On our Midwest tour last month, we had the great privilege of playing in a classroom in Lawrence, Kansas. Sounds pretty random, eh? A Seattle band on an Illinois/Michigan-centered tour driving all the way out to Kansas for a show at a high school? The back-story puts these pieces together, and pays tribute to the world-shrinking power of the internet and the fantastic music coming out of Seattle right now.
Jeff Kuhr teaches film and video production at Lawrence High School. He is also a big fan of indie music and an avid follower of Seattle music blog Sound on the Sound. After seeing their 2010 Doe Bay Sessions, Jeff became a big fan of The Head and the Heart around the time of their first nationwide tour. After the show in Lawrence (which happened to be across the street from his house), Jeff asked the band to come play in his classroom the next day. They obliged, and the first Classroom Session was born – with the students filming, editing, and asking all the questions. Since then, Room 125 Productions has created eight sessions with great acts including Damien Jurado, Bryan John Appleby, Kelli Schaefer, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Drew Grow & the Pastors’ Wives.
Upon hearing of our Midwest tour plans, Jeff asked us to come through and do a session, and we are so glad that we made the trek! The students were wonderful, their questions insightful, and combined with the show Jeff set up for us the night before, Lawrence was one of our best experiences on the tour.
All four videos from our Classroom Session are below. Please be sure to connect with LHS Room 125 on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
“Hunted by Ghosts” and committing to collaboration:
“For Fear of Losing” and developing our sound and aesthetic:
“Devil and a Stiff Drink” and balancing music, work, and life:
“Give Up the Ghost,” prefaced with a story and followed by thoughts on building community around music:
Thank you so much for bringing this music to high school students!! This is a lovely interview and performance series and it is clear you both enjoyed it as much as the students did.
My husband, 5yo and I are all looking forward to your July 26th performance at Hiawatha Park in West Seattle. I’m from Oklahoma, but now a “local” in West Seattle and have really enjoyed the burgeoning indie-Americana music scene. Aubrey’s voice reminds a bit of the music that my Grandma Lucy played all the time – Patsy Cline, Loretta Wynn and Kitty Wells. Lovely!