22 minute read
THE BOLD AND THE VIRTUAL BY PAT MORAN
THE BOLD AND THE VIRTUAL Local company keeps the music alive online
BY PAT MORAN
In the opening of a Facebook video for Junior Jammers, a virtual preschool music program conducted via Zoom, Bold Music Lessons instructor Tracey Bengough strums a ukulele and encourages the class to warm up their voices. Fellow teacher Catherine Sentigar joins in as the children prepare to sing solo verses of “Let It Go,” the break-out hit from Disney’s 2013 animated feature Frozen. A little blondhaired boy holds a maraca like a microphone as he sings:
“Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore”
A brown-haired girl repeats the chorus. Despite sporting a wide smile, the next little girl freezes and can’t get the words out. The teacher assures her that it’s okay.
“It’s very brave to do a solo,” Bengough says.
A free virtual class held every Thursday at 11 a.m., Junior Jammers is designed to jump-start each student’s musical journey at an early age, introducing children to age-appropriate skills that they will benefit from throughout lives, according to Bold Music Lessons’ website. It’s just one of several programs -- including open mics, gig nights, summer camps and home collaborations -- offered by the music instruction company Dean Williams and George Ramsay launched in 2013.
The two were both Davidson College students giving lessons at a local music store. Both had notes on how the business could run better. Namely, they agreed on the notion that a music school doesn’t need a physical space; teachers could go to people’s houses to give lessons.
“The main idea was to bring convenience to people rather than have another thing to drive yourself or your kid to,” Ramsay says, adding that the idea is far from revolutionary. What is innovative is Bold Music Lessons’ total commitment to the idea, he feels.
Although the music academy without a campus has recently pivoted from in-home lessons to virtual sessions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bold Music Lessons’ focus has not changed, says Ramsay, a 29-year-old guitarist, bassist, cellist and classically trained pianist who majored in music at Davidson College.
“Everything that we do, even after going virtual for the time being, is very hands-on [and] high-touch,” he offers. “[Classes] are equal parts learning music and expressing your creativity with your teacher.”
In a community living in the shadow of the novel coronavirus, Ramsay sees the company as providing a service for both clients and instructors. With most gigs gone, Bold Music Lessons is one of the few lifelines offered to Charlottearea musicians. Ramsay hopes to provide a memorable experience for instructors as well as their students.
It’s interesting work, and high-paying too, he maintains.
“Compared to other teaching studios, our pay rate is significantly higher -- often double -- for our teachers,” Ramsay says. “Paying our staff as much as we possibly can has always been a priority, and our entire business model has been set up to achieve this.”
Ramsay estimates that the company’s clientele is 80% kids and 20% adults. Prior to the pandemic and the resulting stay-at-home orders, teachers traveled to their students’ homes. The one-on-one aspect of the lessons has been a big draw for musicians like Payton Harkins, a University of North Carolina School of the Arts - Winston-Salem graduate who teaches guitar, piano and bass for the company.
“It’s the thing that makes them different from competitors,” Harkins asserts. “[In-home lessons] are more personal. They attract a more dedicated student who practices more regularly, [and] who takes more lessons for a longer period of time.”
Instructor Matthew Johnson graduated from Winthrop University with a degree in guitar performance. He was drawn to Bold Music Lessons because of the company’s empathy for their teachers. As a musician, Ramsay gets other musicians, Johnson believes.
“They really seem to be for the teachers and George is such an easy guy to work with,” Johnson offers. “He’s 100% got our backs.”
For their part, Bold Music Lessons has applied painstaking criteria to acquiring teachers.
“There’s not one background we’re looking for in a teacher, because every student learns differently and every musician has come into their own and become an expert in a different way,” Ramsay says. While
GEORGE RAMSAY POSES WITH A STUDENT.
instructors like Harkins hold impressive degrees, other teachers are seasoned pros with no technical education, just experience as players who started gigging fresh out of high school and have gone on to tour and score record deals. The ability to teach and connect with students is just as important as mastery of an instrument, Ramsay adds.
On the other side of the equation, prospective students are interviewed to determine the best way they learn, their level of experience and their musical interests.
“[We provide] a matchmaking service for musicians and students,” Ramsay maintains. “It’s definitely not something like Uber where you just sign up on an app.”
