Today we’d like to introduce you to Rodman Steele
Hi Rodman, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
As I look back and see what fate was put in front of me as a musician, I was surrounded by music my entire life, for sure. From the time I was very little, my two uncles -both of whom were professional traveling musicians- would have jams at my house and bring over other musicians (I remember Kelly Clarkson’s drummer was over a lot playing bongos, for instance). Coming from a lineage of working professional musicians, music was abundant. I’m realizing now in my career that this was the most significant piece of my education, seeing it being done before my eyes at an early age.
When college considerations came around, I was torn between theatre and music, but ultimately leaned into Music as I found I liked the people in that space more (Theatre kids were just a tad dramatic!). As All-State choir was the highlight of my musical résumé at the time, I decided to apply to to be a Vocal Performance major at SMU Meadows. While at Meadows, as much as I loved studying Voice, I couldn’t resist joining another band (playing bass guitar again), and by my 21st birthday, we were in Austin recording our first record and touring different colleges and festivals across the southern US. Again, an amazing education in the industry in terms of marketing and performance, all in a hands-on way of doing it.
As our band members went their separate ways in the industry, I gravitated towards sharing the education I had received thus far and began teaching voice lessons at Highland Park Middle School, and it was exceptionally fun! This spawned the beginnings of Rodman Steele Studio in May of 2018, where first and foremost I wanted to make a great place for me and other high-caliber musicians to work in this city. While this gave me exposure to all forms and genres of music, my heart still very much desired to express the Classical tradition, leading me to audition and join the Dallas Symphony Choir, North Park Presbyterian, and the Highland Park Chorale of Highland Park Presbyterian, all as a bass vocalist- it is many musical hats to wear, but I love all of these roles greatly!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Even with my immersion of entrepreneurship and business classes at SMU, the reality of actually upstarting and maintaining a functional business was much more difficult than advertised, especially right as COVID came on the scene: it changed many things, not so much in how I could reach out to students seeking music education, but in the sense of how I could build my team of musicians to instruct and lead such an endeavor.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Our approach is always focused on taking our clients one step further down their musical path, as diverse as that can be. Some older clients love learning the songs of their youth (the Goldies you could say), and our younger musicians with a passion to learn how to write records and perform, all possible through a personalized approach to each lesson.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rodmansteele.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rodmansteelestudio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rodmansteelestudio
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rodmansteelestudio
