Why Play Music

I’m thrilled to share this episode featuring the great Brooklyn based singer, songwriter, and  bluegrass flatpicker Christian Apuzzo. Christian is a leader in the new york bluegrass scene. In addition to his bands, The Christian Life and Cole Quest and the City Pickers, Christian is involved with all levels of the New York music scene. In addition to teaching voice and guitar, Christian also leads group classes in bluegrass jamming and vocal harmony at The Jalopy School of Music in Red Hook, brooklyn. From April to October, Christian runs the weekly Gowanus Dredgers Jam where he and Liz Schnore have cultivated a open and welcoming community for musicians of all levels to come and playbtogether. Christian and I discuss music education, performance, the role of community in his music, his time studying classical vocal performance in college, and why at 30 he left his tenured teaching job to play bluegrass music.  I hope you enjoy my conversation and performance with, Christian Apuzzo. https://www.christianapuzzo.com/ https://colequest.com/ https://www.jalopytheatre.org/ my links: instagram.com/steveburk3 facebook.com/steveburkebass youtube.com/steveburke

Melissa Kaitlyn Carter is a Brooklyn, NY based singer-songwriter, guitar player, producer, and educator. In addition to her solo project, Hattie (instagram.com/hattie.wav), Melissa writes and performs with the indie rock group Rosalind(rosalindband.com). *correction - the first song we perform is called The Furniture and the final song is called Nobody. Like the show? You can support Why Play Music and help us continue by making a donation here: paypal.me/steveburk3 Books mentioned*: 1. The Artists Way - https://amzn.to/3tjIcHJ 2. The War of Art - https://amzn.to/3TgOVgp 3. Turning Pro- https://amzn.to/46Oo3Yh *these are affiliate links. If you make a purchase, a small portion goes to helping grow this show.

Sam Talmadge is a New York based guitar player, vocalist, bandleader, and songwriter.

This episode features Henley Douglas Jr. Henley is an incredible saxophone player, band leader, and composer from Massachusetts. In addition to his musical accomplishments, Henley serves as an honorary patriarch for many players in the Boston music scene. As a young bass player, Henley gave me many opportunities to be on stage with him and his incredible band. He has recently started SOSS records. Make sure you check out his music at HDRNB.com. *CORRECTION* In the episode we referred to the first song as TNT and the final song as Amore's Prayer. The first song is actually Amore's Prayer and the final song is TNT. Do you want to stay up to date on episodes? Make sure you follow me on instagram at instagram.com/steveburk3 and subscribe at YouTube.com/steveburke. If you want to support the show you can now do that at patreon.com/steveburk3 Thank you for the support and I hope you enjoy my conversation with Henley Douglas Jr. Hosted by Steve Burke Mixed and edited by Melissa Kaitlyn Carter

My guest today is Aidan Scrimgeour. Aidan is a terrific jazz pianist, composer, poet, and songwriter from Brooklyn, NY. We chat about music education, our shared musical upbringing, basketball and much more.

J.M. Clifford is a songwriter, guitarist, and educator from Brooklyn, NY. In addition to being a terrific musician, J.M. is also a deep thinker and passionate teacher. In this conversation we talk about our love of Norman Blake and other bluegrass guitar players, songwriting, meditation, and much more. I hope you enjoy my performance and conversation with JM Clifford. Note, throughout the show I refer to my guest as Mike. J.M. Clifford is the stage name of Mike Clifford. You can find his music by searching for J.M. Clifford. www.jmclifford.com https://open.spotify.com/album/7JZcXWt8XLWMeb8b6tOkIz?si=qa2BeqXgSPKsccaezCHt7A

Derek Dupuis is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter living in Brooklyn, NY. Originally from Salem, MA, Derek is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and has toured the world with the Videogame Orchestra. Derek and I have known each other for eight years, playing in many different musical projects together. Hope you enjoy our conversation. 

Bobby Spellman is a New York based jazz trumpet player, composer, and educator. Bobby is the leader of the Revenge of the Cool Nonet, a 9 piece band that performs original music with the instrumentation of the Gil Evans and Miles Davis Birth of the Cool band. Bobby performs as a sideman in jazz, rock, funk, and afrobeat projects. I hope you enjoy this episode of Why Play Music.