The result has been a diverse roster of music instructors with a broad array of specialties and experience, ranging from jazz- and lullaby-inflected singer songwriter Emily Sage to classically trained Colombian pianist and singer Andres David Cruz Gomez. Providing quality instruction for students and plenty of work for musicians has paid off. The song the Junior Jammers sang could just as well have been titled “Let It Grow.” In Charlotte, Bold Music Lessons boasts a roster of 25 teachers serving 350 students. Last March, the company expanded, adding a Raleigh branch that has signed up five teachers. Unfortunately, the expansion came right on the cusp of North Carolina’s shut down. While a Raleigh branch is still on the company’s radar, opening in the state’s capital city has been placed on the back burner. Other than that, Bold Music Lessons’ transition to a music market still under quarantine has been remarkably smooth. “It was simply luck,” Ramsay says. Prior to the COVID-induced shut-down, business was booming, he recalls. Instructors were getting all the clients they could handle and more says instructor Jason Jones, who performs and records as R&B artist Jason Jet. “At one point they were able to get me up to 25 clients at one time,” he says. But a generous number of students also meant a great deal of driving, with Jones hitting the road to meet with people in Matthews, Waxhaw and beyond. Though Jones decided to scale back on his course load to devote more time to working on a studio he’s planning to open this summer, he still maintains a roster of virtual students — a mix of his own longtime clients and those he connects with through Bold Music Lessons.
Johnson’s clientele was also in the double digits.
“I had 21 students,” Johnson remembers. “It was pretty full, especially because I had to drive to their
houses.”
Then last March, the world changed.
“I’m not paranoid or hysterical but my dad’s a doctor and I was hearing things [about COVID-19] early on,” Ramsay recalls. “We were monitoring the situation as far back as December and January.”
When the time came to go full-on virtual, Bold Music Lessons was ready, though Ramsay maintains it was a fluke of good fortune.
Last fall, with its instructors carrying full workloads, the company was in a quandary about how to schedule make-up lessons. As teachers got busier and busier, it’s became harder to accommodate students who missed or canceled lessons and to reschedule teachers to come back to their home.
“We didn’t want to say, ‘You can’t reschedule,’ but finding a time for me to go back to your house if you live in Fort Mill and I live in Myers Park is a pretty big ask,” explains Ramsay. So, the company started testing make-up lessons via video. “If not for a video solution, the end result would probably be that the [rescheduled] lesson wouldn’t happen at all.” By February, Bold Music Lessons was working out the kinks in their video system while training their teachers how to use it to present effective video instruction. February turned out to be a month of severe storms, a situation that also played into the company’s hands.
“Pretty much all of our teachers through February had some serious cancellations, and they had to start doing the video make-up lessons,” Ramsay recalls. In March, when it became clear that the pandemic was getting worse, Bold Music Lessons put their teachers on notice that they were going to switch to video when needed.
On March 14, Ramsay was driving back from a wedding gig in South Carolina and got on the phone with Williams. On March 15 they agreed to teach exclusively online.
“We got the email on Sunday night and it was one of the easiest transitions ever,” Harkins remembers. The students, parents and teachers were immediately onboard, and there were few if any hiccups, he maintains. “It was oddly perfect.”
Johnson says that only five or six students dropped out due to the video transition. He says he’s impressed with how smoothly Ramsay was able to keep instructors working.
“Out of all the jobs that coronavirus affected, you would think musician would be pretty high up there with many not being able to work at all,” Johnson offers. He counts himself fortunate, only having to contend with income from lost live gigs.
After the pandemic, will the company ever go back to primarily in-home instruction? Ramsay says it’s up to the teachers.
“If a family wants to go back to in-home lessons tomorrow, it really is up to the teacher as to whether or not they’re comfortable,” Ramsay maintains. That said, many clients are discovering that they prefer video instruction. It’s slightly cheaper than in-home
TAKING LESSONS FROM HOME.
visits, because driving costs are not factored into the price tag, and parents are finding that their children are still receiving plenty of care and attention.
Bold Music Lessons has validated the effectiveness and efficiency of video instruction, Ramsay believes. He guesses that most clients may take a hybrid approach in the future, virtual lessons augmented with the occasional in-house visit.
