 If you watch Common Ground online, consider becoming a member or making a donation at lptv.org. Lakeland Public Television presents Common Ground made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota. Production funding of Common Ground is made possible in part by First National Bank Bemidji, continuing their second century of service to the community, a partnership for generations. Member, FDIC. Welcome to Common Ground, I'm your host, Scott Knudson. In this two segment music episode, meet the band Crimson Winter as they perform at Nevis' music destination, Terrapin Station. Then jazz guitarist and guitar teacher, Louis Sampson of Bemidji performs at the Lucky Moose in Walker, Minnesota. Playing live, it's fun to provide the entertainment, so to speak. It's a surreal experience having people there just to watch and listen to what you came up with. It's really a cool feeling. We're Crimson Winter and I'm John Murphy and I play the bass and I also take care of vocal duties. My name is Nathan Kelly, I'm the drummer for the band. And my name's Sebastian, I play guitar and sing vocals as well. Collectively as individuals, we've played together for about two years, but Crimson Winter has been together for about nine months or so. It's a good question to ask like what our sound is because I think that's a question we don't even fully understand ourselves. Well, it's been described as like 70s, like kind of on the progressive rock scene and infused with a bit of metal. We also kind of have some a little bit of punk elements with how Nathan drums and how he incorporates his own style in there. It's interesting just how everything comes together as far as the writing style comes. We have multiple elements in it, all the way leading from your prog rock and your hard rock towards your metal and everything. And when everything comes together, it seems to work out nice. We're able to get everything to flow the way we want to and we're very happy with our sound. Writing music for us, the way we approach it, there's a couple different ways. Sometimes Sebastian comes in with a quarter of a song written, or like most of a song written, or sometimes all of a song written and he'll be like guys what do you think about this? I threw this together and we're like yeah, that's awesome. And we'll write different parts for an arrangement like he'll throw in a drum track or two. And sometimes we'll get together and we'll be jamming. We'll be doing just random stuff and we'll stop and say hey, what was that? You're just playing right now and they'll come up, well I don't know. It's like okay, well that was really cool. I like that, what you're doing. And then we just kind of take that and we roll with it and see what happens. I'd say in general as far as like melody or lyrics, it's typically more of like the backing music behind it all will come up with, like the riffs and the drum parts. And then once that's kind of solid and we're getting a feel to that, typically me or John will start like coming up with some melodies and then we'll all like throw in some lyrics to it. That's kind of true of my own writing as well. I'm Barry Riff's first melody later. And I wouldn't say it's anything like in disregard to the melody, it's just that's kind of what presents itself last to us at least. I think it's a lot more like focused on the motif until the melody eventually reveals itself because I think it's a lot of what I like thinking about when writing a song is serving the song and putting into the song what it deserves. You need a good pancake batter for the pancake. The overall feeling of the Terrapin station show. I mean I was really excited but there was a little part of me that was a bit nervous because this was a bit of our pioneering show for the community where we practice and write our music. So this wasn't just Minneapolis where people were like, okay sure it's another band you know this is like our home turf and there was a little bit riding on you in that way but I think overall it became a really fun experience for me and it was something I was able to walk away from and be like yeah that was a really good show. Going into it yeah I'll admit I'm sure they could admit too that yeah we were nervous if we weren't then we would have had the passion behind it. Definitely for the first two songs like I was a bit nervous but kind of once we got playing and more in the rhythm of things the groove it kind of died down got more comfortable with it but I mean it's really crazy just like being the focal point of 50 plus people. I'm Kiki Carter Webb and our band is called Dancing Light. This is my husband Greg Webb. The Terrapin station performance really came about because we had a bunch of family coming to visit for Greg's mother's 90th birthday and so they all wanted to hear us play they wanted to hear Sebastian and his band play so we called Brian at Terrapin and said hey how about a show over at Terrapin while the family's here. He thought it was a great idea and we put that together. It was so much fun. We love Terrapin station. Playing at Terrapin station has always been a real treat for us from the very first time we performed there and we performed there several times over the years. I love any environment that you know that I guess comparable to that that's really designed for listening to music and there isn't really no other focus going on there. Very different than playing in a bar where there's some other activity that sometimes is more important to the people in the