Ray & Josh Join PeaceWorks Delegation

Nicaragua - June 2022

A reflection from Ray & Josh on joining PeaceWork's delegation to Inijambia in Nicaragua:

Within hours of landing in Nicaragua’s capital city of Managua, we were welcomed by Lester, the music director at Inijambia. Inijambia is a program to provide shelter and education for street children in the city. Lester brought two “loaner” guitars to use during our two-week delegation. We immediately started playing.

The next night at San Jose de Cusmapa, several music teachers in town performed traditional songs for us. In return, much to their surprise, we played traditional “Nica” songs with John (a folk guitarist and member of the Peaceworks delegation), including Nicaragua, Nicaraguita. Everyone joined in for an impromptu La Bamba/Twist and Shout jam.

At Inijambia, the “Coro Jim Burchell” performed with four Inijambia graduates who spoke about the opportunities Inijambia has provided them. Later in the afternoon, “7dtta” Inijambia’s first rock band, played a set that included Pink Floyd and Eric Clapton.

In return, we took the stage with a little help from Juan, Inijambia’s 14-year old resident drummer. Our set included a mix of jazz covers, our own Tailwind originals and even a couple of songs they taught us in San Jose de Cusmapa. We finished the set with a La Bamba jam, for which everyone got up dancing…at least until our hands were sore from playing.

Back here in Boston we’re hoping to continue to build on the musical connections we made in Nicaragua and the solidarity between Tailwind and our new Nicaraguan compañeros.

Quinn Sings at MIT's 2022 Commencement

Cambridge, MA - May 2022

A reflection from Quinn on singing at MIT's 2022 Commencement:

At MIT’s 2022 Commencement, I performed “Hypotheticals” by Lake Street Dive alongside a jazz ensemble (Dominic Skinner, Nico Fine, Ellie Prune, and Sebastian Franjou) in front of a crowd of 5,000 people consisting of MIT graduates and their families.

I chose this particular song because I wanted to communicate to my class that the idea that we need to have things figured out at this point in our life is a myth, and sometimes a harmful one. What we should be doing at this point of transition is getting excited about all the possibilities ahead of us. This can be scary, since the world expects us to find a lucrative career and settle down as soon as humanly possible, but that’s no fun if you feel bottlenecked into a certain life without exploring your options. This song celebrates the not-knowing, the uncertainty, the “Hypotheticals”, and makes it into something exciting, even if it’s got a hint of scary to it. We’re not supposed to know what to do with our lives! Is anyone supposed to know? Probably not, and this song says that’s ok!

In the weeks leading up to the performance, I rehearsed with the director of the MIT Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Laura Jaye, and the director of the Festival Jazz Ensemble, Frederick Harris, two of the most supportive and important musical leaders at the institute. They helped me shape my act into something that would be memorable for the graduates and their families.

Laura has a tie to the original artists responsible for Hypotheticals - at the New England Conservatory, Laura studied under Dominique Eade, who was also the mentor for Rachel Price, the front woman of Lake Street Dive. Laura has a particular knack for vocal intention, shaping my phrases, dynamics, and even rests and breaths in a way that is true to the original — and after studying with Laura for a year, she has a close understanding of my natural tone and was able to provide advice to best complement my voice.

The day before the performance, I made my way across campus to the tent constructed on Briggs Field. With MIT’s dollars behind the spectacle, the sound quality in the outdoor tent exceeded my expectations - you could hear the song perfectly clearly no matter your position in the giant tent. The musicians were tight and we immediately pulled out a decent rendition of the song. After an afternoon of practice, we were ready to play.

The next morning, I prepared for both my performance and my own graduation, my exodus from the hell-hole/heaven that is MIT (IHTFP), my home for 4 years and the place where I met my closest friends, my bandmates, my problem set buddies and made connections that will last for the rest of my life. Emotions were running high - the bittersweet feeling of leaving home and the butterflies of performing in front of the biggest crowd I’d ever faced. But I trusted myself and my band, and I knew my friends and family, including Tailwind’s very own Ray and Josh, were in the audience rooting for me.

After a speech or two, I began my performance (which you can watch here!). It was exhilarating, and I hope that after watching it you feel as excited for the future as I do!

Tailwind Wins MIT SpringFest Student Showcase

Cambridge, MA - April 2022

A reflection from Tailwind on winning MIT's 2022 SpringFest Student Showcase:

At MIT's 2022 SpringFest Student Showcase, we were the first of the 15 acts to perform. These other acts included dancers, comedians, and musicians. As students gathered on Kresge Oval to watch all of the performances, we kicked off our 2-song set with a Tailwind original song, "Parts Unknown." Since this song includes a vocal duet, Quinn was joined by our friend Rokas Veitas to sing the song. This was our first time playing "Parts Unknown" in front of an audience, so we were incredibly excited to see the audience engage with the music and dance along.

After "Parts Unknown," we played "Kick It To Me" by Sammy Rae & The Friends. For this song, Josh and Trevor traded their usual instruments (bass and lead guitar) for trumpet and saxophone, and Rokas filled in on bass. Like "Parts Unknown," this song seemed to be a big hit with the audience.

After our performance, audience members had an opportunity to vote for us and rate our performance. We were then able to sit back an enjoy the other very talented performers!

The next day, once the SpringFest organizers had an opportunity to tally all of the votes, it was announced that we had been voted the fan-favorite! Because of this, Ray and Josh were lucky enough to have the opportunity to meet the SpringFest headliner, Tai Verdes. We were very honored to be chosen as fan-favorite, and we are excited for more performance opportunities at MIT!