Goals and Education
Guest Post on Banjo After Dark
How cool is this? Jonas asked me to make a guest post for Banjo After Dark!
How cool is this? Jonas asked me to make a guest post for Banjo After Dark!
In the previous post I wrote a about recording recording Little Birdie with puja and maria. That got me thinking about Frank Hamilton who taught me that song when I went to visit him in 2010.
Eventually, something inside me clicked and I thought, “Oh. The kids don’t have school. We should go visit Ella!”
When I think of the ways that I’ve grown, I know I couldn’t a’ made it alone.I owe a lot to the sharing, caring, daring wonderful friends that I’ve known. Pete Seeger and Dave Bernz Up and Down the River with Friends Introduction from the crew At the jam Lots of smiles! The Captain (on the left) and a crew member Picking some tunes before we embarked. Tunes on the sloopl The rudder The deck. Not much space to sit, huh? It was a lot of work to hoist sail. I’m obviously very glad to be done. Kate and Janet The main sail of the Sloop Clearwater! Most, if not all, of these photos were taken by Mary Zerkel. Miss you and your family, Mary! Thank you! Lyric and Chord Charts Bountiful River Down By the Embarrass Sailing Down My Golden River Wonderful Friends In August of 2014 some dears ones, in particular Judy Higgins, and I caravaned from the greater Old Town School of Folk Music region of Chicago to Beacon, NY to sing and sail on the Sloop Clearwater; Pete Seeger’s boat on the Hudson River. Such a trip had been on my mind for a year or two and the swirl of good feelings in our musical community after Pete died on January 27, 2014, blew the idea from my daydreams into reality. “Sailing Up and Down the River with Friends” began. About 20 of us made the trip for this very memorable voyage. The boat was “a real, functioning sloop,” as the crew let us know during introductions. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it definitely wasn’t designed for tourists. There was ropes, pulleys and other boat hardware covering every inch of the deck. Where were we going to sit for our jam?!?!? The crew lead us in the sea shanty, Paddy Works on the Railway, as we pulled together to hoist the main sail. I’m not sure why they chose a railroad song, rather than a sea faring song, but it was a perfect fit. They instructed about 10 of to take hold of the halyard and pull to the beat of the song. The crew counted off an incredibly slow tempo, which made sense immediately when it became apparent how difficult it was going to be to hoist the sail. Slow and steady, with my arms burning, the sail was up and we continued on our way. I was already exhausted! And, I never heard a sea shanty the same way again. It was a quite, beautiful afternoon on the river with mostly sunny skies. As we embarked there was this one small dramatic dark cloud that sauntered right over us. It loosened a handful of raindrops and for one moment I was nervous that our jam was going to be rained out. But, the cloud quickly carried on, and we didn’t feel another drop. Later I thought, “Ah, that cloud was Pete saying hi in his own particular way.” As the excursion continued, we had a fantastic jam. It was clear from the crew introductions that they had expected us to follow their lead during the music portion of the ride. But, without much notice, instruments were unpacked and the sound of our music filled the air. We all took turns leading songs, and the crew eased back to enjoy the jam with us. We probably played for an hour or so. Then, instruments were packed, ropes were wound back up and we headed back to shore. Ten years. Wow, a lot has changed in ten years and that on the Hudson River feels both very far away in my memory, and also much nearer. The time from the Sloop trip to my last teaching day at the Old Town School was five years. Then, my last class at OTS to today was also five years. Hard to imagine that those two stretches of time were equal. Life is so different. I wonder if I’ll ever lead another event like that. Not that I want to! I’m very happy these days with my slower pace. It’s been a tearful experience to look through these photos, many of which I haven’t seen since they were originally taken. In that time, Zelda, who was a member of the Young Stracke All-Stars, completed her undergrad degree. I live with Grace and Maria now, which has been the most delightful surprise of the past 10 years. I was able to have lunch with Anthony and Dana, who I hadn’t seen at least five years, earlier this summer. Many of the others I see on an occasional virtual jam or concert. We all played a lot of music together during my Chicago years and I feel so lucky that, even if we don’t get to play together very much anymore, I still consider them close friends. I know that, if the opportunity presented itself, we could jump right into a version of Pete’s Sailing Up and Down the River, just like old times.
