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2 MORE DAYS!!!

Its been a long week and a half but we are almost there. Two more days before we fly out to England and you can feel the vibe in the classroom. Yesterday Tim invited Douglas Kridler, President and CEO of the Columbus Foundation to speak to us and to be honest, that so far was my favorite experience in this course. Douglas Kridler is a successful man that has promoted and planned concerts for many bands and artists notably Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, the Rolling Stones, Alicia Keys to name a few. From his humble beginnings in Northern Ohio to planning his first concert as a sophomore in College, Mr. Kridler’s story is one that resembles the rags to riches even though he wasn’t really poor but it took a lot of hard work for him to get to where he is now. He went from managing a 4500 budget in college to running a 1.6 billion organization. The most interesting thing I learned about Mr. Kridler was his distain for live music. Having produced 1900 concerts, its not hard to see why the concert scene has lost its appeal to him. Nonetheless, he claims to still go to a concert here and there. His stories were quite fascinating from getting shunned his freshman year to being chairman of the International Performance Arts and being a campaign manager for Senator Glenn when he ran for president. One important lesson he taught us was that good ideas can come from anywhere and just because you have a degree doesn’t make you more intelligent than someone without one. I found Mr. Kridler fascinating and even humbling that he took the time to come talk to a small class like us even though he probably has meetings with government officials and dignitaries.

Tim just seems to pull out all stops when it comes to teaching us life lessons and the importance of music in this course. Wouldn’t be surprised if he pulled Paul and Ringo out of a hat tomorrow.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

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Haven’t had a chance to blog for a minute, being busy with life and school and all that -_- but on Thursday we got the chance to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and what a trip it turned out to be. The bus ride was something else and we had a few funny moments and I lost the front seat to Parker (tallest and biggest guy) so I was a little bummed. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame architectural design was a sight to behold and one of my friends even captured a sick picture of us walking towards it (See front). Its only right that the Hall of Fame is in Cleveland considering the history of the genre of music and the impact Alan Freed played in bringing Rock and Roll to the masses. Alan Freed worked at the WJW in Cleveland as a studio DJ and has been credited with coining the term “Rock and Roll”. He was amongst the first DJs that played both African American and White American music and promoted integration of all music types. Furthermore, many notable artists such as David Bowie, Springsteen, and Rush all started their tours in Cleveland which was a premier spot for most Rock Bands and it was only fitting to have the museum there. We saw the Beatles tribute and exhibit which was well designed and illustrated the making of their albums. The Rolling Stones exhibit was as eccentric and lively as they were in real life. My favorite part however was the Dick Clark exhibit and tribute to Bandstand. Like Alan Freed, Dick Clark promoted integration and his nationally televised show Bandstand was amongst the first to have a racially diverse audience and he invited acts from all communities and race. What a legend. We also got to see the evolution of the electric guitar and its creation by Les Paul and how it was perfected by Leo Fender. The whole exhibit in general was amazing and I even got to see my love Madonna and I had a fan girl moment as you can see in the picture below. Although this is a course based on The Beatles and their impact on music, I felt more gravitated towards the Rolling Stones. They just appease to me more with their nitty gritty image and the lifestyle they portrayed. The Beatles are an amazing band but they are more of the Posh, clean and well mannered group. The Rolling Stones were more out there and wild which is always the way to go and their music was more controversial which is something that appeals to me. Overall, I loved the exhibit and my appreciation for the Beatles grew nonetheless (Rolling Stones are just intriguing) and I’m more excited to see what’s in store for the coming week and finally go to England. !

 

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British Invasion !!

Finally, summer is here and its time for our American invasion of Britain. Ecstatic about the class and finally getting to travel out of the country and all thing Beatles. The first day of class May 11th was a chill day, the group got together for 2 hours and we got to know each other. We went around and shared our favorite Beatles tunes and mine was “Words of Love” . . . . . unfortunately no one else liked mine because it wasn’t mainstream. Everyone in the class was pleasant and we also had some past participants in the program who came to talk to us. They gave some good advice on what and what not to do on the trip. Tuesday was more of an eventful day. The President of the University came and talk to us! The President himself, yes the one and only Michael V Drake. I was a tad bit underwhelmed by his arrival. I was expecting security checks and secret service. . . . wait I think I’m confusing him with the President of the United States. But Dr. Drake knew a lot about the music of the Civil Rights Era and he went into detail about it. I learned a lot about the copyright issues and the segregation that was prevalent even in the music industries. He talked about how the term “Rock & Roll” started and the influenced black artists had on The Beatles and Rolling Stones. We also learned to how to determine the type of beats and how many. I might or might not have gotten lost in that part of the lesson. Oh and I’m practically qualified to play lead guitar for the next Beatles reunion. I wish. But we learned how to play a few strings and basic songs. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds and if that cute girl is from across the room is single.