MSL — Music as a Second Language

My siblings and I, in many ways, are really quite different. From an age perspective, we span a 12 year gap which, in and of itself, has made for significant personality differences and interests. And at this point in our lives, we’ve spread ourselves to different parts of the country and deepened our unique paths.

But a month ago, while at our parent’s house for Christmas, I was reminded of the deep bond that we are so lucky to share: the shared language of music.

For as long as I can remember, my mom would gather us around the piano, typically in the evening, to sing together. We’d sing Raffi – a lot of Raffi —, Broadway tunes, pop songs (my mom could play Styx “Come Sail Away” from memory), and American folk (Peter, Paul, and Mary is the first concert I can remember attending). This routine never seemed odd or unique. In fact, as I got older and became a moody teen, I likely saw it simply as that: another routine that made me roll my eyes and groan.

But something was planted inside of us — watered and cultivated over our adolescence — that we couldn’t deny. No matter what unique paths or interests we individually immersed ourselves in, we carried this budding seed of music. It was the “other” language in which my mom spoke to us. It didn’t feel abnormal, different, or out of the ordinary; it became second nature.

Armed with this musical backbone, we did our own digging into what we really liked, and immersed ourselves in those different worlds. We’d come up for air occasionally, catching wind of what the others were listening to and dabbling in that. We were called to different instruments and went down those rabbit holes, embarking on miniature musical heroes journeys.

When I was about to leave for college, we slowly started to experiment with the idea of playing together but, for the first time, without our mom included. What would it be like to play some of these more modern songs we’d fallen in love with (Outkast? Brand New? Phish? Talking Heads?) together? It led to open mic nights and mini-performances at parties and eventually, as we continued to become individual people with unique life experience, we began to write, creating lyrics, then songs, then albums, and music videos.

Time and age has moved us apart physically and made it more difficult to collaborate together consistently, and in that distance we’ve each evolved our own unique methods of musical expression. When we are together there’s a very quick and easy way for us to reconnect and catch-up. It starts with a couple strums on a guitar, or a chord progression on a piano and morphs quickly into a natural jigsaw puzzle of four-part harmony that sounds and feels like no time has passed.

On our last night together over Christmas, we performed a set at our mom’s art gallery opening in our home town, and to me this picture from that night really captures that shared language of music. Four unique people, living relatively different lives who, inside the last 37 years, have developed a language that supersedes verbal vocabulary.

Did my mom see this as a possibility all along? Did she have a grand plan of creating her version of the Partridge Family or the Von Trapps? Or did she simply love music and want to share that love with her children? I suppose I could ask her; maybe she’ll respond to this email and tell me.

What I do know is that understanding the language of music has been the greatest gift I’ve been given in this life. And one thing my mom taught me about possessing the gift of music, and that Anthony Keidis reinforced, is to share it, and “give it away, give it away, give it away, now.”

Ways I’m sharing music at the moment:

• My Rhythm of Happiness breathwork practice — live drumming paired with music and breath — is expanding, and I now have ongoing residencies with:

  • The Class: Live on their digital platform and in the NYC studio the last Sunday of every month. Join me 1/26 at 5pm EST for the next one

  • Reforesters Laboratory: a weekly 60min community experience in Williamsburg Brooklyn at 7pm EST.

  • additionally, I offer private virtual and in-person sessions for individuals and small groups (reach out here)

• All four of us Spauldings played on this album my sister and youngest brother wrote and put out last year

• Here are some songs I’m into

Thanks for reading and for being you. And to those suffering directly or indirectly from the LA fires, I’m sending love and keeping you in my thoughts.

love,

c