Stories From Women Who Walk

How America the Dream Came to Be With Award-Winning Recording Artist and Composer Steve Schuch. Part 2.

Episode Summary

Join us for the conclusion of a most wonderful story about how musing on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream!" speech and America the Beautiful traveled a musical way to becoming a new America the Dream.

Episode Notes

Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk. I’m your host, Diane Wyzga.

Welcome back to a special bonus episode because The Boys Are Back in Town with my guest award-winning recording artist and author, composer, musician, the creator of America the Dream, and my brother-in-law Steve Schuch. When last Steve and I spoke I asked: You use the analogy of a baseball game when you were talking about America the Dream. What does that mean for people who haven’t yet been to the website?

Let’s rejoin the conversation to hear more music and about this wonderful project, America the Dream.

Minutes 26:43

00 to 1:23 Intro

1:23 to 5:15 You use the analogy of a baseball game when you were talking about this work. What does that mean for people who haven’t been the website yet?

Steve's story about his friend’s love of New York Yankees versus his own love of the Boston Red Sox
Sports is a metaphor for where politics seems to be
Yes, there are rabid fans on both sides
At the end of the day both Steve and Judith really love baseball
Likewise, many people love this country and the dream of what this country is struggling to become
He and his friend hear that
Maybe we could drop suspicion level about The Other
Let’s find common purpose to see how country begins to heal
NOTE: America the Dream website resources: books; links to other sites
Wants more people to be singing together, at different times, as people
Choirs know this well: blending, listening, *our* voices together
Breathing - how a choir breathes together
Marilyn and yoga: breathing and listening
How can you be mad at someone while you’re singing with them? [Pete Seeger]
Baseball as our national pastime and the common song in America the Dream is a same idea
Dream versus nightmare but we still move ahead
We are dreaming USA forward

5:15 to 10:00 Nashville version

An example of a song for many different singers in so many different settings
A solo guitar at a picnic, as part of a baseball game
Maybe a rock band
A music video is in the works for the website
Q: What prompted this version
Steve did work in Nashville and came to love the music
Music is regional
Hearing a version like this would reach folks who may not enjoy choral but could enjoy this version
His real goal: spread the song
Inviting folks to come up with other lyrics and send it along to be shared on the website
Many hands contributed showing different faces of song
America the Dream shows us the links between people, the ways we sing from region to region, the notion is the same

10:00 to 12:00 All the Many Natural Users

On America the Dream website: available to just about anybody and everybody
All free - free stuff - free sheet music - free for you
Q: Where did this idea of free music come from?
America the Beautiful is in public domain
Steve copyrighted his arrangements
Mike Bradley co-wrote lyrics with Steve
The hope and prayer for America is to spread this widest circulation as possible
No cost to non-profits
NOTE: COMMERCIAL USERS: These scores are free for non-commercial use. For public performances the lyrics may be included in printed programs or projected on to screens as long as the credits are included. Please consider sending us a YouTube of your performance to be added to our website. For commercial use Contact Us for permission and licensing

12:00 to 15:25 Legacy - Where Will This Work Take You

Q: As we sit here today what lasting result do you want to make, for whom, and how?
Recalls the BC Comic strip: cave man's correspondence with the stone tablet
When you bring something new into the world you don’t know how it will travel - you send it forth with blessings and let it go
Steve believes: This country is still young
We’re still trying to figure out democracy, equality, justice - difficult to pull off
Every generation is figuring it out anew
Having our Founding documents + Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have a Dream speech + our music helps us imagine who we are becoming
Steve has no idea where it will go; maybe this will be sung at the Super Bowl!
In 10 or 20 years' time Steve hopes it will have entered our common vocabulary
This song, like our country, like baseball is a much bigger thing
Everything in the music is the music

15:25 to 22:40 Orchestral Version - Before we take a listen to Shelbie Rassler and the Orchestral Version what do you want to point out to us?

