Single-minded

A change in the line-up for my concert: instead of Tony Paco on percussion, I'll be working with JOSEPH AVERGEL. Tony's schedule necessitated this change. I'm sure we'll get a chance to work together sometime. It's important for me to stay flexible and open-minded, focussing on the core goals for the concert. This is a huge project for me, as we're recording it with a view to producing a CD for sale. This is going to be THE debut CD. Quite risky doing it as a live performance, but I know why I'm doing it this way. So please come to the concert - you'll be part of recording history!

Last night I set up my p.a. system and practised, for the first time in quite a few weeks. Aaaaaaah, so satisfying! Earlier, I'd had a rehearsal with Hilton Schilder, which was very uplifting, to say the least. It's SO exciting singing my songs with these fantastic musicians!

Life's been so busy, recently, that I've had very little time to lose myself in my music. Anyone who's ever put on a concert, especially of original work, would know how important it is to bathe yourself in your music, let it soak into your skin and seep into every pore, till it floods your entire being. This is hard when you're bogged down with the mundanities of life, like housework.

I've taken a critical look at my life and made a few simple - yet not so simple! - decisions, which has significantly altered the amount of solo time I have available, solo time that becomes non-negotiable as I draw nearer to the concert date.

I still like Sting's idea of a separate wing in his castle. Maybe, in my case, the secret is to stay single.

Or maybe not!

Clouds and silver linings

Picture: I love taking pictures from my kitchen window, as no two days are ever the same. This was last week, 25/08/11.

A new week, and one that ushers in my month, September, a month I always anticipate happily. Spending so much time dealing with sickness, recently, I've not had much time to get things going re my concert. However, everyone's on board and I'm starting rehearsals tomorrow. Looking forward to practising with Hilton Schilder on a grand piano - wow! He's such a beautiful musician and a real inspiration.

I started tutoring a young boy last week, and this has brought a whole new dimension to my life; he's an utter delight, complete with twinkly eyes and an impish grin, and I look forward to our sessions. Working with him - planning my sessions and enjoying our lesson time - has brought me back to the realisation that I am a teacher and that I've always loved teaching. What I don't like (about education in South Africa) are the bureaucracy and the stuffy institution-related issues that I know I've outgrown. Having said as much, I could easily end up back in the system, unless something else happens to earn me what I need to take care of my family.

But things ARE indeed looking up: with the additon of two new guitar students who're due to start in September, I now have 21 people learning to play the guitar with me. In June, I had 7, in July it grew to 16 and in August, 19. Looking at that steady growth and knowing how little marketing I've actually been doing, I know I have the potential to double that number before the end of the year.

The most exciting part of it all, though, is how much I ENJOY what I'm doing! I love preparing my lessons and I love teaching them. But most of all, I LOVE seeing my students' faces when they hear themselves playing.

Last night I had supper with a friend who's also had a rough year with employment. So nice to talk to someone who, like me, keeps an open mind and sees life as filled with possibilities, as opposed to some other person in my life who, based on personal fears and old unresolved issues, keeps dragging me down down down with an energy that insists on undermining my optimism, an energy that clings to a morbidity that seeks to instill in me the fact that every silver lining has a cloud.

Harsh Winter

Picture: I took this one at home, on the 29th of June, a rainy day pretty much like today.

I woke up this morning realizing that I was - once again – sick! This is my third consecutive cold/bout of ‘flu, with just a few days of respite in between. The cycles of my life play a huge role in this, as my children come and go every alternate week, bringing with them the health issues they’re dealing with, and re-infecting me, despite my strict health regime. This is what families do, they pass infectious sicknesses on to each other. In my case there’s a false sense of immunity when I’m on my own, because I have 7 days in which to medicate myself, eat healthily, drink lots of fluids and get a fair amount of rest. And then, as I start to feel a lot better and get to the end of my meds, etc, they return and a whole new set of realities emerges.

Being sick has given me a sense of perspective, as I’ve realized how, when I’m in good health, I let relatively insignificant things hold me back. I’ve had to confront the reality of how much self-sabotaging I still do, and how ingrained it is in me. There are other factors in my life that work at keeping me in that old style of being, but it doesn’t serve me any good to go into those details now, lapsing into blaming mode, because that’s as counter-productive as the patterns I’m struggling to break.

When I look at yesterday alone, and how I was basically busy from 05:45 till 22:00, I want to scream. Motherhood seems to come with a lot of bad habits, unless we consciously work at doing it differently. I know this about myself: when my loved ones need me in any way, it’s hard for me to think of myself. I find it difficult to prioritise my own needs when the people I love need me to take care of them. Since I actually do believe that very little in life demands an all-or-nothing approach, it’s amazing that I’m still caught in this trap of martyrdom, emulating what’s been modeled to me, throughout my life. It’s so hard for me to fully accept that knowing the theory doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to be applying it to my life successfully.

