12/28/13 Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Resonance - Volume Eight, Issue Two

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Grammy-nominated Musician Finds Ways to Educate & Communicate ThroughMusic

Brother Vi Wickam, Epsilon Upsilon (Evansville) ’95, is a celebrated fiddlerwhose work has been featured across the country. His most recent album, OldSchool Old Time, has been acclaimed by audiences and critics and is on the1st ballot for Grammy award nominations. He has also recently launched anonline education program for training young musicians without access to aregular private teacher (or as a supplement to one). We got a chance to talkwith him about these exciting endeavors, as well as what’s next for him and hismusical partners.

Before we get into your current endeavors, tell me a little bit

about your Sinfonian experience. You were initiated near theHeadquarters here in Evansville. Is there anything that stands out

in your mind from your collegiate experience?

There are so many great memories as a Sinfonian at the University ofEvansville; the great times singing with my brothers, and the feeling ofcamaraderie singing those fraternity songs. Sometimes I find myself singingVive L‘amour or Hail Sinfonia even today. Those songs are really wedgeddeep into my brain.

You’re a fiddle player, which evokes a certain cultural idiom compared to, say, calling yourself

a violin player. Was your background in fiddle music (i.e. bluegrass, folk music, etc.), or was it

something you transitioned into as part of your performing career?

I was born into a family that played traditional American music as our primary family activity. Our regular weekendincluded a trip to my grandparents’ house, where we would spend at least a couple of hours with my Grandpaplaying guitar, and my dad on Tenor Banjo, and we would all sing.

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I was drawn to violin at a very young age. Somewhere there is a picture of me at about four years old holding aplastic crank-music-box guitar like a violin. I started at age five on Suzuki violin, but I wasn’t quite ready and aftertwo months of Twinkle Twinkle variations, I was ready to quit. Thankfully, my parents didn’t push me, and at ageseven I took it up again, with a school violin program. I also started playing with our family band. My dad wouldhave me get up and play whatever tunes I could during the shows that he and my grandpa would play. At thattime, I really didn’t like to practice. My discipline was my dad making me practice.

But when I was 12 I received the best motivation ever. I won $75 in a fiddle contest. I couldn’t believe that I hadjust made $75 in 3 minutes on stage. From then I was hooked – I was the one asking my dad to play music withme.

Brother Wickam with collaborator and dulcimer player Steve Eulberg

In Junior High School, I decided to join the school orchestra. I auditioned by playing the Orange Blossom Special,and they set me second chair first violin. The only problem was that I couldn’t read sheet music at all. I memorizedevery note we played in orchestra that year. All through high school and college, I played fiddle music andclassical music both on violin and viola. Being able to experience both worlds of music has been valuable to meas a performer. The classical world brings the focus and discipline that are so necessary for success anywhere inlife. And the fiddle world brings the abandon, and expression that allow me to really convey emotion through themusic I play in a context that most classical players don’t get to experience.

What was your first-ever professional album? How many have you released since then?

I released my first album, On a Snowy Day, my senior year of high school. It was quite an undertaking, and I’mreally thankful that I had my parents around to help me out with the process. There are so many logistical piecesto put in place in order to release an album that it’s a wonder anyone ever releases an album.

I have released two albums since then, and have been a part of a number of other albums. I released Long TimeComin’ a couple of years ago. It features an eclectic blend of songs that I had wanted to record for a long time. Asmuch as I wanted to create a great album that would bring joy to people who listened to it, I recorded that albumfor myself. [Editor’s Note: Long Time Comin’ was featured in the Aug. 2011 Resonance]. I had spent 15 yearsrunning an IT business, and while I never quit playing music, I hadn’t been able to create music the way I reallywanted to. Completing that album was one of the best feelings I can remember. There was so much support andpositive energy, I was high for weeks.

My most recent album, Old School Old Time, is a collaboration with dulcimer player Steve Eulberg. I wanted tohonor the roots where my music has come from with an album of really rockin’ old time music. With each stepalong the way and each album, I raise the bar on the product I’m creating and putting out into the world. Each newadventure is a learning experience that brings joy into my life.

Old School Old Time is on the 1st Grammy Ballot. For those unfamiliar

with the Grammy voting process, explain a little bit about the process

and what the next steps are.

This is my first time learning about the Grammy Ballot process, so it’s been a big educational experience for me.

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Thankfully, my album partner, Steve Eulberg, is a member of the academy and hasbeen on the Grammy ballot before.