“At the end of the day we want to keep our teachers busy,” Ramsay contends. “Musicians are getting slammed by all of this. Our number one priority right now is to keep them working.” He feels the company can best benefit musicians, and themselves, by broadening their online offerings.
Video lessons aside, Bold Music Lessons has focused on fostering connection and a sense of community for their teachers and students in other ways. The lockdown has curtailed some of their special programs, such as Gig Night.
“It’s a great opportunity for musicians to showcase what they’re doing,” Jones says of the live events that were staged every quarter on Saturday and Sunday nights at Heist Brewery.
“It’s a ton of fun,” Ramsay offers. “It’s a tangible Bold Music Summer Camp, will move the company event that students can work toward. It’s always good out of virtual space into the real world, Ramsay to have deadlines.” promises.
With live events at breweries off the table, For the past six years, the week-long summer the company has devised a workaround with camp has been comprised of small groups of 10 to Collaboration From Home, a recurring event that 12 kids in four age-specific groups: middle school for began last April. It pulls the Bold community together two groups and high school for two others. The groups through virtual technology to craft and record a cover would then work and learn at Charlotte musician and version of an iconic song. producer Jason Scavone’s Sioux Sioux Studios. This June, Sioux Sioux is still in the mix, but the camp will also be a bit more structured, Ramsay says. He promises a more robust plan with activities, a songwriting workshop and a performance element that the program didn’t have before. Monday through Wednesday, campers will experience writing and performing at the Evening Muse in NoDa. On Thursday and Friday, they will learn the ropes of recording their own music at Sioux Sioux. Ramsay calls the camp sessions “live with an asterisk.” If campers don’t want to come into the studio, they can still record their parts from home, he says. In addition, the camp will stagger studio time, bringing campers and teachers in one by one. Students can also video commute to the Evening Muse if they don’t feel comfortable in a group, Ramsay maintains. The campers and musicians who do come to the venue are in small enough numbers that social distancing ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF BOLD MUSIC LESSONS will be no problem, he says. Temperature checks will be done at both locations.
“We are leveraging technology to build and “We’re ready to offer people this experience,” curate an engaged community,” Ramsay says. April’s Ramsay insists. offering, a rendition of Elton John’s “Your Song,” was Ramsay contends that all these efforts go back performed and produced by teachers as a sort of test to the importance of teaching people how to make case for the concept. May brought together 25 to 30 music. students, teachers and friends for a take on the O’Jays From a developmental standpoint, children R&B standard “Love Train.” Next up on June 5 is a who learn music from a young age do better than rendition of Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule otherwise, he offers. Learning music also teaches you the World.” discipline and refines motor skills. In addition, Ramsay
The song choice has been determined by a extols the virtues of learning new skills. He maintains number of questions; Ramsay offers. What’s a song that he’s a good enough bass player, but no virtuoso. that everyone knows? Will it be interesting musically Even so, he would never give up playing music with but not too hard for students to play? BML’s staff was other musicians. also thinking about songs that would reflect the state “What has always kept me interested and of the world when they recorded them. engaged with music is its social prospects,” Ramsay
“’Your Song’ was a beautiful thing for everyone says. “Some of the greatest people I’ve met in my life, to enjoy because we’re all kind of sad and anxious,” I’ve met through music. Some of the best experiences Ramsay related. While “Love Train” was just an I’ve had have come through music. Being able to play opportunity to have fun, “Everybody Wants to Rule music with other people is one of the greatest gifts the World” felt right because Ramsay believes we’re there is.” all feeling a little bit defiant after being cooped up in quarantine. PMORAN@QCNERVE.COM
Starting on June 15, the company’s next project,
FOOD & DRINK FEATURE Things began to look up when several of their regular customers began to miss that WTF lunch break while working from home. One customer called WHERE’S THE FRY? Popular food truck keeps rubber on the road during up the guys to ask if they could stop by and cook up lunch, promising that their neighbors would be hungry too and it would be worth their while. Then another called … and another. “It was like a domino effect with neighborhoods contacting us,” Barnes says. “The word just started the quarantine spreading.” From the jump, the crew implemented health BY LILLIAN TAYLOR and safety protocols and precautions so they could continue their business without fear of adding to the
On March 17, when Gov. Roy Cooper announced problem. They inducted regular cleaning procedures, that all restaurants would have to shut down dineacquired enough staff members to get food out in operations due to the growing threat of the novel quicker. coronavirus COVID-19, things quickly became dire for They condensed their menu and utilized online the food industry in our state. In one rapidly growing ordering through the Toast app so customers would sector of the industry, however, things were less clear; not have to stand outside in line and began hitting what would happen to food trucks? apartment complexes around Charlotte.
