THE JUNE BLOG
Updated: Jul 11, 2021
It's June! It's summer! And here's the first blog for Music Therapy!
There comes a time in every therapist’s career when you think about starting a support group. And really, who needs more support than bands? Bands are notorious for in-fighting, creative struggles, romantic trysts, being generally unreliable, addiction issues, power/ego grabs. And yet........when bands get together and make it work, bands give us the greatest, most incredible artwork deeply woven into the fabric of our lives.
What is so tricky about a band? Where's the line between total dysfunction and transcendental greatness? How exactly do bands manage that space, work together, fight together, create, and perform?
That's the idea behind Music Therapy: Group Session. Take some of your favorite bands and dig deep, live, in front of a real audience. This is where my work as a musician and a therapist comes in. I have a band, I know how to steer a conversation, I know how to ask tricky questions. Let's take a peek behind the curtain of full bands and see how they operate. Maybe we'll even help a band figure a problem out. We'll do it live on June 9 at Cafe Mustache with Chicago 4 piece Girl K. There are limited RSVPs at Cafe Mustache or stream via Twitch. Either way, it'll be a good time.
Two major themes from recent episodes: how much musicians miss the socializing aspect of being at shows, and their ongoing love/hate relationship with social media.
And speaking of recent episodes of Music Therapy, I have some recommendations:
Sam Cantor of Minor Moon talks about his new album "Tethers", how releasing an album virtually just isn't the same, and chasing the music industry beast that is Pitchfork
Claudia Ferme of Claude, one of the coolest musicians around, shares feelings of insecurity when scrolling Instagram
Rami Atassi talks about how he patchworks different musical endeavors to make a career out of it, while also being a father to a newborn
Mia Joy discusses the particular struggle of connecting with a record label as a person of color
As for me, I did a cover of Beach Boys' "Fun Fun Fun". It was nice to work with some beats and get away from the folk stuff for a bit. Be sure to check out the whole album, there's a lot of amazing BB covers on here, and proceeds from the album go to a great cause.
Be on the lookout for a new Beach Boys covers album later this month.
More soon,
J