Talking Up Music Education is a podcast from The NAMM Foundation that shares news and stories about music education. This week we are sharing a podcast episode broadcast live from Summer NAMM, featuring professional vocalist and musician Thomas Claxton.
“You get to that phase when you're in high school and it's like, okay. What's next?,” said Claxton. “Where am I going to take my life? And I don't think there's any other thing I really am meant to do, besides music in some way, shape, or form.”
With more than 300 performances per year, all over the U.S., Claxton performs original material as both a solo artist and with his band, "The Myth." He also can play more than 1,800 cover songs and was Rockwell UnScene Magazine's "Best Male Vocalist" in 2014 and 2015.
Special thanks to Cole Clark USA for the guitar made available for the performance on the podcast.
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Sound Bites From the Podcasts
“Early on, my earliest memories [include] being a little kid singing in church. I think that was very important to being inspirational for me to continue forward with it. When I got into elementary school, I was enrolled in the music programs. Going into middle school…I joined chorus because it didn't cost any money to have that instrument, and I kept going from there.” - Thomas Claxton
“For a public school, we had the best choral program. We did competitions. I remember, my teacher, I’ve got to give her a lot of credit. Her name is Dr. Lauren Ringwall. She was incredibly inspirational to me.” - Thomas Claxton
“Once I got into high school…I became part of the team. In [chorus]…we would go into these competitions, and almost every single time [we] would wind up winning first place. It was a very tight unit, and that class really became a family in a lot of ways.” - Thomas Claxton
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Talking Up Music Education is a podcast produced by The NAMM Foundation about music education. Host Mary Luehrsen chats with teachers, parents, students and community leaders who share stories about what they are doing to create music learning opportunities. Please download, share and subscribe to keep up with the stories that make a difference in music education advocacy.