This thing called personal empowerment is a long, arduous journey.

Yesterday I took my daughter to school to write an exam, and fetched her a few hours later. Over the weekend, her flu had become so extreme, that her dad had taken her to hospital to be nebulised. In her case, her condition had been exacerbated by two things – her asthma and a bout of tonsillitis! Her chest was so bad, that the doctor said she was one step away from pneumonia. Now that’s scary!

My son, already dealing with incredible pain and reduced mobility - complications from knee surgery last year – also caught the flu, was coughing like a barking dog, and I ended up taking him to the doctor last night. He’s also had asthma since he was young.

Yesterday, I had my first session tutoring a young boy, which meant I needed time to prepare my lesson. Finding this time was not easy. When your kids are sick, you tend to be the one making the meals, which ends up feeling like your whole day is: prepare a meal, serve it, clear the table, wash up, pack everything away; oh my goodness, it’s meal time again, here we go: prepare a meal, serve it, clear the table, wash up, pack everything away, and oh wait, what’s this, another meal……! Add to that the inevitable laundry, the trip to the shop because you’ve run out of something, the gnawing feeling that you’re not going to achieve any of your personal stuff, that other gnawing feeling that you’re starting to feel sick, yourself, and in the end, if you don’t get the hell to bed at a decent hour, you’re going to be grumpy, snapping at the very people you’re trying to care for.

Today I have to do things differently. I woke up this morning and lay in bed thinking about what day it was and what the demands of the day were. Then I focused on my concert, on 7 October, and realised it was SIX AND A HALF WEEKS AWAY! With all my distractions, I’ve had very little time to consolidate plans, not to mention start rehearsing! On Sunday I’d sent all the musicians text messages and said I’d follow up with a phone call the next day. The next day was yesterday, which, as I’ve just said, was like my very own tsunami.

Today I was up as early as my body allowed me to be, and I’m determined to get through this day with a lot more savvy than yesterday. Today I’m cooking ONE meal, and that’s supper. For the rest, it’s cereal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. My daughter asked if we could make pancakes today - she'd found 6 different recipes yesterday - and I’m happy to add that to my To Do list.

Today, Tuesday, is what I call my “Admin. Day” (suggestion from life coach), so it’s a day when I plan things and, where possible, do active marketing of some kind, usually on the internet, but there’s also the “on foot” variety. Last week I designed and printed flyers and posters, advertising my guitar lessons as well as availability for gigs, so today I should brave the elements (brrr!) and distribute some of them to local shops and libraries. Go on Trudy, you can do it!

One thing that I did achieve yesterday, that made me feel a huge sense of accomplishment, was make a pot of stewed guavas, with fruit from a tree in my garden. I’ve been living here for fourteen and a half years, and this is the first time I’ve done that. As a child, I used to eat stewed fruit – always with custard – and had loved it. Every year for the past 14 years I have watched the guavas grow, watched the tree become so heavily-laden that the branches droop down with indulgent fatigue, and every year I’ve thought about picking some, and making this sweet treat for my family. So yesterday, I picked 8 big, yellow (but still hard and unripe) guavas, and sent a text to a friend asking how to stew them. She wrote back that she didn’t know but would ask her mother. By that time I’d unearthed my entire collection of recipe books – much to my daughter’s delight, as she seems to be fascinated by cooking – and found what I needed. So, last night, after supper, we had stewed guavas.

Yes, with custard. Mmmmm!

Take two bossanovas and call me in the morning

Written on Monday 15 August 2011

Sick with yet another bout of flu, so having a pyjama day.

Watching a DVD that was given to me as a gift by a dear friend, Diego Costa, from Brazil, a few years ago. It’s a recording of a 1978 concert, with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Toquinho and vocalist, Miucha (sister of Chico Buarque de Holanda).

At the beginning of the concert, singer-guitarist Toquinho plays a medley of songs by Dorival Caymmi, whose compositions were inspired by his hometown, Salvador, a city that I spent just 34 hours in (in 2009), and which touched me profoundly.

