Thursday, June 19, 2008

My Life Likes Taking Sharp Turns

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dean plays the festival of the arts w/ matt churchill + fred knapp

have you ever experienced the perfect opportunity falling in your lap?  the day before, you’re thinking: “boy, wouldn’t it be fun to try _____.” then the next day, you get an email saying: “dear you, would you like to try ______?”  ever since i submerged myself in music by constructing my drum studio in january, teaching my first drum lesson in America in february, and auditioning for a jazz quartet in may, i’ve been wondering what i should do with summer.  with summer comes a great opportunity: exploration.

i got an email one morning from dean windemuller, a local singer-songwriter who had graduated with a music degree from wheaton’s conservatory of music a few years ago.  i’d met him when i was invited over to a friend’s house for dinner last winter, and we hit it off because he was a musician, and so was i.  not long after the dinner, we got together to jam, and some time later, he invited me to drum for him at one of his shows.  fast-forward a month or two, and he calls me up again to drum for him at a church where he was asked to lead worship.  shortly after this gig, i got the email.

i won’t summarize the email, but in a nutshell, he gave me an opportunity to work the business side of his music.  so everything from promoting his shows, to booking him gigs, to managing his mailing list and fanbase - i would be in charge.  i mulled it over, quickly realized that i had a pretty good skill-set for the job with my background in media, entrepreneurship, and music, and wrote him back with an invitation to come over and talk out the details in person.  after a very positive meeting, i decided to hop on board with a start date set for the beginning of june.

june arrived, and we set our priority list.  one, i needed to book him shows.  two, i needed to promote his gig at the elbo room in chicago on june 30 and get some people to go.  through some very fortunate circumstances, i booked dean to play the Festival of the Arts in downtown Grand Rapids the first weekend of june.  i called up fred knapp to see if he wanted to be dean’s drummer for the gig, and to my surprise and delight, he agreed.  so i managed to book a show a few days after starting the job, which was definitely encouraging.  now i’m working on promoting dean’s chicago show in late june.  boy, what a ride!

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listen to his music here

if you dig his music and would like to hear from him, shoot an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and we’ll add you to the mailing list.  you’ll get free tracks, access to exclusive content, and news on past and upcoming shows.

Posted by Nehe555 on 06/19 at 01:10 PM
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