room when you're just there and everybody's just there for the music it's so beautiful it allows you to really go deep into the playing into the performance and into the interaction with the audience. The idea of bringing Crimson Winter in there to perform I just knew that they would love it. I just knew that you know that it would give them an opportunity that they hadn't really had yet. The night at Terrapin station was just a wild night. We had family there, we had friends there, we had the public there it was open to the public as well and there was just such an energy of anticipation both in performing for family that lives far away and our grandchildren being there and then having Crimson Winter play a real concert for the first time and it was just so much fun to watch those boys come alive on stage. Having our son get into music is sort of a dream come true. We have other children who connect with music but he is the first one who sort of we feel the camaraderie of being deeply into music and passionately loving to play and to write and to perform. We've sort of been mentoring Crimson Winter just in the sense of offering them our experience as musicians and doing a concert together just seemed like a really good idea and I think they had some question about well how is that going to work because of the difference in our musical styles. We all had that question. I think we did. When I was approaching people to even to tell them about the concert there was at first a little bit of wondering well now is this person going to like both of these musical genres together or is this person going to prefer one over the other and there was an inspiration behind the whole idea of doing a show together and I started to just allow that to be what it was and to trust that I didn't really have to decide for the people coming to see us what they were going to like or not like and I could just say well come out and experience it. It was amazing to be playing songs that we've done for years like yes it does with Crimson Winter because they were just had all this youthful energy so powerful and there too are the grandchildren coming up on stage the energy was just electric for me personally. I had such a good time playing music with Crimson Winter we had some beautiful rehearsals here days than the weeks before we did the Terrapin show and to do that with them on stage it's kind of amazing really in so many ways because of course we've known Sebastian all his life and he's known John Murphy since he was probably in third grade and there was a long time there were most of what they would do together is play video games and it was never really I never imagined that there'd be a day not only that they would both be so focused on music but that we would get to play with them on stage and be a part of a concert together and having the grandchildren come up on stage and play percussion it was a lot of fun and I know for them it was huge they were just beaming afterwards like that they had been a part of the band. They were rock stars. I think the general feeling you get from playing with Sebastian's parents I think practicing up to it it's kind of a cool feeling because you get to play out of your style and you get to play with something a little bit softer and yada yada and you kind of get a different sonic experience a musical experience and in a way it's a nice sort of break for you as a musician. Playing with my parents and we all had family in the audience even if we totally botched the show they hate our songs whatever they're still going to love us and care for us. The show feels a little more intimate just because you have that family there and you feel a little bit less pressure on one hand because you know that if you screw up I mean there's still your family but then again you don't want to screw up because you want your family to like your music. True and another aspect of that is that it's also your family so it's like wow I don't know what these guys think of it but here's the first time it's like hey mom, hey dad, check out this rip-roaring heavy riff. I do. This is what I do. Hello, my name is Lou Samsa and I'm playing guitar at the Lucky Moose in Walker. When I do perform these songs as far as my thinking goes I just I want to play these songs with lots of emotion with feeling. When you know a song well you can play with much more feeling. If you don't know it as well as you should then you're worried about what the next phrase might be or exactly that next chord and then that takes away from the feeling of music. To me I can't explain the feeling I get from out of music when I play it's wonderful. Sometimes I literally almost fall out of my chair I'm so excited about it. So I know I'm very sensitive if I go see a movie sometimes I'm crying like a baby and I think that shows in my playing I think we all have this potential to feel this but I that's one thing I never I never did figure out for sure do we all have the capacity to feel music emotionally because sometimes you see people play they might play one note and it might be like this just one note they're feeling that note and then you get another guy that's just sitting there kind of stone faced so I don't know what he's feeling and that's the saying that you hear many times you can always tell a player just he might only play one note but it reflects that emotion is there I've been teaching guitar for about 50 years I actually started playing guitar when I was 11 years old I'm 65 now so I've been