Of course, food trucks don’t have dining rooms, so their operations weren’t affected by the governor’s order. Yet just a week later, when Mecklenburg County Public Health announced that a new stay-at-home order would be going into effect on March 26, things became a lot more dicey. After all, how could a business that survives on foot traffic and mass gatherings get by in a world where office buildings are closed and no more than nine people are allowed to get together? “At first I was nervous,” recalls Greg Williams, co-founder of the popular Charlotte-based food truck What the Fries. “I was thinking we were going to be done, not necessarily done for good, but I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
A large percentage of WTF revenue came from setting up shop outside of call centers and office buildings, where the employees expected them and they could rely on a steady flow of hungry workers. And yet all of those spots were shut down as part of the stay-at-home order.
“It would have been a long time before we could go back to work,” Williams says.
Williams and his co-founder Jamie Barnes discussed pausing the business, GREG WILLIAMS (LEFT) AND JAMIE BARNES. as they couldn’t be expected to revamp their whole business model in weeks, seeking out If someone was taken by surprise at seeing one customers at a time when everyone was hunkered of Charlotte’s most popular food trucks parked on down at home. their street and wanted to order right there on the
Or could they? spot, they were ready for that too. The team parked
in front of empty fields and closed-down parking lots, Their ability to adapt and overcome will be no where people would have no issue with social surprise to those who are familiar with the distancing. drive they have shown in developing
By late May, Barnes says “AT What the Fries into a successful the company had already seen a 20% increase FIRST I WAS venture over the last five years. in sales compared to April. But they weren’t just going to stand NERVOUS. I WAS THINKING WE WERE The relationship between these two entrepreneurs began by and congratulate themselves for a successful pivot GOING TO BE DONE.” -Greg Williams, co-founder, in 2004, when they roomed together at Johnson & Wales while others What the Fries University. Both had continued to struggle become interested with the COVID crisis. in the food industry
They partnered with and began working in the Red Hill Ventures, a local realrestaurant industry at the turn estate investment and technology of the century. firm that owns several local multi-family After each spending years working in complexes, to bring a special kids menu to the different Charlotte-area kitchens, the duo decided to come together and strike out on their own. “We kind of got tired working for everybody else,” Williams says. “We wanted to see something else and do our own thing.” They got that chance through the popular television series The Great Food Truck Race, which launched on the Food Network in 2010. The show, which began its 12th season in March, challenges chefs to leave their traditional restaurants behind and try out the life of owning a food truck. The show gives eight chosen chefs “the chance to embark on a coastto-coast journey in gourmet food trucks to convince Americans to step out of their food comfort zones and try something new,” according to its website. Being big fans of the show, Barnes and Williams signed up to compete. The producers called back a month later showing interest in the pair’s concept, a menu packed with gourmet French fry dishes, house-made tots and other adventurous options. After another month of discussions, the two made it into the final pool of 10 potential contestants, PHOTO COURTESY OF WHAT THE FRIES but didn’t make the last cut of eight. Yet still, the fire was lit. Even though the two rising chefs didn’t make it onto children living in their apartment communities and their favorite television show, they still held onto their serve meals to the kids for free. They also hosted ambition and persevered, deciding to move ahead fundraising opportunities on Facebook and Instagram with What the Fries anyway. for people to pledge meals to essential employees. “We ended up sticking with the idea and we just
wanted to make it happen”, says Barnes.
The two started in 2014 as a catering company, while still participating in culinary programs that would shine a light on their ever-evolving idea. They partnered with Coca-Cola to do a four-city food tour that year, hitting Charleston, Charlotte, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. to share their cooking experiences.
