00:22

Emelyn: Hello friends of BC. My name is Emelyn Koene. I’m a staff writer for Bridgewater College’s newspaper BC Voice, and today I’ll be talking to David Manson. David is a senior digital media arts major with a minor in communications. He teaches guitar locally in Bridgewater and Harrisonburg. Today he’ll be discussing the local music scene with me. David, I’m so glad that you could join me today.

David: I appreciate you having me. Happy to be here.

00:51

Emelyn: Alright David, can you tell me a little bit about what the music scene looks like in Bridgewater and Harrisonburg? 

David: Well I’ll say, year round, locally, there’s two big events that happen. There’s gonna be Macrock, which used to be called the Mid-Atlantic College Radio Conference. That’s an independent music festival put on by WXJM, which is JMU’s independent radio station.

01:15

Macrock usually happens in April, around the time of Easter break, so a lot of Bridgewater students might miss it if they’ve gone home, but Townies, JMU students, and a lot of other people enjoy it. As far as folksy stuff, which I’d say is the other divide, most of that leads up to Redwing, which its a festival that meets at Natural Chimneys. I think this year would be the 11th year.

01:44

Emelyn: So you mentioned Red Wing. Could you tell me a little bit more about that? 

David: Red Wing is a, traditionally it’s been a three day long festival, but this year it’s gonna be from June 20th to 22nd at Natural Chambers Park in Mount Solon. So Red Wing is hosted by the Steel Wheels, which is a band based out of, say, the Harrisonburg slash Shenandoah Valley area. Now, they’ll often be on tour with other folk artists, but it feels like they almost scout them out and bring the best of them back here. Some of the highlights.

02:13

seen Kurt Weill, Molly Tuttle, Madison Cunningham, Old Crow Medicine Show, and many many others. They like to keep it a wide variety actually. I mean, there’ll be more heavy bands, there’ll be more electric bass bands, more blues bands, and just straight up old school bluegrass and old time, which keeps you from getting tired. I mean, if you’re a music lover in general, I think you’d enjoy Red Wing.

02:46

Emelyn: Thank you so much, David. Could you tell me a little bit about the music venues that are locally? 

David: Well, within the town of Bridgewater, most people know the Cracked Pillar, which will host singer-songwriters, often Thursday, Friday nights. It’s a small enough stage they can at best maybe fit someone in an acoustic guitar. Maybe a cajon on the side, which is a little box-like drum. But what seems to be the draw for more people that live in town, less so the younger students…

03:15

is the Sipe Center. And now the Sipe Center, you might know it as the theater that’s located across from Francesco’s. It also will host cover bands. And it seems to have a pretty booked schedule for the summer when people aren’t around. As far as hosting, maybe variety acts, such as comedy, ensembles of musicians, and movies mixed in. In the town of Bridgewater, that’s pretty much it. Although,

03:45

Harrisonburg is where a lot of students will end up going, of course, where there’s great venues like the Golden Pony, there’s Clementine, there’s even Broad Porch Coffee, which has kind of taken over as the hardcore venue, surprisingly enough. Broad Porch will often throw shows, maybe there’ll be last-minute ones just advertised on their Instagram, and it’s a wonderful space.

04:12

Emelyn: Thank you. So the music scene seems to be constantly evolving. Are there any upcoming events that you as a musician are excited about?

David: Well aside from Macrock and Red Wing, which have been constants for maybe the last 10 to even 20 years for some of these, one thing I’ve been trying to get off the ground is throwing concerts in the courtyard of First Presbyterian Church, which is downtown Harrisonburg. If you know where the courthouse is, it’s going to be right there on Court Square.

04:43

So Nine Court Square is a space that that church has owned and recently renovated. And along with that renovation, they’ve completed a stage outside, but given that, you know, it’s both a seasonal thing and that it’s been under construction, they haven’t really gotten the chance to throw many shows out there. What I’ve been trying to do is book local acts, get in touch with them, and start a concert series there, which won’t have any sort of affiliation with the church. It’s just something that’ll be using their space.

05:12

given my connection to there.

05:20

Emelyn: Thank you so much for talking about all the exciting things happening right now on the music scene. How could a student or I guess just anybody learn more about what shows are happening? 

David: Well usually the way I keep track of shows, say it’ll be Instagram, a lot of these venues will have pretty regular updates about when shows are upcoming, say if anything is rescheduled or changed around. Facebook events have also been a townie favorite for a long time. A lot of people from Harrisonburg.

05:49

A lot of friends are often inviting me, or posting general invites on their feed, to shows that they have coming up. If you don’t have any of those, I’d say go to the website of venues.

