For most people, music in the work place comes out of a back ground music system or off of someones bleeding iPod. It’s not like anyone has a radio playing at their work station anymore – So it may come as something of a surprise to find a lab in a local University that has its own built in jam space for lunch time guitar and bass throw downs.
Seems odd to me – even though I got the ball rolling – And I am sure this is more common than I think it is – or perhaps it is a well kept secret elsewhere.
Because for some reason, my employer (a local University) seems to be a hot bed of musical talent… and trust me folks, I am not self identifying here or anything – any money I have ever made in the music biz has gone directly to charity. Not talented. At all. But I can pretend. Sometimes quite effectively.
But I do plays the guitar a bit. A bit. A bit of guitar. A bit of bass. A bit of voice and a bit of piano. All in good fun. And for whatever reason, it all feels good.
Yours truly has been playing on and off since a long time ago – first Piano since the age of 6 and guitar since I was 13. And although I am no prodigy (too old), I can read a chart or two and turn a page of lyrics into something that passes as entertainment and vaguely familiar.
Imagine the delight to realize the amount of raw talent all around me.
For my space it started as innocently as showing up at work with an acoustic guitar. Strapping it on over coffee break and busking around the lab. Before you know it, people are joining in or watching appreciatively. From there, another guitar was added… and a bass… and another vocalist or two… and more music.
We are not the cast of Glee by any stretch. But we are having an amount of fun that was completely unanticipated. Additionally, there are several other similar groups on campus doing exactly the same thing – and ironically, we all may have an offer on the table to play our music at a Summer Festival… which, for me, makes no sense at all. I am not deaf, but I cannot hear Journey or Celine Dion in much of what we are doing… at least from the regular line up. We do have a student who sits in from time to time that sings like an angel… but she is leaving town.
A bunch of geezer music players worthy of entertaining a crowd? Don’t know. Who am I to judge modern music? Stay tuned.
In the meantime, in the corner of one of our labs is a 300 Watt P.A. system, microphones and a rack of musical instruments. If you listen real closely over lunch at the University, you might just hear our noise.