In Education 1999 with D.C.
Testimonial from grandmother of a Selby Guitar Student: “You are just amazing. Victor gets in the car so excited. When we got home he played his new notes and talked up a storm. Thank you. I’ll have him again in two weeks and if you are free he’d love another lesson. ” Ann Chronister February 4, 2023
For lessons on guitar, bass or keyboard please call Selby at 918 855 0978 songs the first lesson one finger and two finger chords for guitar beginners
Also see: Selby and Blues on the Move BLUES IN THE SCHOOLS tab
BOTTOM OF PAGE: a Great VIDEO – 8 min – of Blues in Schools with Selby and D.C. (created by the International Blues Foundation from Memphis) during a Guthrie Alt Ed Residency (funded by the OK Arts Council.)
performance at Mama C’s
Lots of work with JAM BAND at the Blues Club, visiting schools – ARTIST RESIDENCIES and the ongoing classes at the libraries – most notable in Checotah from January until May free on Thursdays after school.
Also bass, guitar and piano lessons available at the blues Club in Rentiesville.
PLUG IN . . . TUNE UP . . . PLAY!
call Selby (918) 855-0978 for details.
www.arts.ok.gov artist rosters: Selby Minner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwAWthzcU_Y&feature=youtu.be
DC and Selby Minner
winners 1999
GIC jam brings local musicians together
– recently and ongoing in the spring!Sterling Cosper/EditorGlenpool Indian Community gets the bluesGLENPOOL, Okla. — Blues musician Selby Minner tunes up beginner Cherie Haney on bass, while three guitarists play around each other Nov. 26 at the beginning of a blues jam session and workshop at the Glenpool Creek Indian Community Center.“OK, what key are we doing that in? A, that’ll work,” Minner said.Like a good bassist, Minner laid the foundation and the first song of the night came together, ‘Johnny B. Goode.’GIC member and facilitator of the workshop Joy Harjo was introduced to Minner about two years ago.“She wanted to play the blues,” Minner said. “I started giving her a few bass lessons and she decided that she would like me to do a workshop and jam session there.”Harjo recently returned to Oklahoma after leaving years ago to attend the Institute of American Indian Art.“When I came back, it was important to me to work in the community with art,” Harjo said.To meet this goal, Harjo initially presented a proposal to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation National Council for the formation of a Mvskoke Nation Arts Council. The Council voted down the legislation during the March regular session.“It was difficult but I found that there was another way, so I decided to go at it via the community,” Harjo said.Harjo explained why Minner was chosen as the instructor for the GIC jam.“She is very good at working with people who have played for along time, as well as beginners,” Harjo said.This was demonstrated through her work with beginner bassist Haney who played Nov. 30 during a live show at GIC with the jam session group.“She held it down,” Minner said.Minner also provided feedback to Muscogee (Creek) guitarist Paul ‘Crazy P’ Anquoe who had previously played with his father Jack Anquoe Jr. on the world famous Beale Street blues strip, in Memphis, Tenn.“That’s why he’s not use to sharing the spotlight and likes to play really loud…His dad wants him to get more in contact with playing with other people,” Minner said.Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame inductees, Selby Minner and her late husband D.C. Minner were also recipients of the Keeping Blues Alive Award for education.“With all the encouragement and insight I gained from working with a master, that’s my job; to try and keep this music alive and move it forward to the younger generation,” Minner said.Minner completed an unpublished book called ‘The Band Guide’ based on what she learned from her late husband about fronting a musical act.“He had a grassroots understanding of it that had never been written down. It is an unwritten culture just like your culture,” Minner said.She further tied the blues culture to Native culture.“What I’ve learned in all these years is the respect Native Americans have in tradition carries over when they start playing the blues,” Minner said. “They take the time to learn the music a little more thoroughly and learn the different patterns and roots of the music.”Harjo emphasized the importance of art in her own life and hopes to continue to share and emphasize this with her community.“It saved my life and kind of helped give me direction…it is important that art is part of education as well as athletics,” Harjo said.The first round of jam sessions ran from September to October, however Harjo and Minner are looking to start up again in late January or early February 2014.“I love teaching and helping people make their dreams come true. If I can do that, then I can make my dreams come true,” Minner said.Harjo hopes to start other workshops at GIC involving writing and pottery.For more information about upcoming GIC events, keep and eye on the ‘Muscogee Nation News’ community calendar on the last page of each edition.
For more information about Selby Minner and her work in the blues visit her website: www.dcminnerblu
Photo by: Sterling Cosper/Editor
(Left to right) Selby Minner, Jack Anquoe Jr., Paul ‘Crazy P’ Anquoe and Dan ‘Oklahoma Slim’ Ortiz at the Glenpool Creek Indian Community Center Nov. 26 during one of several blues jam sessions held at the GIC Center.
Museum of the Great Plains residency
WHY BLUES IN THE SCHOOLS:
the Blues Foundation on the Blues in the Schools – BITS- w D.C .and Selby:
program
The Oklahoma State Arts Council
has sponsored many Blues in the Schools
Residencies and assembly programs!
RECCOMENDATION
Dear Sponsors:
My goal in getting music to the kids was very simple, and I could not have accomplished this without the help of Selby Minner. Her experience in putting music within the reach of young and old was pivotal in reaching my goal.
My kids began taking guitar lessons from Selby at the library in Muskogee in the spring of 2010. As anyone who has teens at home knows, when they are bored, a disagreement is just around the corner. The thing that became apparent to me shortly after my kids started lessons was, when they became bored, they still argued, but sometimes they played music together. This became more and more frequent, to my delight!
As my son and daughter began to discover self-expression through music, I began to as well. We began writing songs together and playing music as a family, which has brought us closer, in more ways than I can begin to explain. This is what I wanted to share with others.
I began telling everyone that would listen about the free lessons. Then, without warning, the funding was pulled for “Plug In, Tune Up and Play.” And like a lot of people, I didn’t do anything at first. Then I told Selby that I’d try to raise the money myself. As someone who had never in their life tried to do anything like this, I had no clue. I wasn’t even sure if I would be able to do this. I thought about the kids, the loss of income for Selby, and the loss of a great program, and I realized there was only one thing to do, and that was to move forward with securing funding for the program.
I jumped into the unknown. With Selby’s guidance and my optimism, in a town of 700 people, I raised enough money the first day of my efforts to pay for two months of lessons. Over the next week, I raised enough money to provide three additional weeks of lessons. As well as the monetary donations, two guitars were donated which were placed with kids that didn’t have their own.
I have never felt that I understood what it meant to do for others like I do now. I have Selby Minner and her vision to thank for this. Selby has touched many lives, as she has touched my family’s. I will continue to help her keep the dream alive. I hope any potential sponsors will do the same.
Thank you,
George Anthony
whit9467@yahoo.com
(918) 773-7453