Creative industries in Washtenaw County add hundreds of millions of dollars to the local economy. In the weeks and months to come, host Deb Polich, the President and CEO of Creative Washtenaw, explores the myriad of contributors that make up the creative sector in Washtenaw County.
ABOUT STEVE OSBURN:
Steve Osburn has been "living music" for more than 20 years, sharing his knowledge with people of all ages. As a young classical guitar virtuoso, he studied at Interlochen, two years in the All State and one year in the U.M. Division. Steve studied with Nelson Amos at Eastern Michigan University and performed for Master Classes with Michael Lorimer and Manuel Ramos.
Steve also plays a unique and rare instrument, the Chapman Stick, which is a cross between guitar, bass and keyboard with 12 strings. His mastery of Stick led him to teach it at the prestigious National Guitar Summer Workshop in Connecticut.
The New England Montessori Teacher Training Center helped define his goal to provide the best musical education for young people and adults. THE MUSIC ENVIRONMENT (Ages 3 and up)
Students enter a world of music, and learn how to express themselves through sound and rhythm. Musical games explain notation and theory, and every musical instrument family is represented. Appropriate size guitars, drums, keyboard, violins, woodwinds, xylophones and brass wait in the Music Environment ready for exploration and mastery. "The perfect place to discover the best instrument for you or your child."
RESOURCES:
Know Obstacles Band on Facebook
Know Obstacles Band on YouTube
"Ann Arbor music teacher's band 'Know Obstacles' helps people with special needs shine"
TRANSCRIPTION:
Deb Polich: Welcome to creative:impact on 89 one WEMU. I'm Deb Polich, president and CEO of Creative Washtenaw and your host. Thanks for tuning in to meet the artists and creatives with deep ties to Washtenaw County who also share their talents while inspiring and impacting us. They also help others find and express their creativity. Our guest today is one of them. For more than 30 years, Oz's Music, a full retail music store with lessons, repairs, rentals and sales, has been a fixture in our community. Its founder, Steve Osburn, better known as Oz, is in the studio with us today. Steve, it's great to have you here! Thanks for coming in!
Steve Osburn: Thank you so much for having us!
Deb Polich: Yeah, for sure! And before we get to Oz's Music and some of the awesome programs you have there, let's introduce the listeners to you. I understand, from what I've read, that you were or are a classical music guitarist, a virtuoso in that role. And you studied at Interlochen and here at Eastern. And I just want to know. Where did you grow up and what caused you to choose classical guitar as your instrument?
Steve Osburn: Yeah, I was born in Tecumseh and went to high school in Adrian, Michigan. All my friends were rock-and-rollers and knew all the latest. And I, for some reason, couldn't relate. Even though I play by ear a lot now.
Deb Polich: Sure.
Steve Osburn: I thought I need a straight path. So, I looked at the dots and I went to the dots and tried to follow the notes and fell in love with Andre Segovia and John Williams.
Deb Polich: And that started it.
Steve Osburn: Yeah.
Deb Polich: Excellent, excellent, excellent. And instead of a performance career, after doing all that study, you chose to go into retail. I mean, talk about the idea that you bucked the trend and didn't go into rock and roll guitar and then also chose not to go into performance and then to start a store is an interesting tale, I'm sure.
Steve Osburn: I really chose teaching children before I chose the store.
Deb Polich: Okay.
Steve Osburn: I started the Music Environment for children right after I studied some Montessori to get a philosophical base, so working with kids. I emptied out a bedroom and I said, "I want to teach guitar to all ages, but I wanted to have a room for children to come in and explore." And I call it the Music Environment.
Deb Polich: Okay.
Steve Osburn: 45 years ago.
Deb Polich: Wow!
Steve Osburn: First session's free still to this day. No obligation.
Deb Polich: That's awesome! That's awesome! So, I want to get to the work that you do with youth and others, but I wanted to ask first. Today, in the retail environment, it's hard to keep a music store open, and many of them have gone online, very few to repair. And you're still going. What's your success?
Steve Osburn: I realized many years ago that the big box stores were going to be coming in--the Guitar Centers and the big ones. And so, I thought, "Let's position ourselves as a very community-based and service-based." So, I got a hold of some really good repair folks in the area and some fantastic teachers. And we really positioned ourselves with service.
Deb Polich: And you really are a community resource and treasure.
Steve Osburn: I like to say we're quintessential Ma and Pa. Ma runs the store, and I teach.
Deb Polich: There you go. There you go.
Steve Osburn: Leslie Zager, by the way.
Deb Polich: Right. Your wife.
Steve Osburn: Yes.
Deb Polich: Yes. Yes, indeed. So, one of Oz's Music programs is called Know Obstacles. Tell us about that.