Jess Baldissero is not only a good friend, she is one of my favorite songwriters. I was honored that she sat with me earlier in the week to discuss the discoveries and accidents of the creative process. We shared some laughs, talked about good times and hard times and we each played a few songs. Audio and Video Audio Only Getting to Know Trees knowingtrees.com · Songwriters' Exchange with Jason McInnes and Jess Baldissero Three tracks from The Hermit, my debut solo album are streaming during the pre-order period. The full album will be released June 28, 2024 on Bandcamp. http://joybird.bandcamp.comPick up Jess’s music, featuring her band Joybird, at Bandcamp also.
Musical Dreaming – it’s a practice that I took part in, but had never really considered until some great chats with my old friend John Donahue. I think about John and his musical dreaming a lot when I meet with frustrated students. https://vimeo.com/949795666?share=copy Dreaming with Your Guitar .pdf They wanted to play more. They’re just too busy. They’re frustrated with the pace of their progress. They’re overwhelmed and don’t know what to practice. I get it. I feel that way about music all the time. Thankfully, I’ve developed some strategies to get me out of such a funk and this is one of them. Next time you don’t know what to play, or are bored or frustrated with the same old songs, try some dreaming. The video is the best description I can make of this process. I’ve also made a .pdf that has some drawings that can be useful, but there’s very little instruction on it. I hope you find this useful.
. . . standing backstage at our album release show and hearing the sold-out crowd stomping and chanting,
“It’s a Gril! It’s a Girl! It’s a Girl!”
I stepped up to the paper and realized, almost immediately, that I did not have control of the necessary skills to complete the piece as I wanted. I could understand the process intellectually, but it wasn’t going to come out of my pen without more practice.
It’s been three years since I left my home of the previous 25 years and drove this Uhaul trailer into the great unknown. During that time, as I laid my head down on my pillow, I heard the roaring wind and crashing waves on the Lake Superior coast and the sand-filled gales and coyotes howl in the foothills of the Chihuahuan Desert. The winds of change have been heaving me along the highway for a long time. Now, it’s time to settle back down. A few weeks ago I was packing up another Uhaul to make a move which I know would bring me to a lull in the vigorous wind gusts. My friend, Kevin Burrows, wrote a short piece on social media which summed up exactly how I am feeling, as the winds die down and I settle into my new home. I am honored that he agreed to allow me to share it with you. Where have you been blown from? Where did you get blown to? Did you find a soft place to land?
I have been invited to show several pieces at the upcoming exhibition, Water Worlds, An Exhibition Exploring the Essence of Water (details follow). It’s the first time that I will have multiple pieces at a show, which is very exciting. I was asked to provide an artist statement to accompany the work. It’s been a long time since I’ve written an artist statement and I’ve never written one based on my visual art. I’m very happy with my final statement. Here it is. Thank you for reading. Jason McInnes Artist Statement Spring 2022 Gather sustaining provisions. Reinforce the tunnel walls. Chip away the stone, blow by blow. I work like a miner pursuing a vein of gold; the precarious notion that, through the mastery of materials, I become the master of my own existence. I was built, broken and rebuilt in the midwest of the United States, although I now reside in New Mexico. I am a music-centric teaching artist by vocation. I build systems of learning in my visual and music-based artmaking, which I use to fortify my resolve to “be here now”. I am drawn to uncomplicated mark making materials. I gravitate toward simple tools like pencils, charcoal and erasers because they are readily available. I dig for universal truths in the tip of a common ballpoint pen. I work alongside the sun; freeing it to develop its greyscale along with me. I choose media that can easily fit in a backpack, be pulled from a pocket on a walk through the desert foothills, or can be worked with in limited studio space. A mixture of celestial light and human-made light, like street lamps and illuminated signage, dependably grab attention. So does the crisp edge of a line of mesquite trees cutting into a blue sky. My work reflects these relationships as a way to offer reverence to the cosmos as well as serving as a path to keep nourished and grounded. Water Worlds, An Exhibition Exploring the Essence of Water, Opening Night Reception Exhibition – Friday, June 10 through Sunday, June 26 Opening Night Reception – Friday, June 10 – 4:00 – 6:30 The Anchor Building at Trader Todd’s Marina, 24030 Jefferson, Saint Clair Shores MI 48080 This exhibition is made possible with the cooperation of KB Studios, Chicago IL and is curated by artist and educator Kaye Buchman. This show demonstrates various artists’ interest in honoring and preserving our most precious resource – water. A portion of proceeds from the sale of work will go to the Alliance for the Great Lakes. The show will open on June 10 and run through June 30.Featured Artists are:Jason McInnesMary RidleyMary GombergSusan GamermanKatharine HathawayKathleen MaltesePhyllis RabineauSue TellerJanet WishinskyJoan BaerVirginia CarstarphenKay Buchman
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