06:06

Emelyn: Thank you. Are there any options for people who can’t get to all of these live shows? 

David: I’ll say besides just streaming these artists, supporting them how you can, maybe Bandcamp or Distro Kid or however they have their music posted, WXJM, which is JMU’s college radio station, which many of you might get as 88.7 on your FM radio dial in your car, they do a lot of live to tape or…

06:34

sort of live stream shows that you can tune into. They’ll be posting about these ahead of time on their website or on their Instagram. And it’ll definitely highlight plenty of great local artists. 

06:49

Emelyn: Thank you. You mentioned local artists. As a musician, are there any local artists who have given you a lot of inspiration? 

David: Well one of the artists that’s been the most amazing for me to watch evolve and grow since they’ve started out is a folk trio called Palmyra, which started out as three friends from JMU just playing music together at open mic nights. And today their sound has changed. I mean it’s folksy with plenty of other influences. So

07:19

One of the coolest things that’s happened to them recently is they were actually signed to Oh Boy Records, which is a small independent record label that was founded by the late great singer-songwriter John Prine, who is a particular hero of mine. Just seeing that, I feel like he would have been proud of them. So they’ll often be on tour, at folk festivals. They’ll also play a lot of builds with the Illiterate Light, which is another Harrisonburg-based band. It’s a…

07:47

They border on blues rock at times, but they’re a duo that’s been around for, I think, just short of ten years. They’ve just put out a new record called Arches. I guess this would be their third record and their first one released independently, which has also been an amazing journey to watch. Jeff and Jake, I say that like I know them. I’ve had plenty of interactions with them, but I can tell you from seeing them around for years, they’re solid guys.

08:17

They’re just two best friends going up on stage, making noise and having fun. And if you went to go see one of their shows, you definitely feel that. You definitely feel the energy and just how much they love this area, how much they love playing music together.

08:37

Emelyn: Thank you for talking about some really cool local artists like Palmyra and Illiterate Light. Are there any other local artists that you can shout out? 

David: I’ll say one good friend of mine is Rebecca Porter. Now, she’s her own country singer songwriter with tons of original material. She also fronts her own band called Rebecca Porter and the Rhinestone Roses. Now, if you’re a fan of Alzen Krauss, Amy Lou Harris, even Dolly Parton, check out Rebecca’s stuff. She’s often playing shows in town like at Clementine or The Pony.

09:06

Another good friend of mine I’d recommend is Caleb Stein. Now Caleb kind of has this sort of alternative country thing going for him. He’s a big fan of acts like Wilco, John Prine, Townes Van Zandt is one of the most common comparisons, but… I mean, just picture a tall cowboy guy that looks like Willie Nelson maybe 40 years ago. Now another friend I’ll mention is Georgia Saunders, who was a recent JMU grad. She has a few musical projects,

09:33

but mainly she plays with Not a Saint Band besides her own singer-songwriter stuff. Now just kind of think fun, maybe soft rock and roll with a hint of Chappell Roan mixed in there, but she’ll have a whole ensemble of musicians playing behind her that are all fantastic.

09:56

Emelyn: Thank you for sharing so much about these local artists. Are there any more alternative or heavy bands locally? 

David: I’ll say one of the main ones is Machete. There’s also Machine State, which kind of think talking heads, but a little bit more synth heavy. There’s Monopolyopolis, which is this really cool one-man band consisting of a bunch of live looping. Another one of my favorite multimedia artists is Jaguardini, who will play with a TV on his head.

10:25

next to a projector screen syncing up his music with that.

10:35

Emelyn: Thank you so much for talking about these cool local artists. With there being so many local artists, are there also a lot of music stores? 

David: Well, I’ll say there’s two main ones that stand out to me. Of course, there’s Hometown Music, which is a pretty established staple of the valley. They’re a dealer for a lot of new instruments. Say they’ll sell Fender, Yamaha, Ibanez. I believe they’ve also added Eastman and Martin recently, which are all, you know, standard brands that…

11:06

can fit pretty much any musician from beginner to pro in whatever their needs are. Now, another place that seems to be a little bit more eclectic and is definitely a favorite of mine is Wonder Records. Now, you might also know this as Wonder Skate Shop. It’s a joint business where they have a record store side and a skate side, which you can also get decent project guitars or great old guitars there from

11:35

whatever they have in. It’s a little bit more unpredictable, a little bit more, um, I’ll say off the beaten path and quirky. If trading instruments around is for you, then Elliot at Wonder is a great guy to know. Now, if you don’t play guitar like me, there’s also, I believe it’s Shenandoah Valley Band Instruments, which is also located downtown, and there’s also Tiller Strings, which is a newer business that starts up.

