Tag: Musicians

A History of Redevelopments

My humanities moment comes in the form a song called “Inner City Blues,” by Marvin Gaye. The song was released in 1971 and it was a vocal illustration…

A Soul Filled with Music

Thomas describes the impact that a conductor at a childhood music camp had in showing her the transformative potential of music. His passion and intensity led to a…

In the Presence of True Magic

Sansone remembers a childhood opportunity to watch from the wings of his hometown theater as Gladys Knight performed. As he describes it, seeing her transform into a dazzling…

An Invitation to a Community of Musicians

Crawford recalls how a potentially traumatic move to a new high school at the age of fourteen could have been a distressing experience, but ultimately showed him the…

Cultivating Emotional Intelligence Through Classical Music

As a child, Ken Stringfellow had difficulty relating to others and understanding seemingly inscrutable social cues. Turning to his parents’ collection of LPs changed all that. By immersing…

How Big Star Saved Pop Rock

Peter Holsapple describes his dismay as a Beatles fan growing up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina when subsequent pop rock, in his opinion, failed to live up to their…

Becoming a One-Man Band

Heitzenrater describes his transition from an early focus on classical music to the revelation that multi-track recording could enable him to reach new creative heights in musical composition…

Spellbound by a Sleeper

Musician Dave Wilson describes being struck by the legacy of The Night of the Hunter, a film essentially ignored directly after its release in 1955 but celebrated by…

Butthole Surfers Blew My Mind

Butthole Surfers was the band. Locust Abortion Technician was the album. Bob Schneider’s life would never be the same. – Bob Schneider (Musician, Songwriter, and Artist, Austin, Texas)

Finding the “Truth” in Music

In June 2017, I found myself in a cramped, sweltering apartment in New York’s East Village. I was there with three high-school students to interview William Millan, founder…

My Favorite Things

At the age of 74, I could describe many humanities moments but this one stands out. Sometime in 1961, my brother was driving me home when I first…