While developing their business model, Williams and Barnes purchased a FedEx truck for $3,000 and built it out, launching it as the rst What the Fries food truck in August 2015.
Over the last ve years, the team has built out a menu of mouth-watering French-fry dishes that need no “main course” to go with them. Those include the shrimp and steak hibachi fries, with sautéed shrimp and steak, bok choy, carrots, scallions atop hand-cut fries with Yum-Yum sauce, the food truck’s exclusively made secret house-made sauce. There’s also the lobster mac and cheese fries, with lobster, cavatappi pasta, boursin cheese sauce, Gouda cheese, Asiago cheese and parsley atop hand-cut fries.
There are also the seasoned house-made tots (or The Undecided, which features half tots and half fries for the indecisive) and the bread pudding tops that rotate weekly but in the past have included toppings you’re super indecisive, The Undecided lets you go half like salted caramel, pecan pie, strawberry cheesecake French fries and half house-made tots -- all the way and red velvet cake. seasoned. In 2016, Jamie and Gregory helped found the Soul Food Sessions Dinner Series, creating diverse dining experiences that re ect diverse culinary specialties with an African twist, in an e ort to acknowledge and support people of color in the culinary arts, restaurant, beverage services and hospitality industries. The two built their brand on social media, and were helped along by an appearance on the second season premiere of Southern and Hungry, a Cooking Channel show hosted by HOT FRIES PHOTO COURTESY OF WHAT THE FRIES culinary expert Damaris Phillips and auto racing analyst Rutledge Wood.
The truck also o ers up your more expected lunch “I think that really brought us attention,” says fare, such as chicken sandwiches and burgers, and if Williams.
As much as their life on the road saved them from the stresses of shutting down a dining room during COVID, Barnes and Williams wish to eventually open their own brick-and-mortar restaurant. Until that happens, however, they say they’ll continue to play it by ear, adapting to the unprecedented experience that is working in the food industry in 2020.
When I ask what advice they would give young people today who are trying to pursue a dream, Barnes emphasizes that it never hurts to ask for help.
“You have to have a plan that will help you stick out,” he says. “But also, have someone to reach out to; have someone you can always look to, someone who you can lean on for advice”.
Barnes and Williams continue to host events and provide for those around Charlotte despite the circumstances, and they look forward to running a new Food Truck Friday once mass gatherings are safe again.
Until then, they’ll be working hard and snacking on their own favorites from the truck: chicken sandwiches for Barnes and bread puddings for Williams. That’s right, the guys who started a whole food truck based on French fries would rather eat the other stu . WTF?
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THE OUTBREAK OF CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) MAY BE STRESSFUL FOR PEOPLE. FEAR AND ANXIETY ABOUT A DISEASE CAN BE OVERWHELMING AND CAUSE STRONG EMOTIONS IN ADULTS AND CHILDREN. COPING WITH STRESS WILL MAKE YOU, THE PEOPLE YOU CARE ABOUT, AND YOUR COMMUNITY STRONGER.
EVERYONE REACTS DIFFERENTLY TO STRESSFUL SITUATIONS. HOW YOU RESPOND TO THE OUTBREAK CAN DEPEND ON YOUR BACKGROUND, THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU DIFFERENT FROM OTHER PEOPLE, AND THE COMMUNITY YOU LIVE IN.
-Fear and worry about your own health and the health of your loved ones -Changes in sleep or eating patterns -Difficulty sleeping or concentrating -Worsening of chronic health problems -Increased use of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs -Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including social media. Hearing about the pandemic repeatedly can be upsetting. -Take care of your body. Take deep breaths, stretch, or meditate. Try to eat healthy, well-balanced meals, exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep, and avoid alcohol and drugs. -Make time to unwind. Try to do some other activities you enjoy. -Connect with others. Talk with people you trust about your concerns and how you are feeling.
ONLINE THERAPY OPTIONS OPEN PATH COLLECTIVE A nonprofit that connects people with private practice therapists that choose to participate. Digital therapy is available for a $59 membership tinyurl.com/opcollective PSYCHOLOGY TODAY An interactive website where users can enter their zip code to find a counseling professional near them online with phone and video options available. tinyurl.com/psychtodayonline
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