12:03

they’re pretty much violins and every other more traditional type of string instrument.

12:13

Emelyn: Thank you, I really appreciate the insight there. Um, what music stores could you recommend to different musicians? 

David: I’ll say, if you’ve been at the hobby for a while, you want to pick up a project guitar, go to Wonder. It’s almost like going to a pawn shop sometimes, since they pretty much have whatever local musicians have been using and traded around to get something new. Now, you can find vintage guitars there, I mean, I’ve seen guitars there as old as maybe the thirties, and you can find

12:43

relatively new stuff that’s in great shape. Now, Hometown seems to cover the widest audience. That might be people that are just starting out, pros looking for their next instrument to add to their collection, and it’s gonna be more than just guitar players covered there. Now, they can cater to almost every other musician as far as singers, people that play the drums, anyone that plays any folk instrument like a banjo or a mandolin. They’re gonna have that there.

13:12

they’re going to have a good selection too.

13:19

Emelyn: Thank you so much for the insight on music stores. Are there also some good places to get lessons in the area? 

David: Apart from the lessons that Bridgewater offers here, which I would recommend, there’s one place I know of, which is called Carrendo Studios. Now that’s a recent business started by two JMU grads, and they offer all sorts of strings lessons, drums, guitar, and piano.

13:52

Emelyn: Thank you. You mentioned that you have some experience taking music lessons at Bridgewater. Could you talk about that? 

David: Well, man, in my time at Bridgewater, I’ve taken lessons with Richard Adams, who a lot of people love. He’s the guitar instructor, but he does everything. Richard Adams is a versatile guy, and I would highly recommend taking lessons with him if you get the chance. I’ve also taken voice lessons with Shannon Kaiser. I’ve also…

14:20

taken Dr. Taylor’s piano class and private organ lessons with him. Now, Dr. Taylor is fantastic. I would highly recommend any class with him if you get the chance. I mean, even non-music majors, if you need to take intro to western music, take Dr. Taylor’s section rather than an adjunct if you can. Now, we’ve also added Greg Brown to the music staff recently. He’s an adjunct, but he teaches guitar lessons, and Greg is highly skilled in pretty much any genre, from flamenco to…

14:50

eighties Thrash Metal.

14:57

Emelyn: Thank you. It sounds like you’re pretty experienced taking lessons here at Bridgewater. What do the lessons look like? 

David: Usually it’s just 30 minutes a day, whether it’s online or in the office of any of these music teachers. Now, something like organ lessons, of course. We do have an organ in a practice room, but that’ll sometimes Dr. Taylor likes to change it up to keep it interesting. So for one of our lessons, we’ll go to the church on the hill.

15:25

the Nazarene Church and play the organ there, where Dr. Taylor is also the organist. Now guitar lessons are often tied to guitar ensemble, which isn’t being offered this year, but I really hope it’ll be offered again in the future.

15:46

Emelyn: Tell me more about the guitar ensemble? So that’s a group, right, instead of just one-on-one? 

David: It is. The guitar ensemble consists of any guitar student that’s also enrolled in that and would play at recitals, whether it’s arrangements of original pieces, classical pieces, or classical arrangements of Beatles tunes.

16:11

Emelyn: Do you think you could tell me a little bit about the voice lessons that you’ve taken at Bridgewater? 

David: Well, just like other lessons, it consists of 30 minutes one-on-one. But the typical voice lesson starts with doing warm-ups, and then maybe we’ll pick out a classical piece to sing, something a little bit more traditional. Or you can bring whatever you want. You can sing wherever you think you might improve, whatever songs you like to learn.

16:41

Emelyn: Thank you so much. What advice would you give to a Bridgewater College student who’s trying to learn a new instrument? 

David: Well, regardless of your music major or music minor, I’d say be ready to live in the practice rooms for at least a day a week. Spend time with your instrument and talk with your professors. Befriend the music faculty and staff. They’re all kind and they’ll all understand you at whatever level you’re at. They’ll all be helpful

17:12

and passionate about helping you learn.

17:21

Emelyn: Thank you for that. What advice would you give a more experienced musician who is really set in what they’ve been doing? 

David: I mean, I’ve suffered from this a little bit with, say, relearning certain bad habits, certain techniques that I did in odd or unconventional ways. Don’t be afraid to keep being a student. I mean, at every level, you can keep learning. There’s always more out there. Just be open to learning from the professors because, I mean…

17:50

They’re all pretty experienced with their respective instruments. And just keep having fun with it.