When I watch and listen to this kind of music, played by the Brazilian masters of bossanova, I realize how deeply it’s influenced my own style of music. Brazilian music - especially the bossanova and samba - is tuneful, understated, usually with lyrics that are simple yet beautiful, dealing with topics we can easily relate to. This concert, featuring Brazil’s father of the bossanova, known as “Tom Jobim” by his people, is a pure delight to me; it’s all about the music, the instrumentation and vocals, with a notable absence of flash. Of course, I’m talking about a very specific style, played at a specific time in history, more than 30 years ago. The vocalists are so laid-back, they could be lying on the beach - or in a bath – singing! The intensity, however, is unmistakable. I love the rhythm and sensuality of Brazilian music. I love the nuances of the chords and how they subtly suggest emotions, tensions and resolutions.

I can’t remember when I first actively started listening to this style of music, but I think the first album I listened to must’ve been a Sergio Mendes one, when I was a teenager. Round the same time, I heard the Jobim-Gilberto-Getz one, featuring Astrud Gilberto on vocals.

DVD: Jobim and Vinicius now singing Felicidade, a song they co-write for a movie called Fel Negro. I hadn’t been aware of how much older Vinicius was than Jobim, although this might also have had something to do with lifestyle choices. It looks like Vinicius lived life by his own rules, because he openly smokes and drinks (alcohol) on stage, in this concert! He doesn’t look in a good state of health, either. Reading their biographies at the end of the DVD, I see that this concert took place 9 months before his death, in his late 60’s.

At the end of the concert, they play a medley of songs Vinicius co-wrote with prolific Brazilian musician, Baden Powell: Berimbau, Consolacao and Canto de Ossanha.

*********************************************************************
As a vocalist, I’ve always found it interesting how different genres of music favour and promote different types of voices and vocal styles. For example, the way in which Indian music is sung, versus the way Brazilian music is sung. Then there’s the operatic genre, which itself has subsections with distinctly different vocal approaches – think Italian versus German opera. Even Indian music, about which I’m basically ignorant, is not homogenous, in much the same way their national food has regional variations. I remember listening to a Brazilian student playing guitar and singing to me, at the last language school I worked at, and marveling at how his voice had all the cadences one always hears in Brazilian music – it struck me that that was the style in which that music is always sung. If you think of other genres of music, as well, like Country and Western or R&B, there are distinct styles of singing that seem to be genre-specific. Sometimes I think that inter-genre duets stretch things a bit, like Pavarotti and Bryan Adams – in my opinion, one of them is going to come off second best, depending on who’s listening and by whose standards they’re being judged.

I once auditioned for a rock band, and they asked me to sing anything. I sang “Words”, by the Bee Gees, and they said I sounded too jazzy. They asked me to name some of the songs I usually sang, and then nodded their heads at each other, while I mentioned a few titles, saying, “Jazz”, like it was a disease I should’ve attempted to conceal!

The late Eva Cassidy – a singer whose work I love – is reputed to have avoided recording, to a large extent, because she hated the way record labels wanted to pigeon-hole her, tie her down to one genre. Most of her recorded work we’re able to enjoy today was released posthumously. This beautiful songbird died of cancer in her 30’s. I should find out more about her life.

Like her, I have a problem being asked to describe or define my music. Yes, I have a folk/jazz/blues style, but every now and then, my mentor says my chords to a particular song I’ve written are “gospel” chords, like that’s a separate category. When I’m planning a concert, as I am now, and I’m busy selecting my originals for the show, I write down the titles, the keys, as well as they styles, and then I plan the programme, making sure we don’t play two consecutive songs in the same rhythm or key. But every now and then I find a song that doesn’t fit neatly into any of the bossa/samba/ballad/blues/folk categories, and I start to wonder why the hell I even have to categorise them.

Sting once said, in a recorded interview, that all his songs were like one song that he was spending his life writing. Hectic! I’m fascinated by Sting. Not because he’s married to someone called Trudie, but because he lives in a castle, with his own wing into which he retreats when he’s in songwriting mode, coming out only when he’s ready to. I’m not sure many musicians’ partners would be as accommodating as his. Then again, I’ve always suspected that periodic separation was the key to keeping a relationship alive. In Sting’s case, though, it’s probably that, PLUS the Tantric yoga they do together, which I believe has a lot going for it.

But that’s another story!

Within My Silence

Picture: My sister, Wendy, my mom and I. Christmas Day, 2010, at a family gathering at my cousin Pat's house.

Written: Friday 12 August 2011

Musician Johnny Clegg is being interviewed on Cape Talk Radio, by Aden Thomas. His brand new album, “Human”, is being released today. Fantastic! Also, he’s about to do a huge concert with musicians from his various bands over the years: Juluka, Savuka and The Johnny Clegg Band. This man is a national treasure – I’m sure every South African above a certain age feels a sense of patriotism, as well as a deep sense of where we’ve come from, when listening to his songs, many of which are firmly stuck in our brains, whether we bought his albums or not. Interesting to hear him talk about some of his songs having been banned in our country, in years gone by. I’m glad my children are growing up in post-apartheid South Africa – I sincerely hope they grow into adults in a South Africa they’d be proud to leave as a legacy for their own children, one day.

