On February 25, I had the incredible opportunity to go to ‘Folk U’, an event held in Festival Hall with the aim of bringing youth into music and expanding their potential in a variety of genres. Entering the small front room, I immediately noticed a wide variety of instruments adding to the warm and friendly atmosphere. Upon nervously entering, I was quickly greeted by a vibrant, dark-haired woman with an infectious smile. Kenna Burima, standing approximately 5’7” filled the room with her outgoing personality and warm voice.
Festival Hall
After getting to know each other, all of us with diverse musical experience and background, it became more and more apparent how much we all remained in the same boat. Music production is tough, if it wasn’t (as my band teacher has often said) everyone would do it. My upbringing music-wise began in the boring hours that filled my waiting during my sister’s piano lessons. MYC, or Music for Young Children, was my first exposure to piano and I quickly grew very interested. I was never the musical one in the family so it is ironic that I became absorbed with piano for the next five years, consuming the classical songs one after the other, yet always feeling a certain gravitation towards the slow, ‘pretty’ pieces. Having regrettably taken a hiatus from piano, I find myself another five years later, having dabbled in flute and voice. “Peace to All”, a song Elvin and I made this past winter [click here to take a look] was what really brought me back to music. Having released a song made me realize that no matter what age you are, you can make music and that music never really leaves you.
“Believe in your music, it doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks,” Kenna said part way through her presentation. Some of the best advice I think. Music is all about taking risks and putting yourself out there, the moment you make any music though, you are a musician. It’s all about improving and becoming better while having fun with another language and arguably, another world. Admitting when you’re not good at something is the first step to becoming better and not just in music.
So practicing…unfortunately that is the key. While practice doesn’t necessarily make perfect, it certainly doesn’t hurt. Discipline and commitment to what you value in life, be it music or something else is what will make you successful in that area. So if you’re just a dedicated listener thinking about maybe what it could be like to cover a song or even make one or if you’re releasing your fourth album tomorrow (congrats!), just know that you can only become a better musician.
Not only did the ‘Folk U’ event provide the awesome experience to meet Kenna and musical youth from around the city, it gave me an opportunity to hear from others and even perform. The menacing ‘open mic’ from a newbie perspective is quite a frightening prospect. Going up in front of people and performing live for the first time? No way, was my first thought. Probably my second thought too but the open mic was an incredible opportunity not only for the performers, but also for me as the listener.
Chained By Mind
So learning from success and failure is the moral of this story. Don’t be afraid to be yourself, especially in your own music. Music isn’t about how many likes your Facebook page has, or how many Twitter followers you have (Twitter is frustrating on the best of days) but about where it takes you. So plan out your first album and stick to it. Your songs, your story.
The next Folk U event will be held March 27 at 7:30pm (the open mic), so bring yourself and your instrument of choice and show us what you got!