Freeway Music Defines What It Means to Persevere Through the Power of Music

COLUMBIA, SC. — July 24, 2020 — “Music is universal, uniting, healing, and therapeutic. Music defines cultures. It is a language that everybody speaks and understands; it transcends even words.” - Don Russo

Freeway Music, Columbia’s premier music school, is one of the many small businesses that have had to face battles amidst the climate of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Motivated by empathy, they have prevailed through the many challenges this year has brought, working hard to preserve positivity and normalcy for their community.

“Music is not just a song. It's the rhythm of our hearts, the melody of birds, the very vibrations of the earth. It is a part of who we are. It is a vehicle for creativity, healing, emotional expression, and so much more. That is why it is so vital during these isolating times. It offers us hope of what once was and what will be. It gives us a community. It gives us an outlet for all of these feelings welling up inside of us,” says Don Russo, founder and teacher of Freeway Music.

For a business that typically thrives off of face-to-face interaction and physical instruction, Freeway Music has had to make some inventive adjustments to their usual operations.

Committed to creating solutions for everyone’s safety, security, and stability, Russo has personally spent time listening and talking through each family's situation to help them in any way he could.  

“We had a concert to raise money for those who lost jobs, we gave scholarships away to students of families who couldn't afford them anymore, and we spent our time sitting with clients virtually and coaching them on how to use the technology,” says Russo.

Since the lockdown, there have been several changes implemented, so that students can continue to learn their music and have something to look forward to, including:

• Transitioning into more virtual lessons.

• Hosting FREE Facebook Live video lessons every day from Monday-Saturday.

• Posting lessons on their Youtube.

• Offering free studio time, inviting students to come experience what that is like and leaving with their own recordings.

• Using technology like Sound Slice, which allows students to see their music notated online, control tempo, and loop sections they may be struggling with.

• And, hosting virtual showcases and recitals in different formats.

“We started with a Zoom showcase in which students performed for one another in the group Zoom call. It was beautiful! Students were writing encouraging notes to each other in the Zoom chat, we were able to see a snippet of the students' homes and even were able to meet some of their pets. Then, we began to collect homemade videos of each student, so we put them in a studio recital/showcase video compilation that we shared on Facebook and YouTube,” explains Russo.

Freeway Music cares for their community like family, and through the power of music has shown students that they don’t need to be together to play together.

Although there have been a lot of changes, Russo says that there have been more positive outcomes than negative.

Students now feel comfortable with virtual lessons, which allows for a new kind of flexibility for when they are feeling sick or out of town. This also means less rescheduling and cancellations. 

There have been new opportunities for students to gain “experience, share their hard work, and prepare them professionally,” through these virtual showcases, studio recordings, and music videos. Just recently, Freeway Music created a music video montage of their students performing the catchy anthem of hope “Keep Your Head Up” by Andy Grammer. [Link to “Keep Your Head Up” TBD] 

Looking forward to the upcoming back-to-school season, Freeway Music is preparing for the unpredictable nature of the rest of the year.

They plan to enforce a rigid safety policy that will require all people to wear masks, stay at least six feet apart, and adhere to other social distancing measures like not waiting in the lobby, or allowing teachers to grab door handles for students and not come in if they have been around any high-risk exposure situations. 

“We will care deeply for the safety of our staff, students, and families. In addition, we will continue the opportunities we have, while creating new ones...For now, we are going to instead focus on the recording studio, video, and virtual opportunities...We are also going to continue to focus on artist development and help our students grow, not only as musicians but as professionals and human beings,” says Russo. 

Freeway Music puts its community first and inspires them through a united love for music.

As we are nearing almost six months into quarantine now, people are fearing what the future may look like.

Russo expresses his own concerns amidst the pandemic, “I was very much scared, and still am as numbers continue to rise...We just hope that the pandemic will subside as soon as possible, as it certainly has had lasting effects on new signups.”

Despite the fact we are all feeling uncertain during this time, Russo encourages people to put this energy towards creativity over negativity: “People have more time and more emotions to deal with during that time. So, it would seem that people are more creative now than ever...Support your small businesses. We need you. Release your emotions and plug them into music. This is a great time to use this time to express and be artistic and creative.” 

About Freeway Music: Freeway Music is Columbia’s premier music school. They have 5 locations in Downtown, Lexington, Irmo, Northeast, and Sims Music. They offer private lessons on the broadest selection of instruments in Columbia, SC for all skill levels, styles, and ages. Their world class instructors are prepared to teach you: offering piano, voice, ukulele, drums, bass, strings, woodwinds, horns, mandolin, banjo, DJ, and more. Freeway Music is the exclusive music school partner of Sims Music, a locally-owned and nationally-recognized music store, giving students access to special events and sales that no one else gets. They offer group classes including: rock band class, preschool music, group piano lessons, theatre, ukulele sip and strum, and more. For more information visit freewaymusic.net.