David Dolak discusses Acoustic Kitchen and the importance of putting a spotlight on student work.

Transcript:

0:05: Welcome back to Chronversations. 

0:07: I’m your host, Cameron Johnson. 

0:09: This past Tuesday kicked off the first Acoustic Kitchen of the year. 

0:13: Acoustic Kitchen is an open mic specifically designed for acoustic musicians and singers that typically happens within the Haus in the 623 building at 6:30 p.m. on a Tuesday every month. 

0:23: I took the time to interview David Dolak, who has been the Coordinator for Acoustic Kitchen for some time now. 

0:29: David Dolak, he, I am the professor of Instruction Emeritus in the School of Culture and Communication. 

0:37: David, can you tell me what was the origin of Acoustic Kitchen? 

0:41: Started in about 2001 or 2002 with my colleague from English, George Bailey. 

0:51: We were playing guitar at one of our Columbia retreats up in Wisconsin before the semester and we

0:58: realized we did not have an open stage live music event like that here at the school at the time, an event that both of us remembered from our college days of playing in coffee houses and things like that. 

1:11: So we looked for a space and, you know, arranged properly to get a day one night a month, and we thought of a name and I think George came up with the name of Acoustic Kitchen, sort of thinking of the idea of, you know, I think both of us probably had to go play guitar in the kitchen to get away from everybody else in the house. 

1:33: And what else do you do in the kitchen? 

1:35: You cook in the kitchen. 

1:36: So I came up with the name of Acoustic Kitchen, and then we wound up, quickly became our monthly, we had it, so 4 times a semester. 

1:47: So 8 times during the year we’ve also been, inaugural events since Manifest. 

1:53: So in Manifest we have this best of Acoustic Kitchen where we pick the best 5 acts or so of the year, concentrating on seniors if you know we’ve got seniors and, 

2:06: yeah so, but otherwise it’s an open mic. 

2:09: It runs for 2.5 to 3 hours, and I’m the MC. 

2:12: George retired a number of years ago, and it’s been going strong. 

2:18: You mentioned that you had a bit of a musical background. 

2:20: What would you say,

2:21: like the main genre was for you and George?

2:24: Folk music. 

2:25: We’re both guitar players, mainly, I mean, I play other string instruments and so does George, but we’re both folk musicians and some rock and roll too. 

2:33: I mean, I play classical music as well, but the idea of having live performance and things like that, yeah. 

2:40: So how do you think students have been impacted throughout the years? 

2:44: And how do you think you’ve been impacted yourself from just seeing Acoustic Kitchen grow? 

2:49: Well, I mean, I like, I certainly like seeing the students work. 

2:54: you could do cover material, but most students do some original material as well. 

2:59: It certainly made me make sure every month I have some songs to work up and keeps me in front of people playing. 

3:05: But also, more importantly I’ve really seen students grow over the years. 

3:10: Many times a student has come in as a freshman and this is the first time they’ve ever, or they’ll say that’s the first time they’ve ever actually performed it. 

3:18: In front of people and then they start coming regularly and 2 or 3 years later, you know, they might, they’re writing their own songs, they might be in a band, they might have some gigs already, as well as there are students who are already music majors and it gives them a place to work out material and work in front of an audience. 

3:40: For a number of years, it also got music performance credit from the school, but we sort of don’t do that anymore, even for normal venues. 

3:48: Us, but the music department recognized it as an important place for musicians to get some live stage experience because really that’s what we conceived it as a place,

3:59: so you get to work on your chops a little bit in front of an audience. 

4:04: There’s no cash registers ringing for distraction. 

4:07: You know, you get at least 2 to 3 songs, so it’s not like you just come in, you get one song, like an audition and very nervous. 

4:14: You have time to get up there and talk about,

4:18: you know why you’re doing this song or why you wrote it. 

4:26: You know, I’ve played along with students a lot,

4:28: like I’m working on a song right now. 

4:30: When you walk in, I’m listening to a song by a student who doesn’t play music but wanted to sing, so they sent me the lyrics and I’m listening to YouTube. 

4:38: So I’m going to work up this song with them tonight. 

4:40: I’ll play guitar behind them. 

4:42: You did tell me a little bit of what you were excited for tonight. 

4:44: You know, you’re going to be playing behind someone, but this is like, correct me if I’m wrong, this is the first, 

4:50: Acoustic Kitchen for the semester. 

4:52: So like, what are you excited for? 

4:54: What are you expecting for tonight? 

4:57: Well, the first one of the year, in fact, it’s not just the semester. 

5:00: First one of the year, a school year is always exciting because I don’t know who, you know, we had a number of people graduate last year that were regulars, so they’re gone. 

5:10: So I need to see what, you know, hopefully new. 

5:13: People have heard about it through friends or seen the posters,

5:18: online or around the school. 

5:20: So it’s always a bit of a wild card, the first one, not knowing how many people I’ll get, and, and again, a lot of them are new. 

5:28: If they’re new, they’re a little hesitant. 

5:30: They don’t know what it exactly is. 

5:32: So it’s always exciting is the bottom line, but I really don’t know. 

5:36: It could be a big night, it could be a slow night. 

5:38: It’s really hard to tell, you know, we’ll, we’ll have our candles out on the tables, we’ll put the lights down, we’ll get the sound system going, and, we will see. 

5:48: Got something strumming in your heart that you think about playing out loud? 

5:52: Come to the next Acoustic Kitchen on Tuesday, October 20th in the 623 building at 6:30 p.m. and allow yourself to express yourself. 

6:10: Make sure to stay up to date with campus and Metro News at columbiachronicle.com. 

6:15: I’m Cameron Johnson. 

6:17: Thanks for listening. 

6:18: And until next time. 

Copy Edited by Mia Smith