doing this since the dawn of man but I got introduced to music and guitar probably when I was a little kid went out like about fifth sixth grade I used to listen to Elvis Presley and the Beatles and that really got me motivated and I remember learning songs and singing along with them and I remember getting myself worked up into tears there was something about music especially these particular songs by Elvis and the Beatles and Ricky Nelson for that matter but initially there was something very moving about music I knew there was something there even though I didn't take it seriously I loved it but I had other interests that I followed you know whether it was sports or what have you in fact when I decided to go to college I didn't think I was going to be a guitar major or going to music at all I actually wanted to become an elementary teacher and so here I am at college at the Magistrate University I'm actually from the Iron Range from a town called Chisholm but I came here to college majoring in elementary education and after two years I decided to quit college and move back home and start a band with one of my friends and I moved back to Chisholm and I started a band there and we were together for about two years and we were playing in some of the bars around I was making some money but the guys in my band weren't quite as serious about it as I was so I decided to go back to college and you know finish my degree but meanwhile when I was in college I met another guitar player actually he was a bass guitar player and so we started another band and so here I am in Bemidji going to school but also playing this band on the side you know and at that time we were again playing on the weekends but meanwhile I met a guitar player that moved into town here in Bemidji actually his name was Kevin Daly and I took lessons with him for a good year and he basically changed my life after I was with him for that year I realized that I wanted more of this guitar business so I still finished my elementary degree and then I took up music now at the time they didn't have a guitar major here so I had no choice but to do voice because you have to pick an instrument so I chose voice so I ended up getting a degree in vocal and elementary not to mention I was qualified to teach driver education and I even have a degree in piano technology after I finished my degree in music and elementary education I was substitute teaching around town for a while and I actually was tuning pianos in town but there was something about that guitar that was always beckoning me it was always after me so before you know it I started other bands and I was always playing in bands I got to the point where I actually quit tuning pianos which monetarily was probably not the wisest decision because it was a very good income doing that but my guitar was always calling me so I ended up actually teaching guitar here in Bemidji Kevin Daly, my guitar teacher that got me into all this he was teaching guitar at a little music store here in Bemidji called the Melody Shop now Kevin actually moved back to Minneapolis and when he left he got me the teaching job at the Melody Shop so I actually started teaching guitar at the Melody Shop where I was at for 18 years actually so I was always able to make a living teaching guitar lessons which I love by the way one-on-one and also playing in bands so that's how I was able to make my living just teaching guitar and playing in bands and I've been doing that for a long long time it's been about 36 years because after the Melody Shop closed here I went right to Over Beaks so I was at the Melody Shop for 18 years and then at Over Beaks now for about 18 years so just this passion I have but the interesting thing is I was always kind of thinking I was good but then with the computer I did get on the computer and actually scope out some guitar players that actually taught guitar online great jazz guitar players and they actually brought the world to me I realized that was way behind way behind so right now I actually practice about 2-3 hours every day and I've been doing this now for about maybe 3 years now so my playing is getting better I feel a joy I love it I just wish I had the passion to do 10 hours a day which great players do it's a lifelong commitment it's hours and hours and my hat goes off to the people that can do that but what can I say it is beautiful even if you do a little bit about a year ago I played at the Lucky Moose Bar and Grill in Walker Minnesota which I actually do now as a musician I play at restaurants and I play at weddings at the Forest Edge Winery and Rutgers, different places like that I do a solo performance and I play a variety of music in fact I like to refer to myself as eclectic electric I play a little bit of country a little jazz, some blues a little rock a little bit of classical just a little variety of music which I love because it brings out different emotions in me before I did this solo stuff I play here straight basically pretty much every weekend but it wasn't until I was about maybe 55 years old where I started doing solo solo work which I really love probably because it's enough to just take care of myself let alone worrying about three or four other bandmates I've got plenty to worry about with just me but I will say that being a solo guitarist you really have to know your songs well because when you play in the public you never know who's there there might be some music professors there there might be people with cameras there and