Why ~ Community?

So often I'm asked by friends with puzzled looks on their face/s ..."WHY do you put all this effort in when you get so little or nothing out of it?"  And it's not easy to articulate an answer when we live in a world where there is an expectation of what's in it for me?
Yup!  I'm back in the middle of a big theatre production where surplus profits are being donated to a local NFP - the Merewether Community Kitchen.   And that means, as writer/director/producer I'm overwhelmed with rehearsals, costumes, props, sets, sound, lights, promotion, - those myriad details that go in to putting on a production.
And I do that willingly because
a)  this is one of my creative 'voices'
b) I get to mentor, challenge, and develop others in their craft (with the satisfaction involved in seeing them achieve)
c) I get to bring laughter and happiness to so many people, participants/audience/recipients
d) I get to make a difference in individuals lives and in my community
e) ...and a dozen other reasons including the sheer joy and fun of seeing it all come together.
....BUT don't give me too many accolades .....
do you have any idea of how MANY members of the community get involved?
Let's hear a big round of applause for;

• the performers who give up their Sunday afternoons for @ 3 months plus an evening through the week to get to rehearsals.....not to mention the hours they put in learning lines, moves, choreography, lyrics ..... for no tangible reward
• the technical crew ...a Set Director who spends hours of time creating and building a set to fit each production ....a Sound Director who comes to every rehearsal to plan his strategy and technical requirements for the show.....a Lighting Director who utilises extensive skills to create the atmosphere to fit the show 
• the musicians who give up their Sunday's too for rehearsals and an occasional mid-week evening as well
• the volunteers ...ladies who manage the door, help distribute promotional material, the helping hands who assist with moving, building, making, the various bits to showcase the production.... and the helpers who lend a hand to set up and pack up the chairs .....these folks don't even get a round of applause to say thanks !

.....all of these people - and me - must be nuts!  But we are part of our community.  And so are YOU

.....So next time you're sitting at home alone with your telly and tech gadgets, wondering if life is going by at a blur....it probably is.   Engage with your community ..... get along to a local performance of something, celebrate the members of your community doing SOMETHING in, and for, your community.  That's the stuff that connects and builds a community  
You never know, you just might enjoy being an active part of that community.

Music in the Community

I had the pleasure this week of addressing a local Rotary Club where I shared  some of my songs, along with some insight into the life of a working musician.

Just as there's a marked difference to working in a major corporation vs working in a small to micro-small business, so it is with Music and the Arts.   Some musicians are in there for fame, fortune, recognition ....and few of those will achieve their big dreams in a world where commercial interests take priority over the artform.  But - and leaving aside the hobbyist players - there is a substantial number of musicians, working at community level, with a whole different set of priorities.

Community musicians have a passion to engage with their community, to make a contribution to the betterment of their community, and to foster a passion for their art within the community.  Some of them do this by actively working with  individuals and groups - teaching, sharing, encouraging others to get involved in music.  {A great example locally is Mark Jackson who instigated the Newcastle Ukestra which now numbers hundreds of individual members.  Many of those had never known the joy of making music.  The movement has community members helping other community members in small groups and encouraging friendship and connection amongst people of all ages}.

Others make a difference in the daily life of individuals by busking - uplifting someone with a smile makes a difference. A thread of music from another human being may just distract and uplift someone carrying a particularly  heavy burden at that moment.  Whilst others take the stories of individuals in the community and write them in songs, creating a melodic record of the day to day life in our community, our society.

It's an important role that these artists fill in the world around us.  Yet they are - for the most part - terribly undervalued,  underrated and unrecognised for the contribution they make.

Mega concerts and huge arts events may be a commercial drawcard which benefits Councils and governments through tourism dollars.  But it is the smaller, intimate, community-focused, Arts & Music-based functions and events which enriches the individuals who live in the community and which builds a community spirit.  And it's community musicians and artists that make those things come alive.

Created vs Discovered

OOPS!  Running a bit late and we're ALREADY in November! Anyone else scrambling to catch up on all the things they'd planned to do in 2011?

If you're really efficient and have started your Christmas shopping, can I remind you that the gift of music lasts a heckova lot longer than a box of chocolates!  And you can get 5 albums here for $50 - cheap as chips!  Put your order in today.

I heard the tail end of an interview on ABC radio this morning [Conversations] with past prime minister Paul Keating and I just loved his philosophy on the Arts.  I know I'm not going to remember his exact words so forgive me if I paraphrase him ......"..music is the greatest of the Arts because music is not representational.....and  unlike science which is waiting to be discovered, music comes from being created....". He spoke of the importance of creativity in thinking and a direct quote: "A government which has no premium on the Arts is going nowhere".  That's great Big Picture thinking.

For those of us engaged  in Community Arts, we know - and we see - the value of the Arts in our micro-society, our community.  We see how music for example, connects people from all walks of life.  We see how music reaches out to the lonely and uplifts the spirit of the depressed.  We see how music motivates and inspires individuals around us. We see how integral music is to the community for any celebration.  It's not rocket science - but it's invaluable to our society.  Be nice if there was greater understanding of this at government and business level.

May your coming Christmas season be filled to the brim with the blessing of music.

• NEW ALBUM   it's kinda in limbo at the moment - cos I ran out of dough to get it cut!! [ahh, the challenges of being a full time muso]  But it's already got a title ....."UnderCovered"...and the artwork is done [just being reshaped by a buddy to fit the boxes].  I know I promised last month to share more information about it in this Posting ....but I want to wait til I have some of the artwork ready to show you at the same time.  Have patience - it'll be worth the wait, I promise!

The Heart and Soul of a Community

I read a great article recently about how valuable Community Musicians are - that they go beyond simply making their music, to bring inspiration and encouragement into the community in which they are active. Music is a universal language that can overcome so many barriers. Did you know it can also make a significant contribution to the general mental and emotional health of a community?

In a world where we are increasingly isolated within our own micro environment, where we are slaves to our home media, where it takes a mammoth effort sometimes to get us out and mixing with the rest of the world, where extended family is no longer involved in our lives, where our immediate family is so busy there is little time for connection.....we are gradually losing our sense of community. In times gone past when people were in need, in trouble, or just needed to feel as if they belonged - somewhere, the local community stepped in to support individuals. Nowadays, most people wouldn't know their next door neighbor if they bumped into them in the local supermarket!

So when community musicians and artists are able to reach out and share their music, recognise that they are doing a most valuable job. In the corporate world, artists and musicians are often dismissed as of little to no value - after all, there aren't too many who loll about on their yachts or arrive at their gig in a mercedes! In fact, they are doing a far more important job than the global wheeler dealers - they're actually paying attention, and caring for, the individuals in their community....warming them with their music and art, speaking to them on an individual level through their music, their art, touching the inner person through their music, their art.

And at the end of the day.....our world is made up of individuals, all connected in the common bond of HUMANity.......and nothing connects us better than music.

Just think about it....