Today we’d like to introduce you to Lee Allen Schimmel.
Hi Lee Allen, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Music has always been a part of my life, along with a diverse range of influences as I grew up. My mother was a classically trained pianist who grew up listening to disco, r&b, and soul music and my father was a former trumpet player who grew up with rock music. My older brother was also a trumpet player who competed in one of the best high school jazz bands in the state at the time. My own musical journey was as varied as my influences – learning drums, piano, trumpet, and vocals, joining choir, marching band, drumline, and musical theatre – and finally buying my first guitar before leaving for college. After college I wanted to move to New York City, but ultimately decided to stay local to where I grew up and move to Philadelphia. During that time I became familiar with the Philadelphia music scene – the venues, musicians, open mics, – and even was given some opportunities to perform in both Philadelphia and San Diego Convention Centers, all while working daily as a high school math teacher in the city. Eventually I made my way down to Maryland and continued to teach and focus on my teaching career, with music taking less precedence as I got more involved in running organizing the Spring Musicals for our school.
What turned into nearly a 10-year hiatus from music was finally broken in Spring of 2023. Realizing how much I missed making music myself and how overworked I had let myself become, I had stepped back from running the productions and returned to focus on music. I started finding local open mics in and around Baltimore and quickly befriended other musicians, most of which were also new to the open mic scene themselves, and we all seemed to converge onto the scene around the same time. We quickly became a close-knit group of friends who would regularly frequent open mics and often seek out new open mics and attend in a pack, supporting each other and sometimes accompanying each other as well. During that summer I would tend to meet with one musician or another and work on writing music – sometimes cowriting songs from the beginning, and other times just working or tweaking their songs that they wanted to get perspective on. We learned from each other during each session. Sometimes it was related to the instrument – like a new tuning, chord, or strum pattern, sometimes it was the lyrics – like the rhyme scheme, meter, or the way an emotion or thought is expressed, and other times it was in the writing process itself – like how to find inspiration or continue to generate new ideas.
At the end of that summer a friend proposed hosting an open mic at a new space we had just become connected with – Night Owl Gallery in Station North, run by Beth-Ann Wilson. I didn’t want to run another open mic (since we already were doing that several times a week), and reflected on some of the songwriting circles that I attended in Philadelphia, along with the work I had been doing that summer with other musicians. I wanted to create an opportunity for musicians that typically only meet to share their music with each other, to instead create with each other to have that same learning experience and to further foster the community. I spent the next several months having discussions and planning what the event would look like. In typical teacher fashion, I create handouts, a slideshow with norms and expectations, and gather several of my closest musician friends and schedule a test-run to make sure the concept works before we officially open the event up to the public. The concept seemed simple enough – gather (up to) 16 musicians/writers/singers/rappers and randomly group them into 4 groups of 2-4 artists. Groups get a simple prompt or piece of inspiration and are given 15 minutes to write their song together. At the end of the 15 minutes the groups perform their songs for each other, and then we make all new groups and repeat the process again. We even have some friends who are local videographers and photographers document the first session and interview the participants afterward.
We named the event Collaboration Laboratory (Co.Lab for short) and held our first sessions in January 2024. We have continued to hold once or twice monthly sessions since then, even after we moved from the Night Owl Gallery to a local recording studio, The Watermelon Room, run by Garrett Long. We are always growing our network of artists as we consistently have both return artists and new faces at each session. During this time we have networked with Station North Art Walks on Second Fridays and Art Around Hampden on Third Thursdays to provide live music to intersested venues with our network of artists that have participated in Co.Lab sessions. Additionally we hosted our first public event in July 2024, which showcased 2 bands, featuring 8 of our artists, and are about to host our second event, which will showcase over a dozen bands, and will feature over 30 local musicians, as well as 20 local vendors for a free Summer Solstice Showcase Festival.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We have seen our fair share of challenges right from the beginning when our first night was snowed out. We had 16 artists signed up to participate. While 11 artists made it out through the storm, 2 of them were in car accidents on their way and yet still came to the session. Since that first night, we have been problem-solving all along the way, whether it is organizing each writing session to try to keep the ideas new and fresh, ensuring communication among our ever-growing community of artists, or having to move locations and consider charging a registration fee in order to cover the cost of the space each session. When the event started, we were hosting them twice monthly, on first and third Mondays. Since the space was being donated to us, it didn’t make much of a difference whether we had 10 participants or a full list of 16. After moving to a space where we were now paying for the time, it became important to have enough participants register to cover the cost of the night. Otherwise, it was up to me to cover the difference. This led us to cutting back to once each month to ensure we had a full list at each event.
