I offer voice lessons, beginning guitar, and songwriting sessions. I was vocally trained at Seattle University for one year and have sung leads in church for over 15 years. I’m also a singer in the liturgical/cover band, The Starry Crowns. Music is a passion of mine, and I’m always happy to share this. Students at my school can jam with me for free after school! For more formalized instruction, my standard rate is $25 an hour.
Songs
Writing music is more of a personal hobby and therapy for me. Most of them are folksy and kinda sad. But just to share a little bit of my music, I posted a couple songs here.
“By the Ocean” expresses my feelings for my second home, Maui. I wrote this at Ka’anapali on the first day beaches were reopened during the COVID shelter in place and shot the video at Papanalahoa Point on the Ohai Trail, where the trade winds were howling. I’ve learned so much about the land, culture, language, and spirit of Hawai’i, and yet have so much to learn and experience. This song reflects moments I will cherish, fish with which I have shared the water, food (of course), and Aloha ‘Aina, which to me, means existing in balanced relationship with the land. Aloha kākou.
I wrote “Hide and Seek [Generations]” in 2016. Basically, I had a little chord pattern I made up during a planning period at school, and was inspired to write a song. During my students’ lunch, I asked a couple of them for song ideas. One boy said to write about a kid playing hide and seek by himself, and a girl said to write about a haunted house. I wrote the lyrics during my next planning period and finished the song a few days later.
“Strings Attached” emerged after going through a difficult time in the fall of 2019. I had moved away from my family for the first time in my life, and this song helped me express some of those feelings, especially for my family and friends at home.
I did not write “Ain’t No Sunshine” but it’s a top five favorite song of mine. I cover it often, and this one I did as a sound check the morning of my 8th graders’ musical performance in the spring of 2019.
Contact: mr.jsantos@gmail.com