar, singing, and writing songs. It turns out that Layne has written enough songs for a whole CD of original pieces.
So last night I was really enjoying their playing and singing and as we sat in the audience I was once again amazed at the talent of young artists.
They sang songs about growing up and family as well as songs about romance and breaking up about anguish and questing and a variety of other topics. Now I have to put all of this into context from my point of view. Both of these girls were babies when we moved to South Dakota. Both were born within a year of the time we moved. They both grew up in loving and supporting families. They are both high school students in our community. Although they have drawn on the well of personal experience to come up with their songs – that well isn’t all that deep. They haven’t loved and lost and loved again. They haven’t seen the dark side of the world. They know school and church and families of talented and creative people. They have moms and dads who have, until the last couple of years, driven them everywhere they needed to go. Both have taken some big trips with their families, but they haven’t been out on their own and that is a good thing. Life still has a lot of experiences to add to their lives.
Our friend Scott Grote, in the introduction of the duo, commented that he’s been playing music with Layne for at least 15 years. That made me laugh because Layne is only 16 years old. Scott has definitely been playing with Layne’s dad since before she was born. She grew up in a house where musicians gather and sing and play together. We’ve been over there many times to enjoy the fun and artistry of the people who gather at their home.
If their music is this rich and touching at 16 and 17 years of age, just imagine what might emerge in the next couple of decades. The power of music in our lives is great.
I am certainly glad that our local arts center has found the vision to open this performance space and is allowing our community to celebrate the talents of emerging artists. There is a lot of good music that is yet to come.