Weekly Studio Update + Your Musical Hero

Who would have thought that having a baby would mean I had a little less time on my hands? (Everyone. Everyone thought that.) So, that's my excuse for this being the first newsletter of 2021 despite being the third week of teaching for the year. 
For those of you who have resumed lessons already, it has been fantastic hearing about what you've been up to over the past couple of months and to check in with you again to find out whether your goals have shifted, what you're finding frustrating and rewarding when practising, and who your musical heroes are. However, I have been surprised at how many of you don't have a musical hero. WHAT!? No-one to aspire to? No-one to inspire you? No-one to fastidiously study the lyrics of, or dream of playing their pieces note-for-note?

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Firstly, I thought it might have been a generational thing, but the age range of my students has convinced me otherwise.
Secondly, I thought it might be an embarrassment thing, but most of you know me well enough by now to know that I'm very open to all of your music tastes.
Thirdly... well, I've come to accept that I might just be more obsessed about music than a lot of you. It's all I've wanted to do since I was about 10 - be a musician, write songs, perform - and so it was natural for me to search for a role model that I could loftily dream of emulating.
I will admit that obsession is not always healthy - I know far more about the life of Ben Folds than is useful other than being my special quiz subject topic - and so there's a level of admiration I have in those of you who are casual fans more than obsessives.
I did change the question for most of you who came up blank on the "hero" angle - which musician would you have at your dream dinner party? This was apparently easier to answer, and I heard some surprising results.
All this to say, I love being your teacher and finding out more about you and your musical loves, likes and passing interests. It helps me open up my horizons and I may very well uncover a new musical hero thanks to your recommendations. So keep thinking about it, and let me know if your hero (or dinner party guest) has presented themselves to you before our next lesson.

Things I've been watching/listening to this week:

1. Cory and The Wongnotes // COLLABORATION (feat. Cody Fry) [Ep. 1] - Cory is the guitarist from one of my favourite bands Vulfpeck, and he's also an incredible solo artist. This is a variety show he's producing on YouTube - there are some sketches, but mainly stick around for the ridiculously good funk music.
2. The Making of JUSTIFIED (Justin Timberlake Documentary) - how had I never seen this before? If you're a fan of early Justin Timberlake, or of behind-the-scenes studio documentaries, this is an easy watch. Just be careful you don't drown in all the swagger.
3. Vanessa Against The Machine - some of you have seen the Rage Against the Machine/Vanessa Carlton mashup where they sing Killing In The Name Of over the top of the A Thousand Miles instrumental... well, this is the opposite.
4. 11 Hit Piano Songs 2010-2020 🎹 - my friend Dan at HDpiano runs through 11 of the biggest piano songs of the decade.
5. The Beatles: Get Back - A Sneak Peek from Peter Jackson - I was raised on a steady diet of Beatles, so this footage has me very excited!
6. If you have Netflix, check out the Song Exploder series. It's my favourite podcast, and they now have a TV show to match!

Be sure to let me know what you've been enjoying lately and if there's anything you think I should check out!