Other Lives' Jesse Tabish offering Rock Academy for kids at Dancing Turtle arts festival

Jun. 9—Jesse Tabish, a Stillwater musician and leader of the band Other Lives, is leading a music workshop for young musicians this summer and giving back to the community he grew up in.

Tabish will conduct a workshop called Rock Academy for young rockers between the ages of 11 and 15. The Rock Academy is one of the programs that will be held from noon to 4 p.m. on June 16-17 at the Stillwater Community Center during the Dancing Turtle Interactive Celebration of the Arts.

"Stillwater has really fed me a lot, and I'm really happy to come back and live here again," Tabish said. "It's a way for me to give back to the community and hopefully inspire another generation of kids to be in a band or make art."

The two-day event will also feature film, live music, dance performances, music and dance workshops, theater competitions, industrial arts workshops, contests and more. Dancing Turtle aims to promote the love of the arts and provide opportunities for creative expression in multiple forms.

Students who sign up for the workshop will receive approximately eight hours of coaching, including group and individual instruction and practice. The cost of the workshop — one of the few activities at Dancing Turtle that includes a fee — is $50. The workshop will be split into two sessions on Friday and Saturday.

Class size is limited to 16 participants to provide the best instruction possible. Classes will be held in the Stillwater Community Center.

Some instruments and a drum set will be available, but participants are encouraged to bring their own gear.

To culminate the academy, participants will play a rock show on a full-sized stage in front of a live audience.

"Essentially, we're going to create a band or two and learn four songs in these two days, and they're going to perform the last day," Tabish said. "It's gonna be a really cool kind of challenge to do this. I've never done anything like this before."

Some experience on guitar, bass or drums is preferred — but Tabish said that's not the most important thing.

"It doesn't matter what skill level (you have)," Tabish said. "If you're passionate about wanting to do something and you love music, that's all you need to bring to the table because that alone is the spirit of creation. That's all you need to have — the attitude of wanting to do something cool."

Tabish has a background in punk rock and said his band is a blend of classical and folk music.

Tabish grew up in Stillwater. He and his wife and co-writer, Kim Tabish, moved back to Stillwater two years ago after spending time in the northwest.

Other Lives has recorded five albums and is working on its sixth at the state-of-the-art recording studio at Oklahoma State University's Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music.

Tabish has worked closely with OSU Professor Mark Perry, who teaches ethnomusicology and is the music business coordinator at GSM.

"My colleagues teach classical music at OSU's Greenwood School of Music Preparatory Academy, and it is a fantastic program," Perry said. "As the director of the music industry program at OSU and as a guitarist, I wanted to do something similar, but with rock and pop music."

Perry said the Dancing Turtle leadership team wanted to offer activities for all age groups.

"My friend Jesse Tabish was once just a kid growing up in Stillwater and now, he is a successful rock musician," Perry said. "I know he loves teaching and sharing his love for music. If we want Stillwater to be a vibrant music city, we also need to include the next generation of musicians and fans."

Tabish said Perry has been influential in bringing new ideas to the community.

"I'm really happy to be part of it and hopefully spur a new generation of kids making art," Tabish said.

He said what pushed him to get involved in the workshop was his own experiences as a kid and musician growing up in Stillwater.

"There's a certain loneliness that you can feel sometimes," Tabish said. "I think it's really important for kids to understand that they can make great art in any place. You don't have to go to New York, you don't have to go to Los Angeles — you can do things in your hometown if you choose to do it."

Tabish said sometimes there are misconceptions about being a musician and artist. While it's an exciting life, it also takes a lot of time, focus and dedication. He said the band has a blast being out on tour and playing shows, but it all goes back to working hard.

"It's a real labor of love ... it's not a party thing," Tabish said. "It's not like, 'I'm a rock star and drink champagne all day.' You gotta be good at your job."

At the same time, writing and performing music is deeply satisfying, he said.

"It's worth it because of a deep love ... you're trying to create art for the health of society," Tabish said. "Essentially what you want as an artist is to promote goodness in the world and to heal people."