Monday, July 30, 2012
Planting new roots
Hello everyone!
I know it has been a couple of years since this blog has been active. I just wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who provided feedback during its active times and became followers.
As you probably already know, I ended my active evolvement with the Root Note about a year ago. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life, but I have gotten through it and I am doing well. The Root Note still exists in its original location and is growing and changing daily. All though I am no longer active in its running, I am very proud of it and the fact that it continues to contribute to our community.
Over the last year, I have been working as the manager at Coldstone Creamery. However, in June, I decided to leave the company and spend some much needed time trying the things I have been putting off for years, and trying to find a job that will make me happy. These last two months have introduced me to many new and exciting trades, and I have decided to start a blog to chronicle them and share the experience.
I hope you will consider reading it and, once again, offering your feedback.
Thank you again for your support.
Sincerely,
Alex
Monday, June 7, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
My (side of the) Story
I was born in Saint Paul, MN in 1986 (that makes me a whole 23 these days). As soon as I could understand what it was, I wanted to be a Veterinarian. I read books about it and went to camps themed after it (where I was the only one to identify worms in a dog). I raised butterflies and giant moths and took it upon myself to study them, memorizing the scientific names of breeds, body parts, and lifestyles. At age six, I was featured in the Star Tribune for intently watching a live surgery at the State Fair with my mother.
At age 13, my family relocated to a small town about 45 minutes from La Crosse, WI. There, we owned and operated a family campground with about 100 sites. I began working and helping to run the family business. In no time, I was the manager of the general store on site. My parents worked hard and so did I. My free time was spent playing with the children who came camping every weekend. I became used to a life where there were 300 strangers in my back yard every week.
Life at school was not as easy. Though I tried to fit into the farming community that was much different from where I had grown up, I would forever be an outsider. Eventually I stopped caring about it, and embraced the challenge of shocking my peers on a daily basis. I ignored their comments of "we don't do that here" and broke the mold. I became the first vegetarian in the entire town (which eventually inspired others to do the same). I had purple dreads, purple contacts, and wore punky outfits. I took every art class I could find and became a regular in the choir room.
Music was always a huge part of my life. I began learning piano at age 5. I started voice lessons at age 8, also singing in church choir. I was first flute in the middle school band, and began teaching myself guitar in 8th grade. I started my first band, They Do eXist in 9th grade. We sat in the basement and goofed around, sometimes playing music, sometimes not. In tenth grade I switched from band to choir, where I was a Soprano 1 and the only colorature. I was accepted as part of the Jazz Symposium, a group of the 6 top vocalists in choir. We sang standards at community events. By my Jr. Year, I was vice president of the school choir and on my third band; Minor Deity. We played all original music, and enjoyed mild local fame.
By senior year, I had decided that I was no longer interested in the extensive schooling required to become a veterinarian. I decided instead to attend school for music. I was in a new band, Accident Waiting to Happen, and we were experiencing the challenges of touring, recording, writing, and practicing while spread out across the state. I was beginning to experience the music industry first hand, from the performers point of view.
During my freshman year of college, I discovered a new major that only a few colleges were offering. It was a degree in music industry, a field that previous participators had to learn through experience. Now those same industry heads would be teaching all they had learned. I found a school in the twin cities that offered it (one of few at the time) and transferred there.
Despite the fact that nearly every industry class involved a professor preaching about how we would probably fail, I didn't care. I loved my industry classes and felt excited about lectures, delved into the reading with anticipation. I applied my new knowledge to my band and our local fame began to grow.
I began to dream of starting my own music venue. It would have more than one owner (I mentally assigned friends to different roles), each playing a part, but running the business so that we would have freedom for travel. There would be two sides, one with a cafe, the other with a music venue and bar. It would house a printing press and a recording studio, local art on the walls, and locally produced CDs and clothing would be for sale. I wrote business plans and began to take a great interest in entrepreneurship.
During my 4th year in college, I took a semester in London, UK (home of the second greatest music industry in the world) in order to get a more global perspective. While there I met the head of EMI records, and asked the musician he had brought along if he was glad he had "sold out". One final transfer brought me to La Crosse to be closer to friends and family. I finished up my 4th year and jumped into a 5th year of college at Viterbo.
December of that year brought Christmas break, and only 5 more months of college. I decided to host a holiday potluck for my friends still in the area who didn't have family to share the break with. Dane, owner of the local Bluffland Bloom & Brew offered to let me use the store's space since they would soon be going out of business. I invited everyone I knew.
So, one snowy winter day, we all gathered for a potluck. As it was winding down, those who still remained gathered and began to brainstorm ways the space in which we dined could be kept alive. We found a giant pad of paper and began to make graphs of notes and ideas. Though then undefined, the idea that is the Root Note, began to take shape.
We met every day after that, getting excited and passionate about our shared dream. We would bring La Crosse the things we wished it had, the things it needed. At the time, the group consisted of six individuals in their twenties with appropriate histories (including my own, which you now know.) Dane hailed from Racine, and had been active in the La Crosse community for the previous few years as owner of the Bluffland Bloom & Brew. Carl was a local guitar repair technician at Dave's Guitar shop. Chelsea was a student of art, also Carl's girlfriend. Emmy had moved to La Crosse around the same time as me from Minnesota. She had majored in the hospitality industry. Blake was the son of a local business owner, and had grown up much like myself, helping run his family's store.
After a few meetings, we realized how serious we had become about our ideas. We decided to bring in a seventh, who knew the others from their work at the local Waldorf School. Corrie had been the owner of the late Hob Nob Cafe in La Crescent, MN. She joined us readily, quick to realize that she would play a huge part in helping us all achieve our goals. Literal blood, sweat, and tears brought us a short time later to our first day of operation on February 20, 2009. The Root Note was born, much sooner than any of us had ever expected it would be.
It has been a year and two months since that day. In that time, the seven became five, I graduated from college with a B.I.L. in Music Industry and Business Admin., and we have somehow conquered the seemingly endless stream of challenges we've been faced with.
We have a photo here that features our seven smiling faces days before we opened. When I look at it, I am amazed had how much we have aged in the last year, and how much life has been crammed into that short amount of time. The first 22 years of my life have led up to this one. During it, I have faced every demon (some I didn't know I had), I have learned endless lessons, and I have been tested in every way possible.
In both my business and music industry classes, I was told time and again that I would fail. There is a good chance I still might (most businesses cannot be considered a success until they've made it through three years). Armed with that knowledge, I have faced every day at the Root Note with the understanding that it could be the last. To me, failure doesn't exist. The Root Note has played a part to make the dreams of myself, my partners, and countless other musicians, artists, students, vegetarians, parents, children, audiences, and business owners, a reality. To me, that is success.
At age 13, my family relocated to a small town about 45 minutes from La Crosse, WI. There, we owned and operated a family campground with about 100 sites. I began working and helping to run the family business. In no time, I was the manager of the general store on site. My parents worked hard and so did I. My free time was spent playing with the children who came camping every weekend. I became used to a life where there were 300 strangers in my back yard every week.
Life at school was not as easy. Though I tried to fit into the farming community that was much different from where I had grown up, I would forever be an outsider. Eventually I stopped caring about it, and embraced the challenge of shocking my peers on a daily basis. I ignored their comments of "we don't do that here" and broke the mold. I became the first vegetarian in the entire town (which eventually inspired others to do the same). I had purple dreads, purple contacts, and wore punky outfits. I took every art class I could find and became a regular in the choir room.
Music was always a huge part of my life. I began learning piano at age 5. I started voice lessons at age 8, also singing in church choir. I was first flute in the middle school band, and began teaching myself guitar in 8th grade. I started my first band, They Do eXist in 9th grade. We sat in the basement and goofed around, sometimes playing music, sometimes not. In tenth grade I switched from band to choir, where I was a Soprano 1 and the only colorature. I was accepted as part of the Jazz Symposium, a group of the 6 top vocalists in choir. We sang standards at community events. By my Jr. Year, I was vice president of the school choir and on my third band; Minor Deity. We played all original music, and enjoyed mild local fame.
By senior year, I had decided that I was no longer interested in the extensive schooling required to become a veterinarian. I decided instead to attend school for music. I was in a new band, Accident Waiting to Happen, and we were experiencing the challenges of touring, recording, writing, and practicing while spread out across the state. I was beginning to experience the music industry first hand, from the performers point of view.
During my freshman year of college, I discovered a new major that only a few colleges were offering. It was a degree in music industry, a field that previous participators had to learn through experience. Now those same industry heads would be teaching all they had learned. I found a school in the twin cities that offered it (one of few at the time) and transferred there.
Despite the fact that nearly every industry class involved a professor preaching about how we would probably fail, I didn't care. I loved my industry classes and felt excited about lectures, delved into the reading with anticipation. I applied my new knowledge to my band and our local fame began to grow.
I began to dream of starting my own music venue. It would have more than one owner (I mentally assigned friends to different roles), each playing a part, but running the business so that we would have freedom for travel. There would be two sides, one with a cafe, the other with a music venue and bar. It would house a printing press and a recording studio, local art on the walls, and locally produced CDs and clothing would be for sale. I wrote business plans and began to take a great interest in entrepreneurship.
