We’ve been intrigued by the new school that’s opened up in downtown Detroit. It focuses on music business readiness—from performing to learning an instrument to handling the business of music. Having said that, we have been on a mission to find out more.
Six weeks ago, we decided to take the plunge and actually take a class at the Detroit Institute of Music Education (D.I.M.E.). I signed up for “Raise Your Voice” (a class designed to help develop stage presence and help you sing without damaging your vocal cords) and Bruce is signed up for “Sell Your Song” (how to turn your inspiration into compensation). Our intention was to invest in our craft, meet exciting new people who share our interests, and to be completely nosey about what was inside of that exciting newly-renovated and trendy building. We also figured that if we diversified, we could get more from the experience—you know, meet twice the people, see more of the building, etc.
Our six weeks are up this week and we are preparing for a performance on Tuesday night in “The Underground,” their major performance space. It’s exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. Personally, I’m excited to showcase my “talent,” but at the same time, I am not happy that the classes will be over. This has been the most enjoyable class—Raise Your Voice—with a small group of students and a supportive teacher—Chris McCall—and I don’t want to NOT be a member of this artificially-created support group. However, I know that all good things must end and that it just means that we need to find another way to get connected to similar experiences and/or find other opportunities to hang out at the D.I.M.E.
I'm happy to say that our experience has been good overall. In fact, I have tried to start documenting more things with video and we did just that with this latest trip. Check it out below.
If you want to know more about the history and mission of the D.I.M.E., check out this article: http://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/03/14/dime-detroit-metropolitan-state-university-denver-partnership/81771408/