WE BUY RECORDS & CDS A concert by children featuring the violin folk music of the Americas and the world...to continue funding and supplying music education efforts to orphans at the Menri Monastery in Solan, India. The youth are taught as part of the Bon Dialectic School and sponsored with the Music for Menri outreach project founded by Olmo Ling Bon Center and Institute.
Friday Evening April 24, 2015 7pm
$20.00 at the door
MONDAY-FRIDAY 9AM-6PM SATURDAY 10AM-5PM
$15.00 Student Discount
First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall 5401 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh PA
513 GRANT AVENUE • MILLVALE Questions? Call Us 412-821-8484
ATTICRECORDS@VERIZON.NET
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Enjoy $5 Pints during Craft Beer Week! After Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week check out our Craft Beer Happy Hour featuring 1/2 off all Craft Beers from 5:005:00-7:00pm Monday - Friday 122 W. 8th Ave. • Homestead • 412-461-8124 • Dukesupperdeck.com 24
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 04.22/04.29.2015
KID ROCK, CONTINUED FROM PG. 22
inspiration for Richard Linklater’s 2003 film comedy School of Rock, and the subject of the 2005 documentary, Rock School.) Many similar programs exist both locally and nationally. And while the particulars of each program vary, the concept is generally the same: Get a bunch of kids together, divvy them into bands and, with the support of their teachers, let them embrace their inner rock stars. Some students show up to Rock School with a few music lessons under their belt, but others have no experience at all. Many students return semester after semester. Fifteen-year-old Blair Nelson, who performs at the rehearsal in spandex pants and bare feet, has been in the program for three years. As the dynamic lead singer for a group of 14to 17-year-olds — “We don’t have a name yet, but that’s OK!” she tells the audience — she nails ambitious crowd-pleasers like Van Halen’s “Panama” and Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.” “I never knew how fun it could be to be in a band,” she gushes later, noting the transformative effect of playing for an audience. “You’ve got these people who [you see at school] and they’re really quiet, and then they get up in front of people … it’s great to see. It’s a great experience all around.” The process can be a challenge, of course. Brockschmidt compares it to trying to build something with a bag of mismatched Legos. “Some pieces don’t necessarily fit together and you sort of have to force it,” he says. “Usually those are the best [situations], because you have people interacting who wouldn’t normally be interacting with each other. And you learn about being a human being to other people who you don’t necessarily know.” “REAL.LIFE.MUSIC Camp,” a “rock-star reality camp” and branch of Mr. Small’s Theatre’s nonprofit Creative.Life.Support, shares that goal of developing the confidence of young musicians, but takes a slightly different educational approach. Where Rock School instructors help students assemble a set of covers, Real.Life. Music Camp — which has been around for 12 years and begins on Aug. 10 — focuses on original songwriting, and learning what it takes to have a career in the music business. Campers record in Mr. Small’s professional studio, do photo shoots and put together press kits. “The majority of students are kids who are serious about it and want to actually form bands or [become] professional musicians,” says founder Liz Berlin, who has had plenty of experience in the music world as a member of the band Rusted Root. “Maybe they discover throughout the camp that they actually want to be a tour manager, or CONTINUES ON PG. 26
PERFECTipsTfor aspiring PITCH songwriters Sitting down to write a song can be a daunting process, so City Paper asked four local musicians to share their songwriting advice, and their own experiences with the craft.
I draw inspiration from other people’s work, usually a sentence or passage from a book, or someone else’s song or lyric that has affected me in some way. I don’t like to rush or force things, so it may take me several minutes www.rashadjamaal or several isbillypilgrim.com weeks. When I have the words down, subject to editing, I generally practice first without music as I am of firm belief in the power of words. They shape the world we live in, and if the words are truth, they should be able to stand on their own without accoutrement to be understood and felt. If your words have power, they will move. Next, I usually practice it over different music, rhythms, etc., to open up vocal possibility and option of style to the point I can “breathe” the lyrics naturally, no matter the backing music. I always work on multiple projects at once so I don’t get stagnant.
— BILLY PILGRIM, HIP-HOP ARTIST, AS TOLD TO CAROLYNE WHELAN
The best songs are honest songs. Whether you’re telling the truth or not from your own deepest heart … there’s kind of an honesty that can shine through a lyric in any song. Try to find your own story, and be as true and bold as you can possibly www.billdeasy.com be in telling it. Just give yourself that permission to express that story that only you can express. When you’re being your most honest and your most free, it’s bound to resonate [with] people. Try not to chase the fad of the moment or write a hit song: Find your own thing, because whatever you’re trying to be, it will change in two seconds.”
— BILL DEASY, SINGER-SONGWRITER, NOVELIST AND FORMER FRONTMAN OF THE GATHERING FIELD, AS TOLD TO SHAWN COOKE HEAR FROM TWO MORE MUSICIANS ON PG. 34