As we continue to grow, creating more events and engaging further into the community, each time we expand into a new venture we unravel a new set of problems to overcome. Our most recent endeavor of creating a music festival has continued to provide fresh challenges to overcome. This presented me with creating a schedule for 6 hours of music among two stages. My biggest concern was how to fill that much time with music, and then after an overwhelming response I had to figure out how to fit everyone into that timeframe. It also meant communicating with vendors, trying (unsuccessfully) to provide family entertainment like magicians, face painters, and jugglers, and working with our venue, Checkerspot Brewing Company, to ensure that everything and everyone fits in the space and knows where they are supposed to go the day of the event. Finally, the stress and worry of marketing and creating an audience for the event by communicating with local event bloggers, going on podcasts, and handing out posters and flyers all over the city to build some buzz around the festival.
As you know, we’re big fans of Co.Lab (Collaboration Laboratory)s. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Co.Lab is about building the presence of local art and music in each city, town, or community. For musicians, this starts with our monthly collaborative writing sessions. Each session brings together up to 16 musicians/singers/rappers for three to four rounds of songwriting. Each round, artists are placed in randomly selected groups of up to 4 participants and given 15 minutes to write an original song. At the end of the time, the groups share their songs with each other before moving into the next round with an entirely new group and song idea. These sessions allow artist to foster their connection to the artistic community as well as to their craft. The writing sessions provide the opportunity for artists to grow collectively and learn from each other, while building relationships and strengthening our bond to one another as well. As a musician, participating in a session means joining our community. Being part of our community means I support each individual artists and develop opportunities to create and perform, both individually and collaboratively. Coordinating with our community leaders to provide music for various art walks, and organizing events – both big and small – to promote the power of collaboration.
Since our short time in existence, I’m proudest of the work we got to do with our local PBS station, as we were featured in a mini-documentary as part of their “Be Inspired” series,
For musicians, singers, songwriters, and rappers, participating in a Co.Lab session is unlike any other experience they will ever have. The experience will invoke fear and excitement, curiosity and fascination, and will inspire them to come back for more sessions.
For the artists, crafters, and creatives, we seek to collaborate with for all types of events in order to continue to bring a broader recognition and awareness to local makers, and to connect the original visual and kinetic art with the local music being created.
For community members, attending a Co.Lab event means seeing local artists, who are passionate about the art that they create, performing original music for you. Music you won’t hear streaming or playing on the radio, but can only find in your local community.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson along my journey has been learning to be adaptable and to pace myself. Creating Co.Lab has forced me to question my decisions, request the insight of others, and occasionally cede to unsolicited advice. I have a million ideas but can only accomplish so much at a time. There were many times where I had new ideas and wanted to immediately implement them. In these times, I was told to take a closer look at what I was already doing and find ways to improve them before moving onto the next addition. By taking the time to refine what was already in place, it made it easier down the line to bring in those new ideas and give them the time and attention that they warranted. I have had to learn that life is a marathon and not a sprint.
Pricing:
- Registration for Co.Lab Writing Sessions is only $15 plus fees on Eventbrite
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.collaboration-laboratory.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collaboration.laboratory
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Co.Lab.charmcity
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CollaborationLaboratory
