FLAT BROKE TEACHES HANCOCK HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ABOUT THE BLUES

posted on April 17th, 2006

Bulldogs get the blues

By JANE NORDBERG, Gazette Writer

HANCOCK — They may have been Flat Broke on stage, but in person they were a wealth of knowledge and expertise.

Students at Hancock Central High School were treated Friday to a set of workshops conducted by Marquette’s five-member Flat Broke Blues Band.

The group was in town Friday to appear as part of the Anti-Freeze Blues Festival at the Calumet Theatre.

Teacher Thomas P. Suchenek said he and fellow English teacher Stephen Smith were fans of the band, and had been working with them for over a year to do a music workshop at the school.

To make that a reality, the duo enlisted the help of instrumental music teacher Cheryl DeLong and vocal music teacher Vickie Baltensperger to write a $955 grant application to the Hancock Public Schools Foundation.

“Once it was approved, it was just a matter of scheduling a day that would coincide with the band’s theatre performance,” Suchenek said.

Teachers worked together to ensure that the workshops were educational as well as entertaining.

Students attending the day’s guitar, voice and drum workshops also learned about music history, music theory, and most importantly to Suchenek — songwriting.

“Being English teachers, we’re always stressing the revision process,” Suchenek said of the challenges he and Smith face when a student turns in the first draft of a paper. “Here, they learn from songwriters themselves that the first draft of a song is not the same one they’re performing on the stage.”

Mike Letts, an English teacher at Gwinn High School and one of the band’s songwriters and guitarists, said his eclectic mix of influences — Dostoyevsky, Vonnegut and ee cummings — sometimes make their way into the band, with originals such as “Don’t Let the Door Hit Ya,” “Good Stretch of Bad Luck” and “Mud Bug Pasty” finding their way onto the band’s playlist.

Vocalist Lorrie Hayes, meanwhile, made it clear to the students that the Rolling Stones had a firm hold on her heart.

Hayes told the students a story about the Rolling Stones coming to the U.S. and going to blues label Chess Records, where they recognized a paint-splattered man on a ladder as their blues idol, Muddy Waters.

“Here’s Keith Richards recognizing this guy painting the ceiling, and it’s Muddy Waters, their main inspiration at the time,” Hayes said.

Hayes encouraged the students to “Google the big cats” in blues music, which would lead them to the roots of rock and roll.

“Blues are the roots. The rest are the fruits,” she said.

Following the lecture portion of their session, Letts and Hayes (on harmonica) let student Megan Plis take the lead vocal on Big Joe Turner’s “Flip Flop Fly,” a song made more famous by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi in the Blues Brothers film.

Plis garnered applause despite her initial apprehension. “I love to sing, but was so confused because I didn’t know the song,” she said afterward. Student Katie Zutter said that while Hayes’ vocal style was different from what she was used to hearing in choir class, it was encouraging to hear it.

“Her voice was more throaty, coming from lower down here,” she said, pointing to her chest. “It was cool, I liked it.” Upstairs in the band room, students in the guitar and drum workshop were getting a lesson in equipment from band member Mark Johnson.

“There’s a reason the model for the Stratocaster hasn’t changed in 50 years and a reason so many people have copied it,” he said. “Remember the weird guitars of the ‘80s? Where are they now?”

Johnson also cautioned students to avoid big box retailer guitars. “If you buy junk, you’ll cut your hand, it will be uncomfortable, and you won’t have any fun playing it,” he said simply.

The best advice he could give the students was just to listen.

“Start picking songs apart and getting the breakdown of the pattern,” he said, adding that most musicians have at least the basic music reading skills. “You want to be able to read music but still have the flexibility to be able to jam on the fly.”

Student Ryan Shafer, who cited Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix as musical influences, said he took away a lot from “history of blues” session.

“I like the blues because unlike a lot of today’s music you can actually understand and relate to what they’re saying,” he said. “It’s not generational, it’s for everybody, not just one person.

Mike Nesbitt, a student with bass guitar, drums and piano to his credit, said even though his dad is “big into the blues,” he himself had been more influenced by indie rock, alternative and hard rock until Friday.

“I’ve never really experimented with that but I’m definitely going to play around with it now, probably today after school,” he said.

Baltensperger and DeLong said the workshops had gone better than expected.

“The band was really prepared, they did their research, and the kids were really attentive,” Baltensperger said. “It was a great day all around.”

 

Copyright © 2005 by the Flat Broke Blues Band
call (906)226-7658 or (906)226-6112 or e-mail the band for booking and band information
photography by Tom Buchkoe / Andy Gregg / Mike Baker