What first inspired your interest in music and how has arts education (or lack thereof) affected your lasting appreciation for music?
My dad is a huge Elvis Presley fan. He introduced me to Elvis’s music when I was eight and soon I had my first idol. My dad would spin records from The Beatles, Janis Joplin, [...]
photo: B Fresh
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
I always had a love for music, particularly early-to-mid-90s R&B, Boyz II Men, Prince, stuff like that. Wasn’t a great singer when I was young, so I started writing songs and poetry. [...]
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
The four of us in The Wars of 1812 have been making music for most of our lives. I think that somewhere, we all have cassette tapes we made as children, playing cover songs through [...]
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
It started when I was six or seven. I would beat on pots and pans in the kitchen and drive my mother crazy. I found that I had a sense for rhythm. I joined the Boys [...]
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
I was at a neighbors garage sale when I was eight or nine and they had a steel string guitar which I strummed with my thumb for hours. The next day I had a blister covering [...]
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
I’ve just always been fascinated with music and all kinds of it. I started collecting records when I realized that I could buy most albums that I wanted on record for a fraction of the price [...]
photo: Steve Cohen
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
Well, a lot of the impetus really came from my parents, who encouraged music-making at an early age. I was basically forced to take piano lessons from about age six to age twelve [...]
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
I was in church and community choir as far back as I remember. I also started playing Trumpet in fifth grade and played through high school. And I think that reflects on my parents, that music [...]
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
My Dad taught me a few John Prine songs on the guitar when I was a kid; it all started there. Well, specifically, high school Jazz band was everything for me musically. It really [...]
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
I started out playing in school band, clarinet and saxophone. In high school I was involved with the Recording Arts program at St. Paul Central. We used to throw shows at VFWs, sober clubs and churches; [...]
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
I got into making music when I realized that there was an entire movement behind Hip Hop. I found in music a way to express my views and make a difference in my own life and [...]
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
Deanna Steege: I’ve always been into music and thought it’d be awesome to be in a band, but didn’t really think I could until college. There weren’t any women in the local Iowa music scene I [...]
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
Freestyling. That’s how I got into making rap. The first time I just let my mouth run, and it actually rhymed, I was hooked for life. There’s millions of people out there who know what I’m [...]
Military Special: Peter Blomgren, Danell Norby, Joe Schweigert & Charlie Smith
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
Charlie Smith: Like any toddler who stumbles upon things that make noise, though my ear is a little more refined today.
One of the defining moments of [...]
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
I grew up in a house of music fans, so naturally when the opportunity arose to try out for band in fifth grade, I went for it. I was determined that my fingers were too small [...]
photo: Richard Petrucci
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
I got into music seemingly late when compared to others who go on to pursue it as a career. I’ve got a pretty extensive background in acting, and having participated in a lot of [...]
photo: Chris Mitchell
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
I started playing music when I was five. I can’t remember if it was at my parents insistence or my own interest. I took violin for a couple years and then joined school band [...]
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
Music was a part of growing up in my family. We all started playing multiple instruments at a very young age and they were scattered around the house like toys; we weren’t given the choice of [...]
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
Both Mandy and I got into music pretty young. Mandy started singing in church at a very early age. I had loved music all through my childhood, and finally began to take lessons (cello) at about [...]
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music?
I first got into making music at age 10, back in New Zealand. I was starting off at a new school and had great envy for the kids who got to play before the school assemblies. [...]
