Before you begin, I am an incredible rambler....so bear with me! =)My life has been a musical since I was a child...there is no possible way I could write it all down in a blog....but I am so incredibly grateful to music. I began singing and playing instruments like the "music maker," an awesome stringed instrument that looked like a children's version of the hammered dulcimer, when I was a toddler. I absolutely loved the children's musicians, John McCutchen (I found out recently, he played a lot of woody guthrie songs) and Raffi! I also have a dad who used to play Blues Brothers and Jimmy Cliff for me..so I grew up a fan of many different styles. I remember seeing Jimmy Cliff in California when I was seven years old...the bar allowed my dad to bring my brother and I and I was one happy girl...dancing on the table and singing along. I picked up instruments quickly..and was eager to learn more...playing flute, recorder, pan flute, penny whistle, harmonica, piano, even some dulcimer in elementary music class. When chorus was an option in 5th grade, I was excited to join and was singing harmony as an alto...I stuck with chorus and band through middle school...then just stayed in chorus in high school. I remember idolizing the older kids who sang in the "really good" groups, like concert choir and chamber choir..but by the time I was a senior, I had moved up to chamber and surprised myself. My friend and I had begun playing guitar and writing songs with harmony...all about love and heatbreak of course....our dream was to travel and sing...and we performed a few times here and there, even recording 2 cd's. College years came and I had been slowly getting more and more into classic rock, jam bands, blues, bluegrass, and more. I kept playing guitar, took as many music classes as I could, and got a Music Minor.
Then Music Festivals came into my life! WHOAH...that is a whole other blog...but it was such a beautiful experience...to be camping, listening to music, and connecting with so many others like myself...just beautiful people everywhere. I eventually came to work at these festivals through a chain of events that led me to 3 years of selling Grateful Dead family clothing...mostly babies and toddlers. Being in this environment opened me up to a world of new perspectives on who I was, how I connected to others, the joy of spontaneity, the excitements of travel, and a strong sense of community, plus the music I was now exposed to was just amazing. This experience awakened the girl inside that was ready to be set free....she's fun, expressive, determined, strong, passionate, and extremely flaired out! Although this awakening led me to leave a very long relationship that I was holding onto for dear life...many gifts came from the split. It wasn't your typical breakup....we both wanted the other to have certain things, we wrote loving messages to each other...expressing our respect for one another...it was just not typical. I was about to turn 24, and he wanted to give me a birthday present anyway...and that's how I got my ukulele.
I spent my next year learning songs and writing my own...jamming with my dad and others...and absolutely loving this gift. I got together with 2 girlfriends and we performed as a trio..."Ginger Tea" with many raving about our unique cover songs. It felt SO good to perform...especially with 2 talented women. As soon as I moved in with my brother and his family, my brother began recording my songs. Again, the dream of performing came back...except the audience I now envisioned was families. Lo and Behold....My niece's speech therapist suggested I look into being a Music Together teacher, and voila!....3 months after moving to new jersey, I was teaching music classes to babies and toddlers with their parents. And here I am, today I taught 2 Music Together classes...I get to sing, play instruments, lead rhythm patterns, tonal patterns, educate parents on musical terms, and practice spontaneity within community. Children require you to think quickly on how to re-direct the energy to either keep them interested, or empower them from an otherwise "BAd behavior." Music helps me guide my niece and nephew to clean up, eat food, change clothes, take a bath...walk down the stairs....do yoga...everything is easier when you make it a song!
I am so excited to see where Music brings me next...my dream is to eventually become and world musician...traveling and collaborating...learning new languages, rhythms, strumming patterns....
ahhhhh.....
Namaste! May your world be filled with music ~ love
You can check out my music at these sites....
http://www.youtube.com/user/OneFunkyFeather?feature=mhum
http://www.reverbnation.com/funkyfeather
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