Last year, a group of musicians, teachers, and arts administrators began talking about forming a new organization in Harrisonburg that would provide a community space for music lessons, jams, and concerts. Out of these discussions, Rocktown House of Music was formed where the joy of music brings people of all ages together. Trent Wagler from the Steel Wheels and board member of the school, along with Artistic Director John Hostetter, sat down with WMRA’s Chris Boros to talk about the school.
Trent Wagler: The inspiration, I could say, came from Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, from Swallow Hill in Denver, even Front Porch over the mountain in Charlottesville. I remember significantly just being impacted by the first time our band played Merlefest because Merlefest had this vision to make sure that the local schools and the students in those schools were going to get these amazing national, international, in some cases, acts that played the festival to come and perform for them. And that had such a big impact for me because here I had put this festival on this pedestal, this big stage I'm going to go and play. We went into this gymnasium and we played for these kids. And the way the kids just jumped on top of the music and just loved every minute of it. And ever since then, I think that helped to germinate the idea for Red Wing Roots, where we were like, we want to start a music festival in our area. We want our kids to grow up around something like this. And then eventually thinking we want a deeper and bigger impact. We want to create a music culture. And what can we do to sort of help our community embrace that in a new way? And so Rocktown House of Music is sort of born out of some of those influences.
WMRA: And on your website, you guys talk about how it's an organization to bring people together via music. Would you say that's kind of what it's all about?
John Hostetter: Absolutely. And to bounce off what Trent was just saying, for me, I studied music. I've been playing music here in Harrisonburg with other people since I was in middle school. But a lot of that was not organized by anyone. We just kind of had to find our people, find a place, figure out how to play these instruments on our own. Rocktown is absolutely a place where my hope is that anyone, whether you're already a musician, you already know how to play your instruments, or maybe you're just starting out and you need a place to do it. You need someone to kind of guide you and help you find your people and your niche.
WMRA: Music really does bring people together. I have to think the two of you probably met because of music, yeah?
Trent: Yeah, that’s for sure. I think another part that would be very specific to this sort of organization is we're really emphasizing the group aspect of music, where obviously you can learn a lot about technique, but a lot of lessons and a lot of music instruction is one-on-one. And it's all about this technical aspect of playing. And of course, you do play music, but so much of real music is about listening. It's about being present with other people and finding where you fit. within a group and within a song and you can't do that as easily with just one-on-one technique, you have to do it with a group. And we're really emphasizing group classes and the sort of value you get from just being in the room with other people learning next to other people some of that is a musical value and some of that's just community it's friendships.
John: And it's not just kids or students who need those connections. They do, as a middle school teacher and as a father, I know that our young people need connections, face-to-face connections, real connections with other people. But adults too, right? I absolutely need to connect with other people. And through music is a wonderful way to have some real connection.
WMRA: When you meet someone who likes the same band that you do or the same kind of music, it's just like immediate friendship. You could disagree on everything else but oh you like early Genesis too, let's be friends.
Trent: And music you don't know or understand. We were once playing a festival where we were thrown on stage with two other bands and they called it a workshop and one of the bands was this Haitian band that only spoke French they were all tuned to this accordion that was definitely not in like 440 tuning, but it was such a fun problem to try to solve of - like what are we going to play together? How can we speak across this language barrier? And it also made me so much more in tune, well that's a bad pun i didn't mean that, but it made me so much more aware of the musicianship that they were bringing and it's true empathy because you're trying to figure out what are they doing and how can i support or learn from it. I just think there's so much we can all learn from that. It can be really useful to a lot of us.
WMRA: I was really impressed going through the website at how many classes you are already offering. There's banjo and guitar and fiddle and cello, and you have level one and level two and ensemble. I was kind of blown away by how much was already there. Talk about the classes that you'll be offering.
John: One of the best parts about my position as director has been meeting all of these people. This community here in Harrisonburg is incredibly rich with people who are interested in different kinds of music, who have all kinds of abilities and specializations. So my hope is that we are really just a way to facilitate all of these great instructors, these great ideas and visions, and then bring them to the larger community and be able to, yeah, expose the community to everything that's kind of already going on here, but just needs a place or stage.
WMRA: John, I saw you teaching an ensemble class called Anything Goes. What's that about?
John: That's anything goes! Bring whatever weird instrument you have let's figure out how to make these things sound good, we're gonna have fun figuring out how to make them sound together.
WMRA: I'll bring the theremin.
Trent: There you go, absolutely, everybody's favorite
WMRA: What about you, Trent? Are you teaching a songwriting class or anything?
Trent: Yeah, there's one that's in the hopper we will be doing later this semester. It's going to be a shorter class, but I had this idea that closer to the holidays for those people who have always wanted to write a song, but also might have somebody in their life that they just aren't sure what kind of gift they might give them. I have this hope that you come to this class and within a few sessions, you have a song you've written for that person. And again, that just that speaks to this platform of having a house of music. I don't know how well that class will go or not. It's a fun experiment to see how it goes. But I've already met teachers I had no idea lived in our community. And some of the really cool classes that you're mentioning, I'm so excited. I want to take half the classes that are up there on the website.
