February 2021: Inspiration is a Bad Poem
At Grange Recorders in January. Photo by Octave Zangs.
Some goings on,
Last week, I assigned the prompt "Inspiration is..." to a group of high school boys in a level five juvenile correctional facility outside of Portland. I came to their virtual classroom as a career speaker to represent "folk musician." We introduced ourselves and I invited them to write a "bad poem." The idea being that it's easier to put words on paper if you're not worrying about making it "good." I was warned that the boys weren't much for participation, but I asked if anyone was feeling brave enough to share. Each of the 9 boys shared poems from the heart. I remember one line from a red headed boy that went something like, "when dad would drink and hit mom, inspiration could be a ball or a song." I remember choking up. After class I got a letter from a different boy saying, "After you told us how finding things that inspire us to write will improve our writing I started writing more about my problems and the good that has come out of those problems."
The week before that, I recorded a new batch of songs live with a band in an airplane hangar a mile away from my house. It was incredible to get to go "all in" with a group of artists working together to make magic. After all the solo time this year, I was a kid in a candy store. Hopefully the five consecutive 14-hour days sound as good as they felt! More on those recordings soon...
When that feverish music week came to a close, we packed up the microphones and instruments, moved the piano back home, said our goodbyes, and I woke up the next day completely depleted. The "summer camp come-down" as Natalie called it. My tank was empty and the mountains were looking ominous from down in the valley. I couldn't shake it for a week.
Then last Thursday, this red-headed high schooler in the level five correctional facility read me his poem about inspiration.
Wishing you beautiful moments,
Jenner
Tiny Zoom Concerts
I'll play a personal concert just for you and your friends on Zoom! These are individualized performances where you pick the songs and the audience! Send me an email (jf@jennerfox.com) with some dates and a price that works for you, invite up to 2 other households, and I'll play a private livestream concert for you and your friends and family. You can request songs, we'll chat, it'll be dandy. You can even give it as a gift! Or a prank!
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