 |  |  |  |
A Writer of Songs ...
Songwriter, singer, musician ... accountant. For some reason, one of these
words seems out of place.
Still, I think of myself as a poet and a writer of songs with "emotional
resonance", as a musically-talented friend once described them. Amazing as
it seems (certainly to me), I have written more than 50 songs and have
performed on the same stage where Elvis (as in Presley) played his first-ever
gig (for you trivia buffs, this would be the Overton Park Shell in Memphis,
Tennessee).
Which came first, the musician or the accountant (alternatively, the
accountant or the musician)?
Well, I learned how to play drums while very young and even took drum lessons
while I was six years old. Later, I managed to nab a drumming spot in my
school's fifth and sixth grade band (seems like about half of the kids who
came to the first meeting in fifth grade wanted to be drummers).
I (we) moved to California from Mt. Angel, Oregon, at the end of my sixth
grade year. This effectively ended my drumming career, and participation in
music ended for a while. It really wasn't until college that I played an
instrument again, the first of those being harmonica. For a poor college
student harmonicas were cheap.
At some point during college I borrowed an acoustic guitar, but couldn't get
my fingers to fret chords cleanly, so I gave up. Plus those steel strings
hurt(!).
Thankfully that is not the end of the story. After graduating from college I
purchased a classical guitar from one of my supervisors. I didn't really begin
to learn how to play it, however, until starting graduate school at Indiana
University in pursuit of a Ph.D. in accounting. Music was a great study
break. I mostly taught myself using books and tablature from the internet,
though I did sneak in one semester of guitar classes at the world famous
Indiana University School of Music (I took a semester of voice-singing classes,
too).
After a while I purchased a steel-string acoustic guitar, and traded that one
in on another. I played and played and about midway through my graduate
program I wrote my first song. I cannot even remember exactly why, or
what I wrote. But after about a year I wrote a song that I considered to
be pretty decent, and then worked harder at learning how to write songs
better. Again, I taught myself by reading a couple of books.
After graduate school in Bloomington, Indiana, I moved to a suburb of
Memphis, Tennessee and joined the faculty of the University of Memphis. I
was unhappy there, which proved a boon for my musical interests. I wrote
songs steadily, purchased more instruments, and even learned how to play bass
guitar. Surprisingly, learning how to play bass helped me improve my
guitar-playing skills, particular my ability to play lead guitar (which still
remains rather minimal).
Then I moved to Abilene, Texas. During summer 2003 I recorded the songs
for this CD (being a university professor has a few fringe benefits). I
started my own record company, St. NickelStew Entertainment, and now have
a CD available for sale.
I moved to Warrensburg, Missouri, on August 1, 2005, to accept a faculty
position at Central Missouri State University. With Kansas City but an hour's
drive down the road, who knows what the future might hold.
Sometimes I wonder what it is I think I am doing (I mean, I am an
accountant), but usually success is only possible if one first dares a little....
There is a little more information about me on the
january Leftovers page.
Songwriter, singer, musician ... accountant. For some reason, one of these
words seems out of place.
Still, I think of myself as a poet and a writer of songs with "emotional
resonance", as a musically-talented friend once described them. Amazing as
it seems (certainly to me), I have written more than 50 songs and have
performed on the same stage where Elvis (as in Presley) played his first-ever
gig (for you trivia buffs, this would be the Overton Park Shell in Memphis,
Tennessee).
Which came first, the musician or the accountant (alternatively, the
accountant or the musician)?
Well, I learned how to play drums while very young and even took drum lessons
while I was six years old. Later, I managed to nab a drumming spot in my
school's fifth and sixth grade band (seems like about half of the kids who
came to the first meeting in fifth grade wanted to be drummers).
I (we) moved to California from Mt. Angel, Oregon, at the end of my sixth
grade year. This effectively ended my drumming career, and participation in
music ended for a while. It really wasn't until college that I played an
instrument again, the first of those being harmonica. For a poor college
student harmonicas were cheap.
At some point during college I borrowed an acoustic guitar, but couldn't get
my fingers to fret chords cleanly, so I gave up. Plus those steel strings
hurt(!).
Thankfully that is not the end of the story. After graduating from college I
purchased a classical guitar from one of my supervisors. I didn't really begin
to learn how to play it, however, until starting graduate school at Indiana
University in pursuit of a Ph.D. in accounting. Music was a great study
break. I mostly taught myself using books and tablature from the internet,
though I did sneak in one semester of guitar classes at the world famous
Indiana University School of Music (I took a semester of voice-singing classes,
too).
After a while I purchased a steel-string acoustic guitar, and traded that one
in on another. I played and played and about midway through my graduate
program I wrote my first song. I cannot even remember exactly why, or
what I wrote. But after about a year I wrote a song that I considered to
be pretty decent, and then worked harder at learning how to write songs
better. Again, I taught myself by reading a couple of books.
After graduate school in Bloomington, Indiana, I moved to a suburb of
Memphis, Tennessee and joined the faculty of the University of Memphis. I
was unhappy there, which proved a boon for my musical interests. I wrote
songs steadily, purchased more instruments, and even learned how to play bass
guitar. Surprisingly, learning how to play bass helped me improve my
guitar-playing skills, particular my ability to play lead guitar (which still
remains rather minimal).
Then I moved to Abilene, Texas. During summer 2003 I recorded the songs
for this CD (being a university professor has a few fringe benefits). I
started my own record company, St. NickelStew Entertainment, and now have
a CD available for sale.
I moved to Warrensburg, Missouri, on August 1, 2005, to accept a faculty
position at Central Missouri State University. With Kansas City but an hour's
drive down the road, who knows what the future might hold.
Sometimes I wonder what it is I think I am doing (I mean, I am an
accountant), but usually success is only possible if one first dares a little....
There is a little more information about me on the
january Leftovers page.
NICKFESSLER.com
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |