Alan Meerow
The final installment of our conversation with SOHF President Todd Rundgren.
AM: You've expressed a disdain for country music, and for almost half a century you've only recorded a single and arguably satiric country influenced song. [Todd chuckles]. What are the music genres that you really like the least, and which the most?
TR: That I like the least?
AM:...
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Emotions
Sitting Down With The President, Part 1
Alan Meerow
Despite a schedule from hell, and a bad case of food poisoning, Spirit of Harmony founder and president Todd Rundgren found time to sit down with Music In A Word editor Alan Meerow at the Tyrolean Getaway in Stowe, Vermont for a wide-ranging interview. Here is part one of what will ultimately be three posts for our blog.
AM: In his 2007 book, "Musicophilia," t...
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A Family Legacy
Sheila Craig remembers church hymn written by her grandmother 50 years ago
Sara Stromseth-Troy
BURR OAK, IOWA – Fifty years after its publication, Sheila Craig remembers a hymn written by her grandmother, Genevra Smith, an ode to a country church where she was a lifelong member.
"The Little White Church on the Hill," penned by Smith, was completed with notation assistance...
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The Power of Music
Don Baragiano
A long time Cincinnati fan contacted me yesterday telling me about her 9 year old autistic son. She calms him down by playing my “Hejira” CD. Isn't that incredible? It’s gratifying knowing what I do is healing as well as entertaining.
“....Don, my 9 year old son, Bobby, is autistic and has listened to the HEJIRA CD 1,000’s of times in the last few years. He wo...
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Music As Celebration
Sara Stromseth-Troy
Recently, I came across a photo of myself and a longtime family friend, Bonnie (Craw) Kosloski, from a July 4th celebration years ago. We were dressed in our red, white and blue patriotic best and sharing (or subjecting, depending on your point of view) our families to ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ on recorder.
This isn’t the first or last time music accompa...
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How I Got Back To Music
Ray Naylor
88+ Ways Music Can Change Your Life, published by Keep Music Alive, is a compilation of over 150 inspirational stories & quotes from musicians, music educators and music lovers from all over the world. Included are a number of stories from Grammy winning and Platinum selling artists & composers. The authors have given Music In A Word permission to post con...
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Musicophilia
Alan Meerow
Last August, we lost one of the most engaged and engaging minds of the past century. Oliver Wolf Sacks died at the age of 82, but left behind a legacy of written works exploring myriad aspects of the human mind (his first love), with side trips into botany (his other great passion).
Oliver Sacks was a physician, clinician and neurologist, born and educated i...
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My Best Friend
Gari Stein
88+ Ways Music Can Change Your Life, published by Keep Music Alive, is a compilation of over 150 inspirational stories & quotes from musicians, music educators and music lovers from all over the world. Included are a number of stories from Grammy winning and Platinum selling artists & composers. The authors have given Music In A Word permission to post con...
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The Path of a Professional Musician
Gary Alexander
88+ Ways Music Can Change Your Life, published by Keep Music Alive, is a compilation of over 150 inspirational stories & quotes from musicians, music educators and music lovers from all over the world. Included are a number of stories from Grammy winning and Platinum selling artists & composers. The authors have given Music In A Word permission to post...
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The Christmas Kid: Musical Holiday Memories
Sara Stromseth-Troy
Thanks to my unbridled enthusiasm of the holiday season, I've been called the 'Christmas Kid'.
The day after Thanksgiving, I decorate at least one Christmas tree. I pick a color theme each year and make sure the ornaments and wrapping paper are complimentary. Treasured mementos are placed around the house. Perhaps most significantly for me, the Chris...
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