I’ve been wanting to write for the past two days, but have been unable to, for reasons I’m about to explain. One thing I know about myself is this: I HAVE TO WRITE! If two consecutive days go by without my having written, I start to feel miserable, unsatisfied, like I’m losing my mojo. Especially when I’ve had interesting experiences, I crave solo time to sit and record my impressions. The other day, I came home, set up the laptop, and set my alarm for thirty minutes later, determined to get my needs met within the limitations of the day. Three lines into my first paragraph, my mom came in and started chatting. I knew I had a busy day ahead, so I carried on typing, intent on getting the catharsis I knew writing would bring me, glancing up at her occasionally. Two lines later, I stopped typing, knowing she’d think it rude, and listened attentively. When my alarm went off, I saved what I’d written, packed up the laptop and told her I had to leave for an appointment. Aware that I had appointments until much later that night, I consoled myself that the next day would have a slot where I could spend time alone, writing.

The next day, I got up early and took my children to school. Came home, fetched some documents I needed, and made my way to a local high school, to meet my first student, as part of my temporary job as a Practice Teaching Supervisor for UWC (University of the Western Cape). Went to the school, did what I was required to do (really impressed and inspired by him and his obvious passion for teaching), then came home, hungry to sit down and write. Pulled into the driveway, saw my back door was open - hoped it was my mom, and not a burglar – and went inside, suspecting that my plans were once again not going to work out. Come to think of it, had it been a burglar, I may very well have been typing shortly after having scared him off, but as it turned out, it was my mom, with all the good intentions that make her the well-loved soul she is, doing my housework because she wants to help me. It’s very hard for me to explain to my mom that I have my own rhythm with housework, and that as a single parent running a home, I love the fact that I can do what I like, when I like, and that there’s something liberating about just having that choice. Like my mom, I’m fiercely independent, and I like to do my own thing. Like my mom, I don’t like people to do for me what I can do for myself.

What is it about us, even as adults, that makes it so hard to clarify certain things with our parents? It extends to so many facets of life. Especially when it comes to our achievements in a field of interest that we share with a parent, why do we automatically dumb down or go into hibernation? My son, all of 16 years of age, has been a serious writer for a few years. I told him long ago, “You’re not going to be a writer one day, you ARE a writer.” I’ve never encountered anyone as passionate about writing as he. He writes fiction, chapters and chapters. He also writes science fiction. He spends hours planning his plots, making notes about his characters and how they’ll develop, talks to us in great detail about his latest ideas, sometimes sits up way past his bedtime, typing, because he urgently wants to write the next chapter while he’s fired up. But here’s the thing – he never lets ME read his stories! He writes songs, but never lets ME read his lyrics. Whenever I ask him, he says they’re not ready yet. But I know that his band practices his compositions, and that his sister sometimes does the vocals! But never at MY house!

It’s like two days ago, when I went to a memorial service for Harold Enus, the dad of a very dear friend, Anton, whom I met in Durban in 1968 and with whom I’ve been friends ever since. (Anton paid tribute to his dad in what was arguably the most eloquent eulogy I have ever heard. A gifted wordsmith, he managed to say a lot in a relatively short time, and I could see it wasn’t easy to talk about his dad, someone he loved so much, in the past tense. My heart swelled with pride that my friend had the strength and composure to do what he did that day.) My mom and I shared a pew leaflet, and when we had to sing the hymns, I realized that this would be no mean feat for me – my mom is a retired opera singer, someone with years of vocal training, someone who’s sung entire operas on stage, and who, at age 81, still lives a frighteningly healthy lifestyle and regularly does her vocal exercises, keeping herself in peak vocal condition. I opened my mouth to sing. I’m sure I was singing, but believe me, I couldn’t hear myself. It’s like when you’re shouting at a sports stadium with everyone else around you shouting at the same time. You know you’re putting your voice out there, but you might as well keep quiet, because everyone else’s sound is declaring yours null and void. My mother is also a trained choir singer, so she follows all those nit-picky little rules – she breathes only where there are commas! So if there’s a run-on line, she plans her phrasing so that she can sing two lines with the same breath! Do you know how much pressure that is for me?!!!

And so, probably for all the same skewed reasons my son doesn’t let me read his stories and my daughter doesn’t sing in my presence, I decided there’s no way in hell I could do it; one hymn after the other, I kept quiet, a combination of knowing one’s limitations and that ubiquitous, yet indefinable, parent-child thing.