Steve Osburn: Yeah. A little more than 30 years ago, a boy named David Ziff, a seven-year-old on the spectrum, walked in the Music Environment. And I just knew that he wanted to be in that environment. I just really sensed his love for music. And it turns out he and his father have been to more live music than anybody I've ever known in this community. But he inspired me to work with the autistic population. And after about several months, he found that one song he could do on the marimba. I took off bars, and I made it kind of simplified it for him. And then, a friend of mine had a son with cerebral palsy and lived rock and roll drum. So, he came in. I go, "Let's start a band!" Know Obstacles, spelled with a K. If you know obstacles, sometimes you can avoid them. And then, it's become a small army since. We developed more in ten years of camp--summer camps--and we do year-round rehearsals. And now, we're up to four bands.
Deb Polich: When you started this back in 1998, I think it is, these kinds of programs were very few and far between. Did you learn just going forward and finding your way through it, or were you inspired by or did you learn some techniques from others?
Steve Osburn: Well, I felt like my Montessori training and working with the very, very young, I really felt like get them in as soon as you can as long as they're having fun. Get them in there at two. Get them in there at three. It's not really lessons. It's more experiential. But a lot of the techniques and the games and the tricks that I do to teach and work with very young applied to some of the cognitively slow adults. And now, some of that's come back. Like, I developed songs for my special needs' groups, which I now use for neurotypical folks to teach them the blues in five minutes.
Deb Polich: Amazing, amazing! 89 one WEMU's creative:impact continues with Steve Osburn, better known as Oz, of Oz's Music and Know Obstacles, a musical program for people with disabilities. You know, I have no doubt that Know Obstacles has changed many people's lives over the years, yours included.
Steve Osburn: Big time!
Steve Osburn: Tell us a little bit about that. Is there a typical experience that you can relate to us or is it atypical and everybody's different?
Steve Osburn: I like to say, when it comes to special needs, we're all there. I don't care. At some point in your life, at least cognitive, physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, we all have our things. Some are more obvious than others. But I really enjoy just taking them from where they're at and seeing where they can go creatively with their music.
Deb Polich: And as you said, you have a whole band behind you for all those 30-plus years. That's amazing! So, with those programs, you have a band and a summer camp. Are they fee-based or not?
Steve Osburn: Yeah. I do have, thanks to creativewashtenaw.org. I do have a scholarship fund now that do support some of the lessons that can't afford the payments. And I do charge for my rehearsals. Some get away if they really got financial needs. We work with them.
Deb Polich: You sound like you're that giving guy that would make that happen. And you referenced Creative Washtenaw. Actually, those funds Steve's referring are the City of Ann Arbor's Arts American Rescue Plan funds, which Creative Washtenaw manage. We administered those, but it was a competitive application, and Steve's program was accepted into that. How important is that, not only the funding but also the fact that your city invested in you? How important is it to you?
Steve Osburn: Well, it means a ton to us. So, during COVID, the only way I could keep in touch with my special needs community was I started an open mic on Zoom. But once COVID let up a bit, I really wanted to go live. And I really didn't want another thing to commit to. But this allowed me to be able to finance an open mic, which The Ark has given me permission to tell you that we're in talks.
Deb Polich: Oh, good!
Steve Osburn: And hopefully, we'll be doing our open mic and comedy hour. It's called Know Obstacles Open Mic and Comedy Hour.
Deb Polich: Okay.
Steve Osburn: At The Ark, hopefully very soon. But right now, it's at my Music Environment at 1922 Packard on the last Saturday of every month at 4 PM. Anybody is welcome to come check it out.
Deb Polich: And how do people get in touch with you if they have interest in being part of Know Obstacles or if they have youth or others that might be appropriate for the program?
Steve Osburn: Yeah. This goes beyond just the special needs community. I mean, I always do first session free whenever I can fit it in without obligation, and they're welcome to call my number, 734-476-5153. We'll figure out a time to get them in there and check out the space. It's a multi-instrument space. It's set up for bands. We also have local bands come in and use the space for rehearsal, but it's also just a multi-instrument, a lot of ethnic instruments. It's like a music playground!
Deb Polich: Steve, it's just clear that you are not only talented, but you are a very giving member of our community and that you open all this up to so many people without obstacles regardless. And I just have to applaud you for that!
Steve Osburn: I appreciate it! It's definitely the most rewarding thing I do!
Deb Polich: That's awesome! Find out more about Steve Osburn of Oz's Music, who is not only the proprietor of that store, but also of Know Obstacles. And you can find all that out at wemu.org, and we'll repeat that phone number there too, since he gave it out on the air. You've been listening to creative:impact. I'm Deb Polich, president and CEO of Creative Washtenaw and your host. Mat Hopson is our producer. Please join us every Tuesday to meet the people who make Washtenaw creative. This is 89 one WEMU FM, Ypsilanti. Public radio from Eastern Michigan University.
If you'd like to a guest on creative:impact, email Deb Polich at deb.polich@creativewashtenaw.org.
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