{"id":1420,"date":"2014-10-15T20:03:13","date_gmt":"2014-10-16T00:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=1420"},"modified":"2014-10-15T20:03:13","modified_gmt":"2014-10-16T00:03:13","slug":"a-girl-her-guitar-and-the-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2014\/10\/15\/a-girl-her-guitar-and-the-records\/","title":{"rendered":"A Girl, her Guitar, and the Records"},"content":{"rendered":"

By HAYLEY HOFFMAN<\/strong><\/em> – MANAGING EDITOR<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Junior Jeri Howell has turned a childhood passion into a career as a professional musician and performer. Traveling all around the state, Howell has played at a variety of venues, from Frankfort\u2019s Grand Theater to local coffee shops. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Howell has been performing for as long as she can remember.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI always sang really loudly around the house and so my parents really wanted me to channel that energy into something,\u201d Howell said. \u201cI remember my mom asking me, \u2018If you could play any instrument, what would it be?\u2019 I told her that I wanted to play guitar. That Christmas, when I was ten, I got a Fender guitar. I went over to my godfather\u2019s house and he taught me some chords and songs, and then I started taking Bluegrass guitar lessons. It sort of went off from there.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After several years of lessons, Howell began to perform publicly and decided to record her first CD after audiences asked if she had one for sale.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Her first album, \u201cBranch to Branch,\u201d was released in 2008 and features stripped-down covers of songs \u201cHey Ya\u201d and \u201cSomewhere Over the Rainbow.\u201d A few of Howell\u2019s original songs are also featured on the CD, including the title track co-written by her sister.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Howell recorded the album in Nashville, which \u201csounds a lot fancier than it actually is.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo make the album, I really just talked to people that I knew. I had a friend who was in school to become an audio engineer in Nashville,\u201d Howell said. \u201cI could use the school\u2019s studio for pretty cheap and if he mixed it, it was practice for him. I went down there for a weekend with my guitar teacher and his wife, Daphne, and we recorded 14 songs.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While still in high school, Howell opened for acts like Dailey & Vincent and Sam Bush. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

One of her favorite memories of performing, however, is of an impromptu songwriting exercise she did with Ben Sollee.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was on Centre\u2019s campus for the Governor\u2019s Scholar Program (GSP), he came to perform and I contacted him and said, \u2018Hey, you\u2019re performing at my GSP.\u2019 He said, \u2018That\u2019s awesome, we should perform some stuff together.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The two met up prior to the performance to rehearse several songs to perform, including one of Howell\u2019s brand-new original songs. Sollee wanted to do an impromptu songwriting exercise on stage, and Howell couldn\u2019t say no to such a \u201ccool and exciting\u201d idea.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Howell\"<\/a>
Howell performed a selection of her original songs as part of the musical line-up for the Norton Center 2014-2015 Kickoff Party on Sept.11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cPreviously in the day, the scholars had written down emotions on strips of paper and he got this hat out and said, \u2018Okay, Jeri and I are going to write this song based on your all\u2019s words\u2019,\u201d Howell said. \u201cBen and I pick words out of the hat and he just starts playing these chords and sings a verse. I was like, \u2018I can\u2019t freak out now. I have to do it.\u2019 I sang a verse and he did another verse, and then we did a random chorus. It was the craziest, coolest thing, and it was an okay song.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Just a few years later, Howell released her second CD, \u201cCollage.\u201d Recorded throughout her first year at Centre, the album is composed entirely of original songs.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to record this one because I had enough original material to make a full CD. I knew that I was old enough now to make it an independent project because my first CD, I had to go through my parents for a lot of things,\u201d Howell said. \u201cI would go to Lexington [to record] on random nights throughout the year. The people on the CD are all from Kentucky. They were all my friends or friends of friends or people who inspired me as I was learning to play, and it\u2019s cool to have them all on that CD.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Howell performs with the Kentucky Ensemble on campus throughout each semester. The group focuses on bringing traditional and contemporary folk music to campus audiences. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The group also provides her with the \u201cbiggest outlet\u201d and allows her \u201cto perform the music [she] love[s] to perform.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Howell also performs in the Norton Center foyer prior to shows, and most recently played before the Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer concert. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCentre having so many music opportunities is really inspiring for writing and it\u2019s good motivation, going to a Norton Center show. It\u2019s been really awesome because Steve Hoffman has been really kind to me and invited me to open in the foyer for a few shows,\u201d Howell said. \u201cAlso, I\u2019ve been able to perform on campus randomly. I did the Deke Chili Cook-Off, and that was fun. I\u2019m going to do an open-mic night at the Hub. And of course, I get to do my own music stuff that\u2019s outside of Centre.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

However, Howell does not plan on pursuing music professionally upon graduation.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m majoring in Environmental Studies and Spanish with a minor in History. I actually haven\u2019t taken a music course other than the ensemble here,\u201d Howell said. \u201cI don\u2019t plan on music being my main job. I\u2019ve never really wanted it to be, but I always want to be performing and writing and performing on a regional scale. I just always wanted to have it as a fun side thing.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

During the summer, Howell interned at the Backside Learning Center, a community center that provides educational and social services to workers on the backside of the horse tracks in Louisville. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While there, Howell helped establish new family programming for the workers and their families and taught guitar to anyone who wanted to learn.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever someone would come in, which would be totally random, and say that they wanted to play guitar, I would show them a few chords,\u201d Howell said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For anyone wanting to learn guitar, Howell thinks they should know that the process is not easy, but at the end of the practice and rehearsing it is \u201cincredibly rewarding.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to write a song or you want to play guitar, and you have just an inkling, go after it, but know that it\u2019s hard and that you have to dedicate the time to practice it,\u201d Howell said. \u201cI guess the biggest thing is when people tell me they\u2019ve tried to write a song or play guitar and they just can\u2019t, they say, \u2018I\u2019m not good enough and it\u2019s too hard.\u2019 It\u2019s like people are afraid to just try it and dive into it. I would say don\u2019t be afraid because it\u2019s just you expressing yourself. Just don\u2019t be afraid of yourself.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Howell will be performing in the Kentucky Ensemble\u2019s final concert on Nov. 22 at 7:30 p.m in the Combs Warehouse. You can also like her Facebook page, www.facebook.com\/jerikatherinehowell<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By HAYLEY HOFFMAN – MANAGING EDITOR Junior Jeri Howell has turned a childhood passion into a career as a professional musician and performer. Traveling all around the state, Howell has played at a variety of venues, from Frankfort\u2019s Grand Theater to local coffee shops. Howell has been performing for as long as she can remember. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}