It was another successful CD release party last Friday, even if the impending snowfall kept a few performers and audience members at bay.  The night began with the presentation of the 2009 MRC Outstanding Member Award that was given to three members this year: Jameel Clark, Katie Stewart and Genna Matthew.

Following that the music began featuring performances by Katie and Genna as well as Rob Martin, Speaking of the Elephant, TJ Fresh and then Youngkillagansta and the entire Sesame Street Squad to finish off the night.

Hello for the third time, goodbye to a short break.  Two important things I have learned from ODU; optional homework should be renamed mandatory homework, and just because it’s less interesting to you doesn’t mean you don’t have to learn it.  I guess I went into college thinking, “I’m going to find out what I want to do with my life and they’re going to teach me how to do it.”  The two things I found to be wrong in my original thoughts were, that as of now I could not be more unsure of what I’m doing, and I’m going to be doing a lot more teaching then my professors are.  The first semester, as I’ve been told by millions, is supposed to be the hardest and it did not disappoint.  Although I did well in most of my classes, college is going to be a lot more work than high school, and I’m strangely excited about it.  I guess I’ll go over my favorite and least favorite classes then give an exciting peek at what next semester holds.  My favorite class, hands down was Music in history and culture.  I think I enjoyed this class so much because it was actually new information, a subject I have never been taught.  Some of my other classes were just high school classes with the word college attached to the beginning, those were the ones I struggled in most.  It wasn’t because the material was too difficult to understand but because I felt like I was wasting my time learning things I already studied in high school.  I just had to realize that it isn’t algebras fault that I keep having to relearn it year after year, and its not a waste of time to brush up on it now and again, and again.  Sadly I’m still stuck with some normal (inside the box) classes in this upcoming semester, but I’m still going to learn every ounce of whatever there is to learn from them.  I tried to incorporate some odder classes but there are still many general education classes to knock down.   My schedule is still in the creation process so I’ll have to cut to commercial before I can reveal what I’m taking but try not to be too distraught in your state of suspense:p  Happy new year to MRC and everyone else, hope your 2010 has had a wonderful start and continues to get better and better.

-Vince

Due to the epic amount of snow we were given in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area, we’re postponing the CD release party which was scheduled for Tuesday, December 22nd.  We were looking forward to this so much and I’m sure many of our members were as well.

We will let everyone know once we’ve rescheduled the party.

In order to make everyone feel better about missing this show, I’ve attached a picture of my car with a snowhawk.  It adds 3 horsepower.

We’re releasing our 2009 compilation CD on Tuesday, December 22, 2009.  Titled Swag City, its the first MRC CD to feature a title track, and I believe it to be our strongest CD yet.

Check out the sample tracks below and mark you calendars for the release party! Admission is free but donations will be accepted and CD’s will be for sale for $5.00 each.

Self Isolation by J-Willz
She Disappears by The Wave
Bantu Dance by Bill Anarka
In the Maze by Midnight Trampoline
Ima Cool Guy by B-Kid
Double Take by Katie Stewart

Hello again, I know you have all been doing a lot of waiting.. waiting for the new alice in chains album, waiting for where the wild things are to come out, and most of all waiting for a great blog.  I’m sure you all have your albums and have seen the movie by now but it still feels like something is missing, well the wait is finally over, I hope.  ODU has been a great experience so far,  I’ll start with the class aspect of college.  My favorite class so far has been music history and culture .  In this class we basically started with the question, “What is music and how did it get here.”  Out of the millions of answers that came to mind the most logical answers to me where, music started with drums, drums for war, drums for celebration, and it is one the simplest instruments to make.  My second answer was music started with the whistles from birds.  Cave man sat in his quite cave and then heard the sweet melody of a turtle dove flying over head, and for one reason or another he decided he liked that formation of pitches better than that of the wind blowing or water flowing.  And from there he, (he still being the lonely quite caveman), inspired by the passing bird sung out in his own collection of melodies and pitches.  Thus forming his “favorite” melodies and connecting his melodies into what we would now call a song.  I think the reason I enjoy this class is it has so many questions that have no firm or definite answers to them.  My MIDI (music in the studio oriented) class is also enjoyable, but after having Cory to teach me the basic ins and outs of the studio life in such an expert manner, it seams my current professor is lacking in charisma:p  My next music class, music theory, is also fun but very challenging.  It is fun because as the class goes on I realize that all of the things I am being “taught” or shown, are for the most part things I have already discovered.  I am now just learning the “correct” terms for them.  I also enjoy my college algebra class because it is all stuff I have been shown in high school.  And I don’t just enjoy it because I have seen it which should make it is easy, but because it’s just a matter of remembering the patterns and steps to solve the problems.  But most of all I enjoy the freedom that comes with college.  I know, shocker right?  But I enjoy being responsible for waking up to go to class , doing work, cleaning my things, and buying what I need…food, toilet paper, etc.  I feel like this could be the last stepping stone to becoming an actual “adult”.  Well I think that about covers most of my current thoughts on college life, how music started, how awesome Corey is, and lots of other things I stumbled upon in the entry.  I hope all is going well for the MRC and thank you again to them for giving me this opportunity.

MRC recently learned that Delegate David Toscano has submitted the Music Resource Center as a nominee for the Virginians for the Arts Foundation’s “Arts Build Communities” Award of “Rising Star.” The award is given to arts organizations “that best demonstrate the ability to enhance the community, lift our spirits, and build a better quality of life.” Delegate Toscano’s Legislative Assistant, Sarah Buckley, stated that Delegate Toscano “…would like to nominate the Music Resource Center for the “Rising Star” Award for all the good work you do for young people in the community.” MRC is deeply honored by this nomination.

We were lucky enough to receive some ticket donations from some generous members of the Charlottesville community and after making sure we took care of our volunteers, there were a few left over for some staff!  Here’s some pics of what turned out to be a great show (even if Muse didn’t headline).

Jim Gagnon is a youth music educator specializing in native instruments.  He is an accomplished performer and storyteller with a heart of gold and a spirit full of life.  He recently visited the MRC/Catech group for two sessions where he introduced them to Didgeridoo, native American flute, and a plethora of west African drums.  For more info on Jim Gagnon and his work, or if you would like him to be a part of a youth group you know, just visit Dreamtimeproject.com.  Here is what he wrote about his experience at MRC:

In regards to my experience with a group of teenagers at the Music Resource Center……