"Sweet Emotion"--My Feelings Exactly

Remember that video I promised way back before my mom was so rude to have heart problems? (Before you gasp, that's a joke.)

Here it is. S sings "Sweet Emotion" - the first song of the summer camp concert line-up. She was thrilled that she got to sing the only cuss word in the whole concert.

The concert was played at Hanover's in Pflugerville, and it's a real bar, with the requisite smoke, stale beer smell, bar flies, and ear-splitting music. 

It was great. Every parent was beaming, whether their kid performed flawlessly, added in extra verses by accident, sung off key or too softly to hear, played the wrong notes, screeched feedback, forgot the words, hammed it up, or played like a true professional. We were all proud, not only for our own kids but for each and every kid on the stage.

These kids came together for two weeks - some beginners, some quite accomplished - and learned 14 songs well enough to perform them. Each kid learned at least 4 songs. For some, this was the first time they performed on stage (G being one of those). For some, this was the first time they sang for an audience (T being one of those). For others, performing is an established feat.

No matter what their experience, their innate talent, their duty to practice, or their level of accomplishment, those kids shined. They had so much fun! And isn't that what it's all about?

If I can get my act together, I'll post more videos of the concert soon, which will have G and T playing as well. 

For more information about the music school or their summer camps, visit Paul Green School of Rock. They have lessons and concerts by their students throughout the year in addition to the summer camps. (We've only done the camps, but we hear the lessons are great too, although expensive.) Their motto is "Saving Rock & Roll one kid at a time!"

Contrasts and Similarities

Monday was a day of contrasts and similarities. In the morning we watched an energizing and moving (both physically and emotionally) video of Stand by Me, by playingforchange. I'd seen the video before, and it struck me then as so worthwhile that I had to immediately share it with my kids. And since we're traveling to New Orleans this summer, I thought it particularly appropriate.

So that morning T was trying to decide what song he wanted to learn on his guitar, and I reminded him of Stand by Me. We watched it again and danced together, grinning and singing. One by one, the other kids drifted in, captured by the music, remembering what they'd seen before. "Yes," T said quietly when it was over, "that's the song I want to learn."

We were struck by the commonalities of people all over the world. How the facial expressions, body movements, and smiles are all identical and all unique - and how they are all examples of what we share. We left the room feeling connected, light hearted, each going our separate ways for a while.

Fast forward to the afternoon. We often watch videos together, virtually all educational in some sense. Sometimes it's a science show, sometimes a history documentary, occasionally something "fluffy" but still worthwhile, like a travel documentary.

For years now I've been meaning to watch An Inconvenient Truth but have never gotten around to doing it. I'd even bought the book but had never gotten around to reading it. I finally received the DVD from Netflix, and sat down with the kids to watch and discuss. It was long overdue. 

In the opening scenes, for whatever reason, I immediately flashed to "Stand by Me," with  Grandpa Elliott and Washboard Chaz singing in New Orleans. It was the images of Gore flying over flooded, devastated post-Katrina New Orleans juxtaposed with the passionate faces of the singers in Jackson Square. Similar, yet strikingly different.

I don't know why these two videos became connected in my mind. I guess it's the way the world has shrunk, how the people I meet from across the world are strikingly similar to me instead of strikingly different ... how music crosses every barrier.

How what we do on this side of the marble affects all those on the other.

I want to think that I'm helping to create the first generation of true global citizens - kids who grow up knowing nothing other than intricate world connectedness. The earth will be better for it.

They have a lot to teach me.

(The Playing for Change Foundation is building music and art schools in poor countries around the world to bring peace and unite humanity. Listen to the samples of the cool stuff on their CD Songs Around The World.)