Having said as much, I hasten to add: the sound she produces, like an ongoing soundtrack to my life, is flawless and sublime. I took the opportunity my silence afforded me to tune into the purity and serenity she unknowingly emits, profoundly struck by, and appreciative of, her powerful voice, her gift from the universe, her gift to the world, and her gift to her descendants.

Biography of Trudy Rushin, updated June 2011

Picture: Taken at Baran's in Dec 2009, by Lavonne Bosman.

Trudy’s passion has always been music. As a child she took piano lessons, and at high school, taught herself to play the guitar - within a year, she had started composing songs. At college, she took classical guitar lessons with the late Neefa Van Der Schyff (early 1980’s), and a few years later enrolled at Jazz Workshop, where she worked with Alistair Andrews and later, Alvin Dyers, discovering her deep love for jazz.

She honed her natural singing talent, taking classical lessons from her mother, opera singer, May Abrahamse (Eoan Group Voice Production Department), and jazz lessons from Sandra Harman (Jazz Workshop), over a period of six years. She also explored aspects of vocal jazz with the legendary Merton Barrow, jazz pianist and owner of Jazz Workshop Music School. She joined his 6-piece vocal ensemble, learning intricate arrangements of jazz standards.

Her first stint at professional music was with highly-talented Cape Town musician, Eddie Petersen. Their duo, “Flipside”, performed at restaurants and private functions, using a combination of live and sampled sounds (1989-1990). After that, she worked as a vocalist with a 9-piece band, “Deadline”, a 5-piece band, “Just Us”, and a trio, “Splash”. In 1993, she did a demo recording of four cover versions with Splash.

In 1997, when she had the opportunity to record some of her own material, she turned to Merton Barrow to assist her with the finer points of the arrangements. The band she chose for that demo recording consisted of: Merton Barrow (keyboards), Alvin Dyers (guitar), Charles Lazar (electric and double bass), Denver Ferness (drums) and Jeff Geffen (husband) on percussion. Shortly after recording the 4-song demo, called “At Last”, she performed with the same band at the 1998 Jazzathon, at the V &A Waterfront.

After the Jazzathon, she dropped off the performing scene for a few years, turning her attention to her family life. At the end of 2000, her marriage to drummer Jeff Geffen ended, and she rediscovered her songwriting passion, composing over twenty songs in the first two years after her divorce.


In March 2003, she returned to the performing world by forming a duo with guitarist, Keith Tabisher, a high school friend. In December 2003, they played at the Adderley Street Night Market, and in February 2004, were joined by Donald Gain, a double bassist. They called their trio “Jazz, etc.” and performed cover versions of jazz standards, folk, pop and South African music. Trudy found it exciting adding some of her originals to their repertoire. They did a 5-month stint at Off Moroka, a restaurant in Adderley Street. After extensive restaurant and other work, the trio reverted to the original duo in September 2006, keeping the name.

In November 2005, through her collaboration with fledgling record label, Dala Flat Music, she did a three-concert series, with multi-instrumentalist, Hilton Schilder, at 38 Special, an alternative art gallery in Buitenkant Street, in the city centre. The series was called Time With Trudy, and was her first venture into concerts exclusively showcasing her original work.

In July 2006, after having done two demo recordings (10 songs each, in 2004 and 2005) with Dala Flat Music, she went into the studio with them, with musicians Hilton Schilder (piano and other instruments) and Eldred Schilder (double bass), to record her debut original album. Various setbacks saw the project grind to a halt after the initial tracks for 16 of her songs had been laid. Some of the recording was done at the SABC studios in Sea Point, and the rest at Audio Lounge, the studio of renowned sound engineer, Dave Subkleve. The dream of completing that album is an unquenchable fire inside of her.

In September 2006, she did another concert of original songs, at Silvertree Restaurant, as part of the Kirstenbosch Winter Concert Series. This time, she was accompanied by Keith Tabisher and Hilton Schilder.

Some other venues performed at, over the years:
Arabella Hotel, Foreshore
Spier Village Hotel, Stellenbosch
Silvermist, Constantia Nek
The helipad (helicopter landing area) at Granger Bay
Strandloper Restaurant (on the beach), Langebaan, West Coast
Mugg n Bean Cavendish, Constantia Village and Paddocks
Fogeys, Muizenberg
Habanero’s, Kalk Bay
Café Paradiso, Gardens
Nassau Hall, Newlands
District 6 Museum

A new, exciting phase of her musical journey began in 2008, when she went back to Jazz Workshop to continue guitar lessons, because in August that year she changed teachers, and this was when she first encountered jazz guitarist and music educator, Wayne Bosch, who not only exposed her to more advanced features of playing the guitar, but taught her to analyse her compositions critically, opening up a whole world of musical knowledge to her. She attributes her love for the blues to his influence on her.

