Music Outreach Touring

Not only am I an entertainer, but I am also an educator, a mentor, and a coach. I travel the world performing on stages of all shapes and sizes, under bright lights, and in front of large audiences of people. But, what I do is much more than merely entertaining.

I am a member of a performing arts organization that specializes in music outreach tours. We travel around the world to theaters and auditoriums, schools and arts centers, and more. Wherever there is a stage, we play; and when there is no stage, we make one! We perform in school gymnasiums and cafeterias, outside on closed streets, on television sets, and even in juvenile detention centers. This is why they are called music outreach tours, because wherever there are people who we can reach and teach, or wherever we are needed most, we will be there.

We travel in a group of around 40 or so members on each individual tour, though the entire organization has hundreds of active members and even more alumni. Everyone in the group has their own individual job to do on each tour, including; lighting and sound engineers, stage directors and managers, costume crews, etc. Yet, we all have one thing in common; we are BOTH performers and teachers. We travel and run a 3-day performing arts workshop in each location we visit, consisting of music, dance and acting classes, rehearsals, and an all-out, 2-act stage variety show put on by our members and our workshop participants. These participants can range from as young as 3-years old, all the way up to senior citizens, and are typically divided into age groups so that they are learning and performing different material based on their age. The size of each workshop also ranges from as few as 40 participants, to hundreds in a single show!

When I first joined this organization, I had a hard time finding my place. Coming from a small town in Louisiana, to southern California is a difficult enough transition, and it didn't help that all the other members of the group who had arrived from various states and countries had come from performing arts backgrounds. I was a bit of a troubled and rebellious teen and never quite fit in in my hometown either. We didn't have theater and performing arts in my high school, and both the school and the town in general were relatively poor in comparison to the schools I had seen when I moved to California. The rest of the United States wasn't much different, as many of the schools around the country had theater, dance and music classes and programs available. Later, after traveling to these schools with the group, I would discover just how different my highschool experience had been, and how financially and functionally insufficient my school was in comparison. To add to that, most of the new members dressed in name brand clothes, sang and danced, while I dressed mostly in black and had played in a metal band for a while. So, when I auditioned and was accepted on my first tour with the group, I was beyond shocked.

Initially performing with the group, I mostly played in the band and did very little to no singing or dancing. Instead, I typically adorned my guitar, bass or banjo and played the accompaniment. I worked in sound and lighting crews and even taught some improvisational acting classes. As it turns out, I was quite the comedic character. Then after some time, I began learning more dance and vocal techniques, which I later would opt for over my beloved instruments.

You see, there was a change that happened when I got out on the road with this group. I found a part of me that I never knew existed, and I found it in a family that I never knew I could be a part of. As you might expect, many of the members with extensive backgrounds and experience in music and dancing, found teaching quite easy when the students were equally talented and eager to perform and learn. But there were other students and kids in these workshops that were different, like me. Some had disabilities, either mental or physical that made it somewhat difficult for them to learn and keep up with the majority. Some had been convinced to join the workshop by a parent or guardian, and had no prior experience in music or performing arts. Some came from broken homes or families with little money. This is where I found MY role in the group. The rest of the group members were super efficient and handled their jobs like pros, teaching, performing and managing their schedules with little to no complications. But, there were some students in the back of the class, not up to speed. These students needed something different. So, that's where I found myself jumping in.

I would separate from the rest of the class, taking a couple students aside and teaching at a different pace. Then, when the music and dancing stopped, I took on a different role. I consoled the students who were dealing with struggles and I swapped stories and life experiences, often unknowingly becoming the one that they could connect easiest with and felt understood them. As I had grown up in the south in a country town, patience was something I had a lot of. I spent time with students who had downs syndrome or other special needs, befriended them, and my inexperience in dance and vocal abilities allowed them to feel less outshined or overwhelmed. I gave them the spotlight and we celebrated every small success, together.

There were times when I laid it all out, and I shared with them some of my worries, fears, regrets and insecurities. I told them stories of my family struggles and my sometimes less than proud decisions. I told them how I too had felt like an outsider both back home, and even in the group initially. I told them how I had never sang or danced, but that too had unexpectedly changed. So, what was stopping the same change from happening for them? Nothing. I encouraged them and reminded them that if I could do it, they could too and if my life could completely change overnight, as it had...then so could theirs. And boy, did they shine!

From experiences that include surprising a young man with special needs during a show by presenting him with a "My Teacher" medal and giving a speech about how much he taught me, while I was supposed to be teaching him, and seeing him light up while his parents and friends sit in the audience with tears in their eyes and snapping photos to capture the moment, to meeting Muhammad Ali and teaching a guitar solo to his son; there has been no more fulfilling job I have ever worked. To hear from some of my students years later about how much I had helped positively affect their lives, and even seeing some of them grow older and eventually come out to join the group, inspired by the memories we had created during those three short days, is a feeling like no other. Not to mention the family bonds that are formed within the group itself from traveling, teaching, working and living side by side for months at a time.

No amount of money can compare to the experiences and memories I have gained, earned and achieved during my time working with this organization. A blessing is the only word that can be used to describe it. These memories have been the highlight of my existence on this planet thus far, and they have helped to shape and mold me into the person I am today, as I inadvertently helped to shape and mold so many other young, amazing, talented and beautiful souls.

Sometimes in life, the most difficult and seemingly impossible can be achieved simply by smiling and being present in the moment. Being the light in the room, the ear that listens or the shoulder to cry on is such a simple task, but it can make a huge difference in the level of effectiveness of the day to day job that you do, no matter what that is. If you want to make a change or have an impact on the world, sometimes all it takes is 1 person, 1 step, 1 moment, or 1 smile at a time.

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