WMRA: How about a music appreciation class, where you don't really learn how to play, but you maybe just learn about a specific genre or band or something like that? It could be cool.
John: That is part of the vision, for sure. Rebecca Porter is offering a Dolly Parton songbook. The idea is you come in and you learn these songs, but the idea of the classes is that it truly is open to anyone and what they want to get out of it. If you want to come and you're not quite sure that guitar is for you. You just want to be there and experience and really get into Dolly Parton's music. Absolutely.
Trent: Yeah, there's a place for that. I think we are there to teach skills, certainly, and build people skills. We want to see amazing players come out of this school. But we've always done that where we're trying to teach kids, how do you jam? What does that even mean? And sometimes it means I've only, you know, I only know how to strum chords on a guitar, but when it comes around to my turn to play a solo, I'm gonna pick out one string of each chord and I'm just gonna play that, and it's okay.
John: That's taking a risk and that's hard for anyone to do especially young people coming in and doing it the first time, that is a skill and there's so many skills that you can learn through jamming and through listening to other people and communicating with other people through music that translate into all of your life all the different parts of your life, so our hope is that we are able to provide a very safe very comfortable welcoming atmosphere that welcomes taking risks.
WMRA: I think that's important too especially for like the beginner musician. I don't know how often you guys are online and you see these shredding videos and these guys are just going nuts and it's not really music, it's more like sport, just see how fast you can play. And then I look at and go I'll never be able to do that, so it's good to know there's a place that someone who is just starting out or wants to learn the basics.
John: There's a place for the shredders, and there's a place for people who are interested in just playing a G chord.
Trent: Even if you're not even sure, I always love meeting people who are, you know, getting a little older, and they're like, I've always wanted to try. And so I decided to sign up, it's always inspiring to me because no matter where you're at, you have to recognize there's still insecurity. So I get up on stage and often play an instrument and sing. But then in my mind, I've built up this notion of stakes: well, then I couldn't make a mistake, because you've built up this idea of the identity that you present. And so I have to still push myself to take these risks. And if I'm in a jam, it's very easy to play it safe and do the things I know. But every time I've grown as a musician, and I would even extrapolate as a person, it's always because of taking a risk. And I think that's good training for kids. But it's also great, a reminder for us as adults that it's the only way we grow is by taking these risks, failing, sometimes failing very terribly. That's the only way to learn.
WMRA: Sometimes those failures can be the best moment when that happens.
Trent: Absolutely. I was just going to say, I mean, we've got this moment in time right now where AI is a big conversation within music, art, and just everything. And so, I think all the more these imperfections and the imprints that show us that it's real human beings doing any of this is going to continue to be really important. And I think, we need to have more locations, more experiences like that in all of our communities.
WMRA: If someone wants to take a class, I assume the best place is the website?
John: Yep, absolutely. Rocktownhouseofmusic.com. You can look at all of the offerings and jump into as many classes as you want.
WMRA: What about someone who's an instructor who maybe you guys don't even know about yet? What if they want to get in touch with you and they play a really niche instrument, let's say, and would you be interested in that?
John: Absolutely interested in that. I've been having amazing conversations with musicians in the area that I didn't even know exist. Some of the instruments I didn't even know. It's awesome.
Trent: We have such a rich culture in Harrisonburg that is broad and wide. And yeah, John and I certainly don't know even the breadth of that. And so, if there's a listener out there who's like, I bet my music isn't represented at Rockdown House of Music, that is something we are interested in. If you think there's some sort of music we need to be bringing to these classes, let us know.
WMRA: If there's someone listening who's never picked up a guitar or a banjo or a fiddle and they've always wanted to do it, what would you say to them to encourage them to give it a shot?
John: This is the place to come. We are a safe place, we are a place where anyone can come in and feel safe making mistakes. The first thing I’m going to do for my ukulele class is make a big mistake. We have to normalize that. I think also the idea of the group classes my hope is that it reduces the anxiety that everyone is in this together, everyone is a beginner, everyone can learn from each other. I'm very excited about having absolute beginners and musicians who know one instrument but want to try something new.
Trent: Culturally speaking, we've done something where we put musicians, performers, on such a pedestal and we think of them in this, you know, some of us really prefer to think of them as these geniuses and there's this superstar and like they're another sort of being that we don't have access to. But I think it does us a disservice because it takes music away from us, all of us, to be together with other people and recognize that we're a part of a larger tapestry. We all have something we can bring. Just know if you had that itch, it's there. It's there if you choose to just scratch it. There's something there for you. And so I hope and I just encourage people to give it a try. I know I sound like an evangelist for just music right now, but I guess I kind of am. I really do think it's something that helps our brain in this time when I think so many of us don't know how to interact with a social media space or know where our place is to kind of be ourselves. And I think music can be a real nice balm in the midst of all of that chaos because you don't have to come and tell us about your deepest fears. You don't have to tell us what you believe or don't believe. And you're still going to be accepted and received for who you are in that room because music is the reason we’re there.
John: I've heard some adults say, oh well I'm not a musician, and I just don't think that's true. I think when we are born we come into this world as musicians.