In February 2009, she did her first gig with Wayne, in a trio with bassist Shaun Johannes. In July, she and Bosch landed a weekly gig at Food Lover’s Market, a restaurant in central Claremont, which continued for 14 months. In that time, their partnership grew into The Rushin-Bosch Duo, with their focus set on expanding their repertoire and refining their sound.

In September that year she met up with pianist Onyx Phillips and bassist Bernie Lawrence, and performed with them at the Table Bay Hotel, in the V & A Waterfront.

In December, she and Wayne did a concert, “Music Inside Of Me”, featuring her compositions, at Baran’s Theatre Restaurant, on Greenmarket Square. For this concert, Trudy chose to work once again with Charles Lazar on double bass, and took the opportunity to introduce her son, Nick Geffen, 14 years old at the time, on drums. André Manuel, of Dala Flat Music, recorded the concert.

She did a second concert of originals at Baran’s, also entitled “Music Inside Of Me”, this time in March 2010, with Wayne and Charles, which was once again recorded by André. In April that year, she held a fundraising concert for Haiti earthquake survivors in Cape Town’s St George’s Cathedral, featuring a number of poets and musicians. She and Wayne performed two original songs, and their slot was videotaped by Colombian documentary producer, Angela Ramirez.

When Wayne hosted a Guitar Workshop in August 2010, educating and inspiring musicians in the audience on techniques of accompaniment and improvisation, Trudy provided the vocals for his demonstration of different approaches to accompaniment. This workshop was also videotaped.

In September, they played a weekly gig, at Café Adelphi, in Sea Point. That same month, they performed at a Heritage Day concert, as part of NGO Week, as well as at a Heritage Launch at Harold Cressy High School, in Gardens, Cape Town.

December 2010 found her back at Baran’s, doing her third concert of originals there, with three other artists featured in the first half: Diana Ferrus (poet), Megan Francis (vocalist) and Peter LaVey (emerging singer-songwriter). This time, she and Wayne, by now a well-oiled duo, performed one set of her compositions.

The 5-star Myoga Restaurant, in the Vineyard Hotel, Newlands, was where she did gigs on New Year’s Eve, with Wayne in 2009 and with guitarist Rudi Byrnes in 2010. In November 2010 and January 2011, she and Keith Tabisher performed at Neethlingshof Wine Farm in Stellenbosch; they also did a function at Crystal Towers Hotel (Century City) in January.

Pursuing her dream, Trudy recorded one of her songs, a samba called, “I’m So Happy Today”, at Little River Studio, in January 2011, accompanied by Wayne Bosch (guitar) and Tony Paco (percussion). A few days later, she uploaded it onto the internet, putting her original material out in cyberspace for the first time. Within a week, her song was played on regional radio (Cape Town’s Heart Radio), and two weeks later, a national station (Radio 2000) gave the song airplay. She is serious about recording a full album of originals and is busy exploring ways to fund the project.

At the end of January, she spent time in Stellenbosch with a group of Luckhoff High School learners, at their choir camp, speaking to them about the role of music in her life, and playing some of her originals. She met up with the young band, Cappuccino (linked to Stellenzicht High School), at the camp, as well.

In February 2011, she accepted an offer to do a weekly solo gig at Don Pedro Restaurant in Woodstock, where she enjoyed a 14-week season, making her mark as a singer-songwriter at this ‘Bohemian’ venue, frequented by artists from various disciplines.

The Rushin-Bosch Duo was hired for a weekly gig at Myoga Restaurant in March, and another one at Doppio Zero (Claremont) in April.


Trudy thoroughly enjoys performing, in collaboration with other musicians, but also as a soloist, singing her own songs. She writes about things that affect her in everyday life, exploring both dark and light emotions. Her songs often have more than just a hint of humour, and audiences respond well to the range of issues and emotions she sings about. Throughout the different stages of her adult life so far, she has found songwriting cathartic, like journalling to music. It took many years before she felt brave enough to play her originals in public, but once she started, she was shocked at the reception her songs got, especially from women, many of whom related strongly to the lyrics. Her love of Latin rhythms shows in her compositions, many of which have samba and bossa nova feels.