If I can’t sing like Ella Fitzgerald or reach some of the notes that these wonderful vocalists did
Host cannot carry a tune in a bucket but appreciates the sung word
Christina Jones’s vocal solos, over the top of the final Chorus, are just amazing
The video images are stunning - refer to the video on the America the Dream website
Largest group of performers - some 20/30 vocalists and musicians
Imagines this as our big 4th of July version! The Boston Pops and gospel singers on stage
Steve told the performers to take some liberties with your singing - go for it! Put your own stamp and spirit on it
Music is written on the page but lives in the heart
America the Dream is the map - not the destination
Listen: under last verse is a whole orchestra with a held note creating tension and release - a fabulous feeling!
Hats off to these young performers: Berklee College of Music (Boston) and The Juilliard School of Music
Make sure you watch the music video on the website
Pause in awe
Steve expresses gratitude to Shelbie Rassler, co-writer Mike Bradley, all the singers and musicians
The Dream of America: Ken Burns has said right now we have a lot of pluribus and we have to work on the unum
That is the trick with this country
It begins with conversations we share with others over things we really do love, what we have in common
We are a great experiment and we’re not done yet

22:40 to 26: 43 Spread the Songs From Sea to Shining Sea!

Before I say thank you I want to mention that all social media links and connections to Steve and Night Heron Music and America the Dream websites will be posted in the Episode Notes. We encourage all of you to drop by, enjoy the music, and check out the many free resources, images, and sheet music available to you.
Muchas gracias por todo for walking along with us and sharing your wonderful story about dreams of many kinds coming true from this place
Thank you, Diane. Steve was tickled when Stories From Women Who Walk featured 2 of his compositions: Mer's Waltz which underscores the daily 60 Seconds and Entering Erdenheim to introduce and close out the guest episodes.
Thanks to all listeners
Request: spread the word, Facebook, Instagram, social media platforms
Circle back in a year or so and hear what kind of traction
Meanwhile just keep singing!

Here we are, at the end of the road but not the journey. Thank you for listening to the conclusion of this episode of Stories From Women Who Walk with your host Diane Wyzga and my guest award-winning recording artist, musician, composer, and creator of America the Dream, Steve Schuch. Remember to visit Steve and Night Heron Music as well as check out the many free resources, sheet music, videos and more music on America the Dream. All links are in the Episode Notes. And check out over 230 episodes of Stories From Women Who Walk found on Simplecast or your favorite podcast platform. Come for the stories - stay for the magic! Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, leave us a nice shout out on social media, and join us next time! You will have wonderful company as we walk our lives together.

Steve Schuch BIO and Testimonials

Steve Schuch started violin at the age of seven. He began playing professionally while still in high school. Later at Oberlin College he continued studying both music and biology. There he started listening to different kinds of music beyond just classical, picked up his first used $25 guitar, and began writing his first songs.

After college Steve spent two and a half years as a Peace Corps volunteer, planting trees with farmers in the mountains of the Dominican Republic. There he listened to the different melodies and rhythms and began writing more of his own music. Many evenings, a guitar would be passed around a room full of people. By lantern light, young and old alike shared music and stories over cups of ginger root tea and home grown coffee.

Since returning to the United States in 1984, Steve and his music have embraced both the classical and folk realms. Haunting violin and whale calls... music and tales of Ireland... a pizzicato interpretation of a Picasso painting... these are just part of Steve's wide-ranging repertoire. Many of his pieces have been featured on National Public Radio and PBS.

For four years Steve taught a graduate course on integrating music and storytelling into classroom curriculum. A former Audubon naturalist, Steve lives on a farm with his wife and various creatures. Personal interests include white water canoeing, Mexican food, and relating to large reptiles.

Honors include composer awards, Artist Fellowship Awards, and five fiddling championships. Steve's recordings with The Night Heron Consort are national bestsellers on the North Star label. His latest book, A Symphony of Whales, has received five national book awards. His latest CD, Trees of Life, has received a Parent's Choice Gold Award.

"Schuch conveys awe with an economy of language that approaches poetry." ~ The Boston Sunday Globe

"Riveting Indeed." ~ The Smithsonian

"There is great dignity in the simple words, which communicate the author's respect for what he can't explain." ~ -The New York Times

"Warmth and storytelling magic." ~ Los Angeles Times

About Steve's Composing and Playing

"Exceptionally fine... Schuch brings as much intelligence and skill to folk music as he does to classical." ~ The Boston Globe

"Downright exhilarating. Here's a player who doesn't recite music, he paints it." ~ The Lowell Sun

"I really likt your songs and storeys. What do you do for a liveing?" ~ Barry, 3rd grade

Links

America the Dream: https://www.americathedream.org

To find out more from Steve, tap the Interview Clips: https://www.americathedream.org

Steve Schuch and Night Heron Music: https://www.nightheron.com

Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team

Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga: Quarter Moon Story Arts

Music: Entering Erdenheim from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music

Sound Editing: Dawin Carlisle & First Class Reels