The Practice Room

Maynard Silva

Me: How often are you surprised by your playing, or what you’re listening to, or music in general?

Maynard: If my mind is clear and it's real music, not Brittany Timberlake Jackson Manilow, then I'm always surprised by it. You never get used to cold showers - they always wake you up.  As for playing, it's the preconception thing…less preconceptions, more surprises, more fun.

Blues singer/guitarist Maynard Silva was the first person I interviewed for WorkshopLive’s profile series. I heard a lot of great stuff doing those interviews, but to me nobody topped Maynard. Beginner’s luck on my part, I guess.

Maynard has been fighting cancer for a while now. There’s a wonderful story about him and his son, Milo, in their hometown paper, the Vineyard Gazette, and it’s well worth reading. Also, because I’m a sentimental guy, I’m posting the whole interview with Maynard in the continuation section of this entry.

Milo, by the way, is a devotee of Tuvan music and all things Mongolian. I interviewed him as well, but found it too hard to connect the Tuvan music he was playing with the guitar/bass/keyboard interests that I expected WorkshopLive subscribers to have. One of these days I’ll give it another shot.

[TJH]

New WorkshopLive Feature: Find A Teacher In your Area

WorkshopLive has just installed a new feature, the Teacher Resource Program. In a nutshell: students can find teachers by country, state and city (we list teachers in the U.S. and Canada); teachers can sign up to  be listed.

This is a great service that will help you find the right teacher and help us promote WorkshopLive as a great supplement for any teacher's lessons, since we don't believe that WorkshopLive can replace real music teachers.

The Teacher Resource Program is not only limited to listing teachers who teach an instrument currently available at WorkshopLive, but is open to all instruments. WorkshopLive teachers are marked with "WL Approved."

Wherever you are, use our Teacher Resource Program and find the teacher of your choice.

Peter

Artist of the Month: Susannah Lambert-Babcock June 2007

Susannah Lambert-Babcock is our Artist of the Month for June. Her works are exhibited at WorkshopLive in Pittsfield, 2nd floor. Everyone is invited to her reception on Friday June 8, 2007, from 5 - 7 pm.

Artist of the Month, May 2007: Raleigh Green, also WorkshopLive Guitar Teacher

Raleigh Green is currently exhibiting his artwork in WorkshopLive's showroom. Raleigh also teaches Rock guitar lessons, combining music with visual art.

Artist of the Month: Michael Rousseau - March 2007

WorkshopLive proudly presents the “Rock Star Poster Series” by Michael Rousseau.  The 10 images, from Series I, will be on display from March 2 through March 31. An artist reception will be held on Friday, March 9th from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.  The viewing hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM from Monday to Friday.

Tom Dempsey Live

Tom Dempsey, one of WorkshopLive’s great jazz guitar teachers, will be taping a live performance at the Castle Street Café in Great Barrington, Massachusetts this Saturday at 7:30 PM. Joining Tim will be WorkshopLive bass teacher Tim Ferguson and drummer Jeff Seigel. (Don’t know if Jeff is working for WorkshopLive yet, but if he’s good enough to play with Tom and Tim, he’s pretty damn good.)

If you’re in the area, by all means drop by for the show. The food and drink at Castle Street is top drawer, and the music will be superb. Tom’s from the Grant Green school of jazz guitar – smooth and sparkly clean. You can check him out in advance in the teacher’s section of WorkshopLive.

[TJH]

Artist of the Month: Carly Beery - January 2007

Artist of the month of January 2007 is Carly Beery from Peru, Massachusetts.

   

   


My art is a free form expression. It is a way for me to get all of my emotions out and to splatter them for others to see. What I create depends on the expressive range of the day; it is about what I am feeling.

 

 

Artist of the Month: Timothy Phelps - December 2006

Artist of the month of December 2006 is Timothy Phelps. His photographs are on display in the WorkshopLive exhibition room on the 2nd floor.

Timothy Phelps is a professional graphic designer and photographer. He has photographed all over the United States-including Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park-but specializes in nature photography in New England. On display will be many photos as well as some fine art and graphic design pieces.

For nearly 8 years, Tim has been the Art Director for Workshop Arts Publications, National Guitar Workshop, and DayJams-all affiliated with WorkshopLive. For these companies, he has designed books, brochures, and national advertising as well as edited and authored DVD/book packages utilizing WorkshopLive's video lessons.

Just in case we forgot

Bob from Louisiana sent me these reminders:

• Number of housing units damaged, destroyed, or inaccessible because of Katrina: 850,791
• Number of churches, synagogues, and mosques damaged or destroyed: approximately 900
• Percentage of New Orleans’ pre-Katrina residents who have returned to the city: approximately 45

• Percentage of New Orleans cultural institutions that remain closed from storm damage: 75
• Estimated number of working musicians in New Orleans pre-Katrina: 2,500
• Estimated number of musicians in New Orleans post-Katrina: 250
• Number of homes currently available at Habitat for Humanity’s Musicians’ Village: 75
• Of the 61 applications from New Orleans-area musicians for homes in the Musicians’ Village, percentage immediately turned down between February and May 2006 due to credit problems: 50
• Number of musicians approved for housing in the Musicians’ Village as of July 2006: 6

Artist of the Month: Michelle Lydon - November 2006

Our artist of the month of November is Michelle Lydon from New Marlborough, Massachusetts. An opening reception is being held today at 5:00 p.m. at the WorkshopLive exhibition room on the 2nd floor in Pittsfield, Mass. Enjoy!