Both a realist and a dreamer, she enjoys immersing herself in activities that feed both of these aspects of her personality. A philosophical observer of life, she is also passionate about empowering young and old South Africans, especially people who were raised to feel invisible under the apartheid system. She’s passionate about women finding their voices and speaking out against all forms of abuse. She’s passionate about truth and freedom, both individual and collective. Acutely aware of how precious life is, she believes fiercely in claiming happiness and power in the present. In her songs, it’s clear that she celebrates life and love, personal power and freedom.

She believes in the healing, restorative power of music, and regularly does sing-alongs with community and church groups, focusing on senior citizens.

Blessed with the ability to function well as both a left and right–brain thinker, Trudy prefers managing her own music career, making time for the behind-the-scenes aspects of the industry, doing the administrative tasks and marketing herself. This is consistent with her belief that, if you want things to happen, you have to go out there and make them happen.

Work:
After 25 years in Education and Edu-tourism, with music as her part-time occupation, she is currently self-employed, working with her two passions, Music and English:

Music: Live performances (voice, guitar) in solo or duo format; guitar lessons to adults and children; sing-alongs with groups of people, particularly seniors.

English: Various forms of work include facilitating discussion groups and workshops, as well as proofreading, editing and report writing.

At home: Homemaker, amateur gardener, mother to Nicholas (16) and Summer (12).

Favourite pastimes: Spending time with the important people in her life, playing guitar and singing, writing songs, jamming with other musicians, swimming, walking briskly with her best friend, watching live performances, reading, journalling, blogging, walking in nature, sending and receiving e-mails, online social networking, surfing the internet, watching movies with strong female characters, taking photos, looking at photos, soaking in a candle-lit bubble-bath, and eating anything containing chocolate!

To listen to demo on the internet, go to:
http://soundcloud.com/trudy-rushin/im-so-happy-today-mp3-3

Teaching guitar lessons

Picture: Taken at a duo gig at Food Lover's Market, early in 2010.

This week has had very good energy. In so many ways, life feels different, in a positive, exciting way. I’ve managed to tie up some loose ends, and am closer than ever to achieving some of my goals. Of course, having the October concert as a project to occupy my mind and time is really energizing. This week it’s rained once or twice, so I stayed indoors more than usual and achieved things on the home base that I don’t normally, when I’m out and about. Baby steps, but they all contribute towards making the bigger picture of my life feel like it’s taking shape, heading in the right direction.

Something I’ve accepted about myself is that I thrive on being busy. I actually like working, as long as it’s fulfilling, I feel I’m making a difference, and – this seems to be the key ingredient – I have a lot of autonomy. Teaching guitar lessons satisfies all of those criteria. I love managing my own schedule and planning my days in a way that allows me to meet my family’s needs, as well. I like sourcing the students, which I do through my networks, those of my friends, as well as advertising to the public at large. I love preparing my lessons, drawing up the worksheets, finding appropriate songs and I even like the administrative side of things, keeping my files organised (Virgo!) and updating the records of my students’ progress. Because I like to keep things simple, I’ve tweaked my financial record keeping system until it’s made sense to me, and I now give my students monthly statements that look quite professional.

But most of all, I absolutely LOVE teaching people to play the guitar! Having found something that I love doing, which can earn me money, is a huge thing in my life, and something which has filled my heart with hope. In my case, I’m lucky to have not one, but TWO things I love doing, which can generate an income: live performances and teaching guitar lessons. This year I’ve learnt how hard it is to get gigs, especially at restaurants, during winter. Restaurant owners trim their overheads during the colder months, for survival. One of the restaurants I sang at a few months ago has since closed down – business was just too bad. I need to work out a way to ensure I maximize my gig prospects in the warmer months and keep the guitar lessons going throughout the year, because they would be my main source of income during winter.

Having established that I enjoy teaching people to play the guitar so much, and that my students all seem to be enjoying their lessons, I now have to set my sights on the way forward. I have fourteen active students, three of which I teach privately, with the rest in groups. I now need to increase my number of students. Adding 20 more students is my current goal. With a certain combination of private and group lessons, that should earn me enough to get through the month with, shall we say, dignity. It would mean that, finally, I wouldn’t have to borrow from anyone to meet the demands of life.

I prefer to work with absolute beginners, because I like to teach them before they’ve got into bad habits, especially with posture and hand position. I’ve worked out a system that’s logical and easy to follow, and as long as the student practices, he or she WILL learn every week and WILL be playing a song within the first three to four lessons. I do teach some people who can already play, but I always do a free assessment session with them, to establish if we’d be a good match. I have to find out if they want to learn the style of playing that I teach, and if I’m the right person for them – it might be necessary for me to refer them to someone else. I always tell my students, I can teach them everything I know, and after that they need to progress to another teacher, for more advanced lessons. Because I’ve been playing for 33 years, I think there’s quite a bit I can teach people!