18:03

Emelyn: Along that same vein, can you talk about something that a lot of artists deal with? Burnout. How do you personally deal with burnout as a musician? 

David: Well uh, besides buying a new guitar. No. Um, I’d say this might be a guitar-specific way, but play differently. Maybe force yourself to think outside the box. I mean, dive into alternate tunings. Dive into styles you’ve never studied before.

18:33

Listen to music you hate. Listen to music that sounds terrible and you’ll find something in that, that’s fun or interesting that pushes you outside of your comfort zone. Just don’t be afraid to get your feet wet. 

18:57

Emelyn: David. Thank you so much for being willing to come and talk to me about the local music scene. For those listening, some highlights to remember are events like Macrock and Red Wing, which is hosted by the Steel Wheels. David discussed local music venues like the Cracked Pillar, the Sipe Center, and then in Harrisonburg, Broad Porch, and the Golden Pony. David also wanted to highlight the music series starting this summer by Nine Court Square. We talked about local artists like Palmyra, Illiterate Light,  

19:27

Rebecca Porter, Caleb Stein, Georgia Saunders, Machete, Machine State, and Monopolyopolis. David also discussed music stores like Hometown Music and Wonder Records, as well as Shenandoah Valley Band Instruments and Tiller Strings. David talked about the new business, Carrendo, that offers lessons for all kinds of instruments. Along the vein of music lessons, we talked about taking lessons at Bridgewater, which David highly recommends.

19:56

David’s biggest advice for new musicians is just to practice as much as you can and not be afraid to reach out to professors. His biggest piece of advice for experienced musicians is to never stop learning. We also talked about burnout and he recommends always broadening one’s horizons to new music and new techniques.

20:19

Once again, thank you so very much, David. Your insight on the music scene has been very, very informative. And for all of you listening, thank you so much too, and I hope you have a fantastic day.

Local Music Scene in Bridgewater and Harrisonburg

Guest: David Manson

Hello friends of BC, my name is Emelyn Koene. I am a staff writer for Bridgewater College’s newspaper, BC Voice, and today I will be talking to David Manson. David is a Senior Digital Media Arts major with a minor in Communications. He teaches guitar locally in Bridgewater and Harrisonburg. Today, he will be discussing the local music scene with me. David, I’m so glad that you could join me today.

***(“thank you for inviting me” or something)

David, can you tell me a little about what the music scene looks like in Bridgewater and Harrisonburg?

*** talk about redwing? County fair? Local music venues? 

Macrock

Mid atlantic college radio conference

The Pony

Clementine

Cracked Pillar

Sipe Center

Broadporch

The music scene seems to be constantly evolving. Are there any upcoming events that you as a musician are excited about?

***Upcoming thing at First Pres?

How could a student learn more about what shows are happening?

***

There are a lot of local artists in the area. As a musician, who locally do you take inspiration from?

*** 

With there being so many local artists, are there also a lot of music stores?

***

What music stores could you recommend to different musicians?

*** Hometown Music

*** Wonder Records for used and project guitars, quirky gear, trades, etc.

If someone wants to learn an instrument or expand their skills in an instrument they already play, are there local places to get lessons?

*** talk about Carrendo?

Do you have any experience taking music lessons at Bridgewater College? Could you talk about that?

***

Richard Adams

Shannon Kiser

Dr. Larry Taylor

Greg Brown newly hired guitar teacher

What advice would you give to a student at Bridgewater College trying to learn a new instrument?

***

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today. Your insight on the music scene has been very informative. For those listening, I hope you have a wonderful day.

David, thank you so much for being willing to come and talk to me about the local music scene. For those listening, some highlights to remember are events like Macrock and Redwing, which is hosted by the steel wheels. David discussed local music venues like the Cracked Pillar, the Sipe Center, Broadporch, and the Golden Pony. David also wanted to highlight the music series starting this summer by 9 court square. We talked about local artists, like Palmyra, Illiterate Light, Rebecca Porter, Caleb Stine, Georgia Saunders, Machete, Machine state, and monopolyopolis. David also discussed music stores, like Hometown music and wonder records as well as Shenandoah valley band instruments and tiller strings. David talked about the new business, Carrendo that offers lessons for all kinds of instruments. Along the vein of music lessons, we talked about taking lessons at Bridgewater, which David highly recommends. David’s biggest advice for new musicians is just practice as much as you can and not be afraid to reach out to professors. His biggest piece of advice for experienced musicians is to never stop learning. We talked about burnout and he recommends always broadening one’s horizons to new music and new techniques.  

Thank you again, David. Your insight on the music scene has been very informative. And thank you all for listening. I hope you have a great day.