I've learned in the past that I didn't know my songs as good as I should have because there's more pressure that's involved and it's easy to to mess up but I know this about myself that if I really dig in and practice like you should you get to the point where you know that song so well that even if you get distracted the song can still flow because this muscle memory and it's so locked in your head that even though you get distracted a little bit you don't fall apart you can just keep it going so for myself I'm sure everybody's different for myself if I know the song real well that gives me the confidence and when I have the confidence I have no problem now some of the venues I perform at the people are just eating talking so their undivided attention isn't really on me so it's more laid back of an atmosphere which relieves a little pressure but you got to remember that while people are eating they still look over and they listen and I guess my goal is if it feels good to me I'm assuming it feels good to the audience I think we're all human beings and I think they can tell if you love something and it feels really good for you I think they can pick up on that so right now I still teach private guitar lessons still at Overbeaks and also at Bemidji State University where I'm an adjunct instructor and I still do my solo guitar work and so this is what I do for a living and it's wonderful I've always loved sharing what I know and I still love doing it to this very day I love teaching guitar when I give lessons I'm hoping that the person would like to make guitar their career this is the way I teach I don't fool around I'm not demanding I don't get upset if they don't practice all I can do is try to inspire them get them excited about guitar because you can actually make a living whether you play in the military or if you're a studio guitarist or if you play in a band or if you teach private guitar there are a lot of venues options to make a living playing guitar so as an instructor I enjoy watching my students grow actually they pass me up and I remember one of my earlier students from years ago who practiced 10 hours a day he passed me up in 3 years and I remember that was kind of hurtful for me to pass me up and I had played for 25 years and he passes me up in 3 years and he went on to move to New York a great guitar player actually his name is John C from Bemidji here so as time went on I had others that basically did the same thing so now it's enjoyable to watch my students pass me up and I can only wish them the best for high levels of success I would like to encourage everyone to at least study some instrument I am a believer that if you study an instrument I think that carries over into all areas of your life I think that will just make you a better person I think you will be able to achieve higher levels in any other field just by studying music because it's so completely involved with your whole body, your mind the physicality, the emotional I highly recommend everybody to study music as far as unlocking some potential in my students as far as their guitar playing goes it's wonderful to see the light bulbs go off in their eyes when they can start creating music I love when I see a student grow but I have to say we don't all grow at the same levels and I think the accomplishments and feeling of certain people are just going to be higher that's life sometimes you're actually married to your instrument and some people make I've had students that were on their way and they actually decided to fall in love with somebody which is great but I will say their guitar playing went bye bye and I'm married, I've got three kids it's been awesome, I was able to manage everything so I've been blessed to have a wonderful family and my wonderful guitar and you know if that works for you great but some people can't have both I mean if they really want to get to that high level, if they just want to play a few chords and have fun for the rest of their life that's fine but as far as that commitment to get to those higher levels sometimes we might have to make that very difficult decision whether you want to play guitar or do you want to get married or not because some people will tell you that instrument is you're married to it what can I say if you're interested in learning how to play your guitar at a higher level or if you're interested in hiring me to play at a special function you'll find me in the Bemidji phone book Lewis Samsa I think the audience actually appreciates seeing somebody live working at their craft it would be like myself when a plumber comes over to my house and I'm watching him I admire that or a mechanic or a carpenter I think it's wonderful to watch somebody who knows what they're doing I admire, I respect it and I think that the audience for musicians is the same I guess what I would say in a nutshell is that you can find art in everything and in every one and in every occupation period 333-3014 To watch Common Ground online visit lptv.org and click local shows for episodes or segments of Common Ground call 218-333-3020 Production funding of Common Ground was made possible in part by First National Bank Bemidji continuing their second century of service to the community a partnership for generations with DIC Common Ground is brought to you by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund with money by the vote of the people November 4th, 2008 If you watch Common Ground online consider becoming a member or making a donation at lptv.org