WHAT: Plattsburgh Musical Art Center.
WHERE: 29 Clinton St., Plattsburgh.
HOURS: By appointment only.
PHONE: Shawn Parrotte at 593-2243.
PLATTSBURGH — One recent afternoon, the Ralph and Andy Show was just getting things started with Rush's "Subdivisions" and Devo's "Whip It."
Drummer Ralph Senecal and keyboarder Andy Deller regularly host Wednesday open mikes across the way at the Monopole on Protection Avenue.
Today, their audience was not beer-sloshing young people but clients of the Traumatic Brain Injury Center at Plattsburgh State.
Every Monday, Lowell Wurster, an independent-living-skills trainer at the institute, brings a group down to check out a different band. The clients query the musicians about their lives and art.
Senecal fielded many questions about his cerebral palsy and other visual disabilities. The audience expressed amazement at his accomplishments, which include attending college and being a licensed driver, as well as a fearless biker.
This encounter is one of the many evolving uses of the Plattsburgh Musical Art Center, the vision of Jamse Ward and Bill Bougill.
NOISE LAWS
The two established the center at 29 Clinton St. in Plattsburgh in December 2008 because they, as musicians, were having trouble practicing in residential areas.
"The noise ordinances in Plattsburgh are rather strict," said Ward, a freelance bass player formerly of Slow Natives.
"We had some difficulties and talked to a few other bands in Plattsburgh. They just wanted to practice, and they didn't have a place to practice."
Ward also talked to Shawn Parrotte, a former Slow Native guitarist, and a few other musicians about opening a recording studio and providing a space for rehearsals and lessons.
"It kind of evolved into all these other services we could supply Plattsburgh for music," Ward said.
"It's going pretty well so far. We've received a lot of positive feedback from the music and entertainment community, in general. They're happy to see a place where local musicians can teach youth. It's another thing downtown for them that's drug and alcohol free."
LESSONS
Ward's primary instrument is the bass, but he also teaches keys and runs the recording studio.
If you want to learn drums, Bougill is the man to go to. He is grounded in jazz, Latin and funk.
"I lived in New York City a while, and I took drum lessons down there," Bougill said.
"Basically, I was paying $50 an hour. I want to transfer the knowledge I learned there for a discounted price here.
"We want to get into doing after-school programs. We would like this to be a place to help kids to keep them out of trouble from drugs and crime. We would like to get more and more students in who want to learn the bass, drums, guitar, keyboards and saxophone."
For local music teachers traveling distances, the center could serve as a hub where students and teachers can meet.
"We wanted a place where we could share our musical knowledge and transfer it to people who don't have access to it," Bougill said.
Parrotte offers guitar instruction and serves as the center's operation manager. He is on site to make sure everything is as it should be.
"We do minimal recording," said Parrotte, a recent music-major graduate from Plattsburgh State. "We have enough to do demos. We're recording Shameless Strangers right now. We've never known a place like this to exist."
Lucid, Wurster's band, and Shameless Strangers are among the local bands using the center.
Rehearsal rates are $10 per hour. The center is open only by appointment.
"We want to expand," Parrotte said. "If we could partner up with people, that would be great. I really want this place to succeed. We can be a place where other musicians who don't have bands can find other musicians to work with.
"We will have a board. We're not business oriented. It's slow going."
E-mail Robin Caudell at: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com
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