Thank you for this great post! There is so much food for thought. Following the imperative of the authentic self is rarely a linear path. There are usually starts and stops and side trips and decisions that end up feeling "close but nope". Only in retrospect do we get a deeper understanding of the thread we were following and the particular forces at play at the time. I loved so much hearing about how everything brought you here and that nothing was wasted. The full four years at Berklee were not what you needed, but it expanded your artistic language and palette and introduced you to some life long friends and inspiring colleagues. People called to work in the arts usually have such amazing human stories—full of passion and courage and determination to become and live into their truest selves Thanks again, I read this outloud to another musician while we were traveling this weekend. What a great conversation it inspired about all the roads taken and not taken, about having compassion for what we knew and didn't know at the time, about the relationships that changed our lives, and about what is so powerful and transcendent in the arts - that on wonderous, determined, strong or shaky knees we followed.
Love the back stories. Dropped out of Curry College’s Communications program due to a combination of serious illness and I’d learned all they could teach me. I was already on-the-air part-time at an upstart “alternative” station in my hometown. I only had 18 credits left to graduate but I couldn’t be bothered. Worked full time menial jobs until I saw an opportunity to make WFNX a full-time thing. Quit my day job to drive to Lynn everyday for no pay & did every fill-in shift for $6 an hour. Two-and-a-half months later my dream job was mine.
One day soon I’ll finally post the story of I escaped high school, which I was not going to graduate (again due to illness), instead starting college early at UMASS Boston for free.
My parents’ friend, John Baboian teaches guitar, composition, and vocal accompaniment at Berklee. He graduated from Berklee in the 70s then went on to New England Conservatory, and started teaching at Berklee in the 80s. Not sure if you would have crossed paths with him. Great guy, great guitarist… heavy in the Boston jazz scene.
Everything in your run up to going to Berklee could be me writing my story. I also didn’t have much of a college plan and as senior year progressed my choir director gave me a brochure for Berklee. It seemed this the perfect fit for me. I applied late and, iirc, got a deferred admission so I auditioned for and got a voice scholarship at my hometown university: West Virginia. This was 1989. By the time I spent one year as a music major, I knew it was not for me. Like you, I wanted to write songs and was more of a singer than an instrumentalist. I formed a band and we played around a good bit and then in ‘93 I moved to NYC and did ok, but never quite got that record deal that was always almost there.
I ended up coming to Iowa ten years later and getting an MFA in fiction writing. Iowa was a lot like how you describe Berklee.
The Blake Babies came through Morgantown several times while I was there and I know my friend Mark and his band struck up a friendship with you guys. Good time.
Thanks for sharing this. Nice to know we weren’t the only ones.
The first time I heard of the Blake Babies: I was driving around one night, probably high, and listening to the new music show on WXRT. The DJ played "Out There" and the hair stood up on my neck and I got chills. After the tune was over, the DJ said something like "Wow, now wasn't that a REAL pretty song?" I saw you guys at Lounge Ax shortly after that, I think The Slugs opened.
I feel seen! Well, half-seen, which is still pretty good. John, you and I have already discussed this, but I showed up at Berklee in 1990, a couple years after you were gone and only one or two semesters after the other Jason Nesmith (Mike's son) had graduated. I won't write about it here, but I probably should write about it somewhere. It was very refreshing to read your appreciation and to realize that only four years later you were already living the life I actually wanted. I picked up a used copy of the Sunburn cassette at Looney Tunes!
I went to Texas Law on scholarship. I had to leave because of health issues, but it was definitely less challenging than Oberlin. I one seminar at Oberlin where we read all or most of a contemporary political theory or philosophy book a week -- heavy stuff, like Rawls. This was on the heavier end of my coursework, but not that much of an outlier. The workload in law school was significantly less.
It did all work out for me, despite not getting the law degree. I don't make corporate law money, but I comfortably clear 6 figures writing documentation for the DC metrorail system. The work is low pressure, the people are nice... I get to spend much of my day reading, and I never have to work overtime or after hours. I'm union. I have lots of time to enjoy life and pursues my hobbies, like fiction writing.
I remember Pat’s songwriting class (he indexed highly on country music as I recall) - I was in it in ‘86… you left and I stayed one more year — Juliana was in some of my classes too. I was in The Next and then Sidewalk Gallery — we had lots of gigs around town with you guys. Remember all of the guitar stores at Mass ave and Boylston back then!?!!! Crazy awesome.
Cool read! I'm a recent Production and Engineering grad from Berklee, and I find it very interesting to hear how differently the school operated a mere 40 years ago. It feels more and more like a company each year, I wonder what it'll look like during the next generation
Thank you for this great post! There is so much food for thought. Following the imperative of the authentic self is rarely a linear path. There are usually starts and stops and side trips and decisions that end up feeling "close but nope". Only in retrospect do we get a deeper understanding of the thread we were following and the particular forces at play at the time. I loved so much hearing about how everything brought you here and that nothing was wasted. The full four years at Berklee were not what you needed, but it expanded your artistic language and palette and introduced you to some life long friends and inspiring colleagues. People called to work in the arts usually have such amazing human stories—full of passion and courage and determination to become and live into their truest selves Thanks again, I read this outloud to another musician while we were traveling this weekend. What a great conversation it inspired about all the roads taken and not taken, about having compassion for what we knew and didn't know at the time, about the relationships that changed our lives, and about what is so powerful and transcendent in the arts - that on wonderous, determined, strong or shaky knees we followed.
