I cannot tell you… I mean as a dad and as someone who has worked with young people my entire adult working life, the influence that we can have for positivity can never, ever be underestimated. How will our children know our musical legacy if we do not share it with them? Our musical legacy is more than the value placed upon it by someone else, and as we have watched people and cultures from all over the world build monuments to theirs, far too many of us have run from ours because it’s not hip anymore, that was last week, disposable.
You know the hippest thing I’ve seen this week? I’m looking at right now and all I can do is to salute DJ Judah for taking what many will not… time. I see a monument being built and this one lives and breathes and grows over time unlike stone, every minute spent with great music is another sonic brick being added to a solid musical foundation.
Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.