During my 4th year in college, I took a semester in London, UK (home of the second greatest music industry in the world) in order to get a more global perspective. While there I met the head of EMI records, and asked the musician he had brought along if he was glad he had "sold out". One final transfer brought me to La Crosse to be closer to friends and family. I finished up my 4th year and jumped into a 5th year of college at Viterbo.
December of that year brought Christmas break, and only 5 more months of college. I decided to host a holiday potluck for my friends still in the area who didn't have family to share the break with. Dane, owner of the local Bluffland Bloom & Brew offered to let me use the store's space since they would soon be going out of business. I invited everyone I knew.
So, one snowy winter day, we all gathered for a potluck. As it was winding down, those who still remained gathered and began to brainstorm ways the space in which we dined could be kept alive. We found a giant pad of paper and began to make graphs of notes and ideas. Though then undefined, the idea that is the Root Note, began to take shape.
We met every day after that, getting excited and passionate about our shared dream. We would bring La Crosse the things we wished it had, the things it needed. At the time, the group consisted of six individuals in their twenties with appropriate histories (including my own, which you now know.) Dane hailed from Racine, and had been active in the La Crosse community for the previous few years as owner of the Bluffland Bloom & Brew. Carl was a local guitar repair technician at Dave's Guitar shop. Chelsea was a student of art, also Carl's girlfriend. Emmy had moved to La Crosse around the same time as me from Minnesota. She had majored in the hospitality industry. Blake was the son of a local business owner, and had grown up much like myself, helping run his family's store.
After a few meetings, we realized how serious we had become about our ideas. We decided to bring in a seventh, who knew the others from their work at the local Waldorf School. Corrie had been the owner of the late Hob Nob Cafe in La Crescent, MN. She joined us readily, quick to realize that she would play a huge part in helping us all achieve our goals. Literal blood, sweat, and tears brought us a short time later to our first day of operation on February 20, 2009. The Root Note was born, much sooner than any of us had ever expected it would be.
It has been a year and two months since that day. In that time, the seven became five, I graduated from college with a B.I.L. in Music Industry and Business Admin., and we have somehow conquered the seemingly endless stream of challenges we've been faced with.
We have a photo here that features our seven smiling faces days before we opened. When I look at it, I am amazed had how much we have aged in the last year, and how much life has been crammed into that short amount of time. The first 22 years of my life have led up to this one. During it, I have faced every demon (some I didn't know I had), I have learned endless lessons, and I have been tested in every way possible.
In both my business and music industry classes, I was told time and again that I would fail. There is a good chance I still might (most businesses cannot be considered a success until they've made it through three years). Armed with that knowledge, I have faced every day at the Root Note with the understanding that it could be the last. To me, failure doesn't exist. The Root Note has played a part to make the dreams of myself, my partners, and countless other musicians, artists, students, vegetarians, parents, children, audiences, and business owners, a reality. To me, that is success.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
The Music; The List.
I know that the last few posts have been all about documenting my business' growth, but I want to do one more scrap bookish thing before I get back into writing. I am currently sounding (as I affectionately call running sound for musicians at tRN) for Whitney Mann. She has played here before, but recently, she opened for Willy Nelson right here in town. She is slowly climbing the ladder to potential greatness. This thought brings me to the idea of listing the musicians that have played here during their climb to greatness (as many as possible that is). So, in no particular order, here goes:
Ed Chicken, Jihad, Everyday Jones, Bottom of the Barrel String Band, Bryon Cherry, Nick Shattuck, Stephanie Nilles, Claire Taubenhaus, Jeff Mitchell, The Soviet Onion, All Good Things, The Orrico Brothers, Heller Mason, Kevin Koutnik, This Bright Apocalypse, The Scottsmen, Tom Miron, Yak Ballz, DJ Randy Random, Dub District, The Prizefighters, Jim Seem, Melissa Hyman, LaBarge, Brahman Shaman, The Brilliant Beast, Orangutan, The Chord & The Fawn, In Bed, The Ericksons, Josh Franke, Ben Krause, Nicholas Henderson, Beauford Firebeard, Nicholas Bjerke, Proto Melei, Grey to Blue, Tony Zobeck, Kenny Rosales, Igloo Martian, Boyle, Zobin, Byron Space Circus, Patchouli, Don D. Harvey, Ari Herstand, Will Hutchinson, Ben Treffer, Namoli Brennet, Tom Feldmann, Geri X, Canadian Customs, The Blackberry Bushes, Andy Berkhout, Harlon Mitchell, Ryan Conrad, Muddy Flat & The Hepcats, Ryan Kaczor, The New X Art Ensemble, Fayme Rochelle & The Waxwings, George Christianson, Casey Virock, Joe Dawson, Long Trip Home, Kent Johnson, Johnathan Steckleberg, Eric Sommer, Michael Elliott Smith, The City Arms, Like Trees, Nathaniel Seer, Bluff Country, Four Potatoes, Hypnopotamus, Tyler Lyle, Emily White, Jenn Bostic, Dan Collins, Derek Pritzl, ABRAHAM, Levitating Train Committee, Chris Koza, Northern Lights, The Fishhooks, Derek Ramnarace, Mike Droho, Whitney Mann, More Amore, Harmony Ink, Our American Cousin, Grand Picnic, Laura Meyer, Gypsy Lumberjacks, Greg "Cheech" Hall, Sig Lombardi, Taylor Donskey, Saints & Sailors, Garnet Rogers, Alex Toast, Jaci Miller, Dada Trash Collage, Trapper Schoepp & The Shades, Steven Plant, Desdamona, Jimmy Atto, The Uniphonics, Matt Ray & Those Damn Horses, Carnage, HighMay, The Beef Slough Boys, DefMek, Hyphon, Witness, Lost World Visionaries, The Ditchlillies, The StereoFidelics, Dustin Rosa, Corey Hart, Michelle Lynn, The New North String Band, T.U.G.G., Mouse Pocket, The Songs For, Henry & X4, Driftwood, Boo Bradley, West of East...
