I've been blessed with good teachers all my life: my parents, my 2nd grade teacher, my middle school science teacher, my high school AP junior english teacher, and most recently my two mentors from FDP, Dharmonia and Coyotebanjo. I think many of the teachers surrounding me now will join that group of people.

Buddhism tells us that life is inherently painful. Not all of life is suffering, but life is inherently full of attachments and conditions that cause us to suffer. Really, I try to be optimistic about life and the world, and the change and progress I believe we're capable of, but it seems as if the news cycle is against me.

My home will probably not recover in my lifetime.

So for those of you keeping score, it's week 7 in the Spring term--end of my first year of my PhD program. If anyone's wandering, the quarter system is indeed BRUTAL. It probably doesn't help that for Spring term I'm carrying my heaviest load since starting the program here (2 seminars and a survey plus a pretty heavy teaching load).

Anyway, good things and not so good things happening out here.

The Good:

I'm learning a lot (although sometimes barely keeping my head above water).

I love my classes (except when I feel completely unprepared...I got back ahead of the curve this week): Women in Music in Medieval Germany, Medieval Survey, and Historiography of Black Music.

I love the final projects I'm working on: The Hirsau Reform in 12th c German-Speaking Women's Monastic communities, Medieval Sephardic Music, and Negotiation of the "Folk" in Black Music: A Case Study of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. It feels like good work, y'know?

I love my students (I hit the jackpot this term).

I have people willing to help me build a traditional music community here. Slow session has at least 4 regular attendees.

My blues class has 13 kids so far for this summer....this is the first year that I will be an employed musicologist for the entire year (ie no crappy summer job).

I am working on a folk music project with senior faculty at my university (it's grunt work, but again, it feels like good work, y'know?).

The Bad:

I am barely keeping my head above water. Seriously. This week is better, but I've taken on too much. Must figure out how to make sure this doesn't happen again.

That's most of the bad actually....except for:

I have my first bad seed (here after referred to as BS.....fitting don't you think?) in the slow session. BS is a beginner (very) fiddle player (retired ex-professor). After his second slow session, BS wrote me an email detailing his problems with what I was doing. First off....SLOW SESSION IS FREE...you don't like it, DON'T COME! As my former roomie said, "You're outta the herd!" His main complaint was that is wasn't as "satisfying" as the first time he attended (ie it wasn't catered entirely to his playing/learning level). His first slow session, he was the only melody player, so I taught the Kesh Jig (easy, basic tune). BS had come in, and wanted to play tunes he already knew. I explained what a slow session was, and wanted to teach him a new easy tune because he had a really hard time playing in time (he compresses the beat like crazy). His second slow session I taught a harder less well-known tune because there were other melody players. In his email complaint, he also complained that I wasn't sure about the name of the tune. He said, "a name is really important." What is it with people and their obsession with tune names here? He also told me the way I was leading slow session was impractical.

I waited a week and then replied to BS, basically telling him that this is the way I learned the tradition so that's the way I'm passing it on. In addition, I explained the fluid nature of tune names, and the idea that the pedagogy of the tradition developed this way for a (good) reason.

BS returned to slow session last week and was combative in his attitude. I'm giving him one more week, and then I'm going to flat out tell him that these are free group lessons taught in a very specific way for a very specific reason, and if he doesn't want that, he's free to leave and go learn somewhere else. Any advice?

Also, it feels completely insane to me that _I'm_ the one passing on the tradition. I feel inadequate, because I know how far I need to go to be the player I want to be (especially because I'm talking to people in both the melodic and accompanying parts of the tradition). I don't know how to stay in the shallow end do I?

Ah, the politics of community building....

Peace, Love, and Tunes,

Mac.

About a year ago, I was trying to figure out where I was going to spend the next four-ish years of my life. I had been accepted to two schools (three if you count FPU) and hadn't heard anything about money. The cycle of acceptance/rejection letters was really hard. My top two choices (most notably the Fulbright, and a second expected rejection from U Michigan's Ethno program) were both no's, but I got two really good acceptances from both PNWU (where I currently attend) and an Unnamed Midwest Institution. I have to admit the Fulbright hurt a lot, and for a lot of different reasons. Not the least of which it was the first response of all of the applications I completed. More importantly, it was the thing I wanted the most, and there are very few things in my life that I have gone all out for and still been told, "No, thank you."

Ultimately, I got a great offer from PNWU, I felt really confident about friends' experiences there, and the professors seemed willing to invest their time and energy in me from the very beginning (which is really important to me). So I finished my thesis, packed up my life, left people who had come and still mean the world to me, and moved to the Pacific Northwest. In retrospect, moving there a full two months before school started (with nothing to do and knowing exactly four people) was probably not the best idea. Before I left FPU, Dharmonia told me that "the universe will put you where you're meant to be." I have to admit I'm a skeptic. She's never steered me wrong, but still, my brain was very quietly saying, "Are you sure you're meant to be here and not Ireland?" Surprise, she was right.

Wow. It's been awhile.

Winter term came and went. I'm currently at FPU over spring break, trying to relax a little before the spring term comes. I'm not sure I'll ever be ready for gearing up for a third cycle of insanity before summer "break," but that's the idea.

Last term I took a seminar on Balinese music (with a final paper on Balinese cosmology and music), a seminar on History of Theory, and a seminar on Repertoire and analysis (Schubert and Brahms....). I also played in the Balkan ensemble, which proved to be insanely cool.

