‘You got this’: Juno nominated bassist Rich Brown speaks to GCVI students about music, inspiration and obstacles
March 11, 2016
GUELPH, Ontario – “There are no wrong ways to listen to music.” That was just one of the messages Juno nominated bassist Rich Brown told Guelph CVI arts students on Friday afternoon.
The musician was at the school for a performance and workshop ahead of a concert in Guelph Friday evening.
Brown played a few songs for the students on his 6-string bass, but the majority of the performance was a conversation, with Brown opening up the floor to questions.
The questions were as varied and thoughtful as Brown’s music itself: how can you describe the relationship between drum and bass? How do you tune your bass? Who was the first musician to truly inspire you?
To answer the first question, Brown used his instrument to help with his answer, taking the audience on a journey from jazz to hip hop and back.
To answer the last, it started with listening to his father’s reggae music in the 70s – mix that in with seeing a Van Halen music video for the first time when he was 13, and you have his first true inspiration. “Bob Marley and Van Halen,” he said, as students let out a laugh. “I just thought these guys are having a lot of fun. I want to do that,” he said.
In terms of getting his start in music, Brown said it began in high school where he tried everything and played with anyone who would have him. “I played in a country band, I played in a Rush cover band,” he laughed. But his heart was with jazz and R&B.
From the age of 17 he was influenced by musicians such as Jaco Pastorius, Victor Bailey, Jimmy Haslip, and Alain Caron.
Currently on tour with the band Samdhi, Brown is also nominated for a 2016 Juno Award in the Jazz Album of the Year: Solo category.
On Friday, he told students about the negativity he faced when he was trying to establish himself, people telling him he’d never make it, that he couldn’t play 6-string bass. “But now those same people get to read on the Internet that I’m nominated for a Juno,” he said with a smile.
More importantly, he stressed, is the power music can have. “When you can move someone emotionally with your art…that is better than any award. So believe in yourself,” he said.
When asked what his biggest obstacle has been, Brown paused. It’s deeply personal, he said, admitting that he has been his biggest obstacle. “I am my own worst critic,” he said. But at the end of the day you have to believe in yourself and believe that “you got this.”
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For more information:
Heather Loney, Communications and Community Engagement Officer
Upper Grand District School Board
519-822-4420 ext.725
[email protected]
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