Something that I make a point of, in my lessons, is that I hardly ever play my guitar. Most times, my guitar comes out only when we’re tuning, at the beginning of the lesson, then stays in its case for the rest of the lesson. The student handles his or her guitar for the entire lesson, utilizing the full lesson time to work on acquiring the skill. I’ve had lessons, myself, where I’ve just sat and observed while my teacher demonstrated. While this is sometimes necessary, I keep it to an absolute minimum, because I know how disempowering it feels and I believe that you have to learn physical skills by DOING. Sometimes, for different reasons, students don’t find time to practise between lessons. While this is not ideal, it happens, and it used to happen to me, too. If you have a job, you run a home and take care of a family, it’s easy for a week to go by without your having found time to practise your guitar playing. Even more reason for you to play your guitar for the full lesson time.

I emphasise to students that they should never cancel a lesson because they haven’t practised – it’s like going off your diet after a bad day/week. Playing the guitar is a skill that develops over time, and requires commitment. This includes accepting that you’ll have weeks where you won’t have practiced as much as you’d planned to. It’s the same principle that applies to so many other things in life, and sometimes we need a physical example to learn this life lesson: when you experience any form of adversity or failure, the song says: “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, start all over again.”

When I was asked, as a little girl, what I wanted to be when I grew up, I apparently had only two answers, ever: a mother, and a teacher. All these years later, I can say that life has indeed given me my heart’s desire – two of my greatest passions are being a mother, and teaching. Now I need to complete the story, by being the best mother I can be, and developing the professional passion into a successful enterprise, one that also addresses another goal of mine – to make a difference in the lives of previously-disadvantaged people, in post-apartheid South Africa.

I have my work cut out for me. It feels like it’s taken me almost a year to re-discover what I’ve known all along I should be dedicating my life to.

But now I know.

Phew!

So far, so good

I’m normally an extremely patient person, but there are some things in my life right now that stretch my patience so far, I sometimes wonder how much elasticity is left! Breathe in…… breathe out…..

But, on to brighter news!

CONCERT UPDATE:
Today I’m delighted to announce the line-up for my concert on Friday, 7 October:
Wayne Bosch (electric guitar)
Errol Dyers (acoustic guitar)
Hilton Schilder (piano)
Charles Lazar (double bass)
Tony Paco (percussion)

This is such an exciting group of musicians, and I’m over the moon that they’re all on board. I have worked extensively with Wayne, quite a bit with Hilton, a few times with Charles, done two impromptu sets with Errol and worked with Tony on the recording of one of my songs. One thing I can say, though, is that all of them are people I really like, and people whose energy blends well with mine.

There’s a lot to do, both musically and otherwise. One of the next things I have to finalise is the programme for the night. We’re doing two sets of my original songs, and I’m busy with the selection. The next challenge is deciding which combinations of musicians will play on each song. I want to give the audience a memorable experience, so I plan to do as wide a range of styles as possible. There’ll be a bit of all the styles I use – folk, blues, ballads, bossanova and samba, as well as light rock. The thread that will weave the songs together will be their source, their origin – me. My songs tell stories. Each song has its own character - its own feel, its own rhythm, its own colour - and this will be heightened by the different sounds produced by the musicians. At the end of the concert, I hope the people in the audience will feel like they’ve been taken on a magic carpet ride. I know that, being on stage and performing my songs with this particular line-up, will feel that way for me.

Last night I had an exciting meeting with some good friends who’re helping me put the pieces of the puzzle together in a way that will produce a slick event, with all the different aspects covered more than adequately. It’s important for me to consult with more experienced people, to listen to their ideas and to grow my frames of reference.

I’m trying to decide on the name of the concert, and I’m tempted to use one of my song titles, as I’ve done in the past. This step is as important as deciding on the title of a book you’ve written, or the theme for decorating a house. Once I have sorted this out, I can discuss the concept with the designer, and he can start with the artwork for the tickets and the programmes. I wonder if musicians who are hired to play at concerts realize how much behind-the-scenes work gets done, and how much of a risk the producer takes. Those who’ve put on their own events would know.

After deciding on the songs and getting the charts ready, I have to set rehearsal dates. I have to believe that it won’t be that difficult to get 6 of us to the same place at the same time!

Some exciting ideas were shared last night, and I can’t wait to see the different plans fall into place. I fully understand that some things will be easier to achieve than others.

For now, though, I need to focus on getting over this bout of flu, practising my guitar playing until my voice is strong enough to practise singing, and keeping an eye on my checklists and timelines.

So far, so good!