The first step of the process is submitting your album for consideration. You must be amember of the academy to submit it. If you are a member, you can submit your ownmusic. If you aren’t, then you have to find an academy member to submit it for you.Then there is a screening process by 150 experts to decide who makes it onto the firstround ballot. We got some awesome positive feedback from the screeners. It reallymade me smile.

The next step is that ballots are sent out to the members of the academy fornomination. Ballots had to be turned in by October 30th this year. In some categoriesthere is an additional step where after the voting, there is a special nominatingcommittee to decide who becomes an official nominee. At this point, those officialnominees are voted on again to determine who gets the Grammy. I won’t know the

results of the voting for a few more weeks, but I’m anxious with anticipation. This really is a new and fascinatingrealm for me within the business of making music.

You play several other instruments, including guitar, mandolin, bass, and viola. What draws

you identify as a fiddler primarily, over these other instruments?

Violin is my first instrument, and my first love. It’s the instrument of which I have spent the most time, and have thegreatest mastery.

Stylistically, fiddle music is really where my heart is. I enjoy playing classical music as well, and have a greatappreciation for it. But, groove and syncopation, the slides, and freedom to improvise, and express myself that isavailable in fiddling really calls to me.

Your educational website, [my] Talent Forge, seems like an interesting premise. It’s a way for

people to take online courses on various instruments. Talk to me a little bit about how it works.

Is there a charge? Can people take individual courses, or do they sign up for a series of

lessons? Are the lessons static, or is there online interaction with students based on their

progress and feedback?

[my] Talent Forge is an online music lesson platform that I founded with national champion fiddler Matthew Hartz. Ihave sought out (and am on the lookout for) skillful musician teachers who create video based lessons andaccompanying materials. Some of those materials are in the form of sheet music or tablature, and sometimes theyare audio recordings (lead lines and accompaniment tracks) that can be downloaded onto the students’ iPhone orcomputer to play along with.

There are forums online where you can interact with our faculty and ask them questions. You can even post avideo of you playing one of the exercises or tunes, and ask for a critique by the faculty.

We launched the website in January of this year with about 35 fiddle lesson videos. There are currently over 100lessons by me and three other top notch string players, including David Wallace, a Viola professor at Julliard.

We have lessons for Fiddle/Violin, Viola, Guitar, and Tenor Guitar right now, and are expanding to newinstruments.

A subscription to [my] Talent forge costs $29.95 per month, with a discount for annual subscriptions. All signupsinclude full access to all of the lessons on the site, so if you are a Violist who is interested in Fiddling, you canexplore both areas, and throw in a little guitar while you are at it.

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Are there advantages to the online teaching that don’t exist in a more traditional format?

Similarly, are there drawbacks that make it more of a challenge? And what kind of goals have

you set for yourself through this teaching method?

First, let me say that in-person teachers are still super important. I think of [my] Talent Forge as a way tosupplement in-person instruction, and to provide high quality instruction to people who don’t have access to agreat teacher in person.

There are a few advantages to online learning that are immediately apparent. First, a student can watch a videoas many times as they want. I find that I can pack as much instruction into a seven-minute video as I can teach ina thirty-minute lesson. In a regular lesson, I inevitably repeat myself, and a lot of lesson time goes into the studentplaying the music for me.

Next is the advantage of the audio downloads that the student can play along with. Having a lead line to playalong with while you are learning a melody can really speed up the learning process, and being able to thentransition to an accompaniment track really helps you commit the tune to memory.

The main drawback is that the critiquing process is still too complicated. One of the values of an in personteacher is that they can critique you in real time. We are working on some technologies to facilitate this kind ofinteraction, but this part is still kind of tricky.

What’s next for you, either educationally or as a performer?

Educationally, I am working on my beginner fiddling method, which will be available on [my] Talent Forge withvideos, and as a digital download. And, I’m working on expanding the variety of lessons we have on [my] TalentForge. Ultimately, I want to create the best repository of music education on the planet, and make it available tostudents in schools throughout the world.

As a performer, I just released a country rendition of Adele’s Someone Like You that has gotten really positivefeedback. I’m also working on two new projects that should be released in the next six months.

One is a Christmas album with Matt Hartz and Steve Eulberg, and the other is an EP for the country band I play inand manage, Paul Chet and the Whiskey Chickens. It’s going to feature a new original of mine that I’m seriouslyexcited about. I can’t wait until all of you can hear it.

To check out all releases by Vi, and to learn more about his musical endeavors, visit his website at http://www.vithefiddler.com

Or check out [my] Talent Forge at www.mytalentforge.com

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