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.