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The Michigan Daily michigandaily.comI Thursday, February 11, 2010
Dick Siegel:
0
musician and
'U' alum found
" his way back to
the University,
weekend
essentials
Feb. 11 to Feb. 14
AT THE MIC
To most, the Grateful
Dead will forever be
associated with psy-
chedelic dancing bears,
tie-dye and a certain
flavor of ice cream. But
it doesn't take a Dead-
head to appreciate Jerry
Garcia's guitar filigrees
and bluesy songwriting.
Dead Again, "Detroit's
premier Grateful Dead
tribute band" accord-
ing to the Blind Pig's
website, graces the
Pig tomorrow night,
ensuring a strange trip
through classics like
"Bird Song" and "Sugar
Magnolia." Tickets from
$7. Doors at 9:30 p.m.
-
ror's ON STAGE
Having "Dancing
with the Stars" with-
Music M an drawals? Come see
the local stars of the
Michigan Ballroom
Dance team in the
10th Annual Michi-
gan Ballroom Dance
, =rACompetition. Watch
the Wolverines as they
waltz their way to vic-
tory. The competition
goes all day at Saline
Middle School on Sat-
urday with the Rose
Ball Finals starting at 6
Written by p.m. Tickets from $5.
hink of your favorite song. It probably has a
chorus, a few verses, maybe a bridge, a melo-
dy and perhaps some harmony. But that's not
why you listen to it.
According to Dick Siegel, "A song has a very sim-
ple purpose. It's taking a feeling that you have - joy,
remorse, love, anger - and capturing it somehow
in this melody-rhythm-lyric tangle, and exposing
someone else to it."
The University graduate and Ann Arbor folk com-
munity mainstay has been refining the craft of song-
writing for more than 30 years. He's a member ofthe
Detroit Music Hall of Fame, a recipient of the Best
New Folk Artist award at the Kerrville Folk Festi-
val and, perhaps most notably, has a ham and turkey
sandwich named after him at Zingerman's Deli.
And now he has the title of University professor to
add to his resume.
Constructing a career
Considering Siegel's biography, college-aged stu-
dents are the perfect fit for the course he's teaching,
"Singing Out of Our Minds: A Songwriting Work-
shop." He started writing songs while attending the
University as an English major, with the aid of some
inspiration from Bob Dylan.
"At some point in college, I rediscovered Dylan,"
Siegel said. "When I first heard (him) when I was a
kid, I just couldn't stand (him). But when I started
listening to (him) in college, all of the sudden it was
like 'This music is just so visceral and so bare-bones
- with just a voice and a guitar.' And I played guitar
and I had a voice."
Soon Siegel was playing at a weekly open-mic
night called the Hootenanny at the Ark in its old Hill
Street location. He used this as a jumping-off point
to concentrate more time and energy on songwrit-
ing.
"One day I took a trip out to California after I
graduated in my VW mini-van, and on my way back
I thought of some experience I had with somebody
- some weird experience," he said. "And I started
making up this song ... and it was fun. (I thought)
'Wow, I just made this up,' and I liked it. It sort of
made sense of something that I was feeling, and
when I came back to Ann Arbor, I performed it at
the Ark.
"The reception was very good. It was probably
better than any other songI was singing."
This newfound love for songwriting snowballed,
and Siegel started to consider his music as the main
focus of his life. He was able to maintain this life-
style with a job in construction on the side.
"I struck some kind of a balance that worked for
me," he explained. "I was doing enough music, per-
forming enough, moving around enough, getting
music out to the world enough, and at the same time
I wasn't starving. And I was actually enjoying build-
ing things, building houses, being a carpenter."
Another key factor in the success of Siegel's music
career is the support of the Ann Arbor community
and its respect for the "endeavor of being creative."
This rich cultural atmosphere was especially notice-
able to Siegel, who grew up in New Jersey.
"Ann Arbor was one of these places that was very
friendly to a Bohemian existence, and so it was com-
fortable to stay here," he said. "And I've lived here
ever since."
"It's a community that, at least to a greater degree
than a lot of places, respects art and music," he
added.
Not only did this culture provide an enthusiastic
audience, it also produced a number of talented musi-
cians. Siegel recruited some jazz musicians to form a
band called Dick Siegel and the Ministers of Melody.
He recorded Snap!,'his debut and best-selling album
to date, in 1980 with the five-piece.
The album produced instant classics including
"When the Sumac Is On Fire," "What Would Brando
Do?" and "Angelo's" (an ode to Ann Arbor's favor-
PHOTOS BY TOREHAN SHARMAN/Daily
ite little breakfast place), which can still be heard
every Saturday and Sunday morning on 94.7 WCSX,
Detroit's classic rock radio station. -
Since then, Siegel has recorded two more full
lengths and an EP varying in style and subject mat-
ter that showcase his versatility asa musician.
In honorable company
In his latest project, he now serves as this semes-
ter's Helen L. DeRoy Visiting Professor in the Hon-
ors Program, a position that has been held by some
impressive figures, including a Nobel laureate, a for-
mer Secretary of the Treasury and a former Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom.
So how did Siegel end up in the presence of such
formidable company?
Siegel's relationship with the Honors Program
started in November 2008, when he was a guest
speaker in the "Lunch with Honors" series.
This experience, along with an itch to teach song-
writing, led him to his current position.
"I've done some songwriting and I've been a part
of these songwriting retreats where you go and
people who are amateur songwriters come and they
spend a weekend and then I'd be hired as one of the
faculty songwriters and I'd teach them and perform
... and I enjoyed it," Siegel said.
Although the outlet for this teaching endeavor
wasn't initially evident, it became obvious after
some contemplation.
"I just began thinking about what that might
be like to actually teach songwriting here in Ann
Arbor," he said. "I went through a bunch of ideas,
and finally I thought, 'Of course, the University."'
But.does a songwriting class have any place in a
liberal arts college?
Timothy McKay, director of the Honors Program,
thinks so.
See DICK SIEGEL, Page 4B
FILM
"The Hermitage Dwell-
ers" is a look at Rus-
sian attraction The
Hermitage Museum. It
examines the employ-
ees and the artwork of
this museum that was
founded by Catherine
the Great, analyzing
the complicated rela-
tionship that Russian
citizens have with the
touchstone of Russian
culture. The film will be
shown in the Helmut
Stern Auditorium at
7 p.m. tonight. Free.
CONCERT
In celebration of Val-
entine's Day, UMMA is
hosting a performance
in honor of Alma
Schindler Mahler Wer-
fel. "Everybody Loves
Alma" celebrates this
woman's vivacious
love of the 1900s
Viennese art scene.
'U' faculty will perform
works created by Alma
and her many lovers,
friends and husbands,
including composers
Gustav Mahler and
Alban Berg. The per-
formance will be at 8
p.m. in the Apse. Free.
DESIGN BY ANGELA CHIH/Daily