That's amazing, thank you so much.
Love the back stories. Dropped out of Curry College’s Communications program due to a combination of serious illness and I’d learned all they could teach me. I was already on-the-air part-time at an upstart “alternative” station in my hometown. I only had 18 credits left to graduate but I couldn’t be bothered. Worked full time menial jobs until I saw an opportunity to make WFNX a full-time thing. Quit my day job to drive to Lynn everyday for no pay & did every fill-in shift for $6 an hour. Two-and-a-half months later my dream job was mine.
Well done!
One day soon I’ll finally post the story of I escaped high school, which I was not going to graduate (again due to illness), instead starting college early at UMASS Boston for free.
Cafe Bouquet!
Remember Mudi? He’s the one who hooked me up with the Middle East for their first-ever rock show.
Yes!
My parents’ friend, John Baboian teaches guitar, composition, and vocal accompaniment at Berklee. He graduated from Berklee in the 70s then went on to New England Conservatory, and started teaching at Berklee in the 80s. Not sure if you would have crossed paths with him. Great guy, great guitarist… heavy in the Boston jazz scene.
Name's familiar.
Everything in your run up to going to Berklee could be me writing my story. I also didn’t have much of a college plan and as senior year progressed my choir director gave me a brochure for Berklee. It seemed this the perfect fit for me. I applied late and, iirc, got a deferred admission so I auditioned for and got a voice scholarship at my hometown university: West Virginia. This was 1989. By the time I spent one year as a music major, I knew it was not for me. Like you, I wanted to write songs and was more of a singer than an instrumentalist. I formed a band and we played around a good bit and then in ‘93 I moved to NYC and did ok, but never quite got that record deal that was always almost there.
I ended up coming to Iowa ten years later and getting an MFA in fiction writing. Iowa was a lot like how you describe Berklee.
The Blake Babies came through Morgantown several times while I was there and I know my friend Mark and his band struck up a friendship with you guys. Good time.
Thanks for sharing this. Nice to know we weren’t the only ones.
That Iowa MFA program
is legendary!
The first time I heard of the Blake Babies: I was driving around one night, probably high, and listening to the new music show on WXRT. The DJ played "Out There" and the hair stood up on my neck and I got chills. After the tune was over, the DJ said something like "Wow, now wasn't that a REAL pretty song?" I saw you guys at Lounge Ax shortly after that, I think The Slugs opened.
Love that!
Now i remember, the DJ was Johnny Mars on his show "Big Beat".
Maybe a year or two later Mars debuted "Downtime" on his show, still one of my fav BB tunes.
Love it
I feel seen! Well, half-seen, which is still pretty good. John, you and I have already discussed this, but I showed up at Berklee in 1990, a couple years after you were gone and only one or two semesters after the other Jason Nesmith (Mike's son) had graduated. I won't write about it here, but I probably should write about it somewhere. It was very refreshing to read your appreciation and to realize that only four years later you were already living the life I actually wanted. I picked up a used copy of the Sunburn cassette at Looney Tunes!
I’d love to read that!
Nice reflection. I also dropped out of Berklee (piano) around the same time, and switched to guitar to focus on writing songs. I learned a ton there.
A other fun and insightful real. Makes me wanna read about an inner voice in tennis.
I too am a drop out but without the insights, rockstardom or Berklee as the backdrop. Cheers n
I went to Texas Law on scholarship. I had to leave because of health issues, but it was definitely less challenging than Oberlin. I one seminar at Oberlin where we read all or most of a contemporary political theory or philosophy book a week -- heavy stuff, like Rawls. This was on the heavier end of my coursework, but not that much of an outlier. The workload in law school was significantly less.
It did all work out for me, despite not getting the law degree. I don't make corporate law money, but I comfortably clear 6 figures writing documentation for the DC metrorail system. The work is low pressure, the people are nice... I get to spend much of my day reading, and I never have to work overtime or after hours. I'm union. I have lots of time to enjoy life and pursues my hobbies, like fiction writing.
Well done!
I remember Pat’s songwriting class (he indexed highly on country music as I recall) - I was in it in ‘86… you left and I stayed one more year — Juliana was in some of my classes too. I was in The Next and then Sidewalk Gallery — we had lots of gigs around town with you guys. Remember all of the guitar stores at Mass ave and Boylston back then!?!!! Crazy awesome.
Cool read! I'm a recent Production and Engineering grad from Berklee, and I find it very interesting to hear how differently the school operated a mere 40 years ago. It feels more and more like a company each year, I wonder what it'll look like during the next generation