Next term, I'm up for Black Music Historiography, Medieval Music seminar, and a seminar on Women in Medieval German Music. I'm really looking forward to all three, and hoping I can keep my sanity while also TA-ing for the World music course.

Things I'm thinking about: possible dissertation topics.

Subjects I've recently become really interested in:

1) American Folk Revival-->I'm really interested in post-revival folk music communities.
2) Music and Politics--> I've become really interested in politics again, and lately I've been interested in look how music is used as a tool for community building and how that might lead to an effect on public policy.
3) Queer Music Studies--> Interested in queer identity and the resulting music communities

What do they all have in common? Music as a tool to build community. Just some thoughts during spring break (this proves my geek level is off the charts....thinking about dissertation topics over spring break).

Also, I'm trying to get into some political activism (lefty political rabble rousing). Before the music thing, I was really into politics....so much so that I actually wanted to work for the State Department. Now, I'm thinking I want to get involved in a little rabble rousing given that I'm have a renewed interest in politics.

Anyway, here's hoping there'll be a little more posting this term.

Peace, Love, and Tunes,

Mac.

Winter's a dark time of year, even more so for the PNW. In addition to that, it seems as if this has been a particularly dark year for everyone. It seems fitting to me, to remember that while it seems dark, there's a lot of light out there.

In Spanish, to give birth can be translated as "dar a luz," literally to give to the light. There's been a lot of that going on this year, so Ollie, Colin, and Gabe (and all their mamma's), this one's for you guys.



Lullaby


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Here's to the light, and those who give to it.

Peace, Love, and Tunes,

Mac.

I must admit, Glee has become kind of a guilty pleasure for me. It's hard for me to admit it for several reasons. Glee combines the awkward humor that's become so popular, stereotypical characters, and pop songs arranged for a fictional "show choir." I think the characterizations bother me the most. There's the popular football player who happens to have a good voice, his pregnant girlfriend (pregnant by another popular football player also in the choir but he doesn't know that until the fall finale) , the token black soul/r&b singer, the token gay guy who dresses well and loves Wicked, the token uber talented spotlight grabbing annoying choir girl (raised by two gay dads), and a host of other characters that fill out the harmonies and dance numbers. Jane Lynch's Sue Sylvester is by far my favorite character, playing an evil head cheerleading coach bent on destroying the Glee club.

And yet, for some reason, I kind of like it. The overall story is a bit much for me. Too much drama, and most of the comedy is awkward (however if you watch it on Hulu, you can skip most of this). What's most surprising? Glee seems to have become a full-fledged pop culture phenomena.

Why? Why do I even like it? What's up with Glee?

First off, despite the less than superb characters the play, the cast has remarkable actors/singers. Most notably, Lea Michele, star of the 2007 masterpiece Spring Awakening (Tony Award for Best Musical). In addition, Amber Riley lends a remarkable voice well grounded in the soul/R&B genre. With a hard core New Broadway style female voice as well as a soul female voice, Glee is allowed to go in quite a few directions musically. I'm assuming Jenna Ushkowitz also has a great voice, seeing as how she was in the Broadway revival of The King and I as well as understudied for two role in Spring Awakening. We just haven't heard her (really) yet. Noticeably lacking is the presence of equally strong male singers. While five of the male actors have taken their spot as soloists during the shows opening half-season, none of them have the strength of these two strong female leads.

Secondly, Glee stands up to the jukebox musical stereotype. I'm not really a fan of jukebox musicals, but they've become exceedingly popular. Jersey Boys, Rock of Ages, Mama Mia, and to a certain extent The Producers, and Spamalot (in the sense that both had songs the general audience was already familiar with), all are recent jukebox musicals nominated for (or winners of) the Tony Award for Best Musical. I think this reflects a trend in the way music is consumed. Playlists and ipods allow us to make soundtracks for our lives, inserting random often unrelated songs together. This is the Glee soundtrack, although they're all dressed up with show choir vocals and dance moves. I think it's become so popular with adolescent audiences, because the show speaks to the high school point of view that we're all the stars of our own stage production.

Thirdly, they occasionally perform Broadway standards. These are my favorite moments: Michele and Kristin Chenoweth singing Maybe this Time from Cabaret, Defying Gravity from Wicked, I'm Telling You from Dream Girls, and Michele belting out Streisand's Rain on My Parade from Funny Girl. I like my Broadway....and I guess it's apparent I like it even out of context.

My main criticism, besides most of the writing, is the over-production apparent in the singing (especially with the guys). Stage productions, and live music for that matter, offer no opportunity to disguise talent. It is a transformative experience to feel the energy and virtuosity of a live performer. It's what I want to be able to do as a performer, feel the audience in the palm of your hand and move them. Unfortunately, when you overproduce (rampant auto-tune correction anyone?), you lose any power these performers have.

So again, what's up with Glee? I guess for me, I wait around for Lea Michele and Amber Riley to sing. But, if I had to guess, for most of the adolescent population it's about the portrayal of a group of misfits that bands together, and takes their moment of stardom (which is what I think American audiences love about American Idol as well). In addition, Glee doesn't demand audiences to be familiar with other repertoires, it puts music (and dance routines in the case of Beyonces Single Ladies) they're already excited about, dresses it up in Broadway (or show choir) clothes, and uses it in a function we're familiar with (accompaniment to our own melodramas).

Like it or not, I think Glee is here for awhile.

Peace, Love, and Tunes,

Mac.