Well, I'm quite certain I missed more than a few, but this list will continue to grow. It's amazing to see in type just how many bands have come through here (most of them more than once). I knew that I had done hundreds of shows, but it's great to actually see some kind of list. This is the part of the business that brings me personal pride. I am responsible for bringing in most of the above music, sounding for it, and making sure things went well. Pretty good considering I've been teaching myself sound over the last year. From here: onwards and upwards!
Ed Chicken, Jihad, Everyday Jones, Bottom of the Barrel String Band, Bryon Cherry, Nick Shattuck, Stephanie Nilles, Claire Taubenhaus, Jeff Mitchell, The Soviet Onion, All Good Things, The Orrico Brothers, Heller Mason, Kevin Koutnik, This Bright Apocalypse, The Scottsmen, Tom Miron, Yak Ballz, DJ Randy Random, Dub District, The Prizefighters, Jim Seem, Melissa Hyman, LaBarge, Brahman Shaman, The Brilliant Beast, Orangutan, The Chord & The Fawn, In Bed, The Ericksons, Josh Franke, Ben Krause, Nicholas Henderson, Beauford Firebeard, Nicholas Bjerke, Proto Melei, Grey to Blue, Tony Zobeck, Kenny Rosales, Igloo Martian, Boyle, Zobin, Byron Space Circus, Patchouli, Don D. Harvey, Ari Herstand, Will Hutchinson, Ben Treffer, Namoli Brennet, Tom Feldmann, Geri X, Canadian Customs, The Blackberry Bushes, Andy Berkhout, Harlon Mitchell, Ryan Conrad, Muddy Flat & The Hepcats, Ryan Kaczor, The New X Art Ensemble, Fayme Rochelle & The Waxwings, George Christianson, Casey Virock, Joe Dawson, Long Trip Home, Kent Johnson, Johnathan Steckleberg, Eric Sommer, Michael Elliott Smith, The City Arms, Like Trees, Nathaniel Seer, Bluff Country, Four Potatoes, Hypnopotamus, Tyler Lyle, Emily White, Jenn Bostic, Dan Collins, Derek Pritzl, ABRAHAM, Levitating Train Committee, Chris Koza, Northern Lights, The Fishhooks, Derek Ramnarace, Mike Droho, Whitney Mann, More Amore, Harmony Ink, Our American Cousin, Grand Picnic, Laura Meyer, Gypsy Lumberjacks, Greg "Cheech" Hall, Sig Lombardi, Taylor Donskey, Saints & Sailors, Garnet Rogers, Alex Toast, Jaci Miller, Dada Trash Collage, Trapper Schoepp & The Shades, Steven Plant, Desdamona, Jimmy Atto, The Uniphonics, Matt Ray & Those Damn Horses, Carnage, HighMay, The Beef Slough Boys, DefMek, Hyphon, Witness, Lost World Visionaries, The Ditchlillies, The StereoFidelics, Dustin Rosa, Corey Hart, Michelle Lynn, The New North String Band, T.U.G.G., Mouse Pocket, The Songs For, Henry & X4, Driftwood, Boo Bradley, West of East...
Well, I'm quite certain I missed more than a few, but this list will continue to grow. It's amazing to see in type just how many bands have come through here (most of them more than once). I knew that I had done hundreds of shows, but it's great to actually see some kind of list. This is the part of the business that brings me personal pride. I am responsible for bringing in most of the above music, sounding for it, and making sure things went well. Pretty good considering I've been teaching myself sound over the last year. From here: onwards and upwards!
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