A newsletter for the Portland area Didjeridu player...... JULY 1999 Volume 5 Issue 7

Beer and Droning in Las Vegas : Rick Dusek

by Ed Drury

I stepped off the plane in Las Vegas and I realized that I had no idea what Rick Dusek looked like. Nor did I really know if he could pick me out of a crowd. From talking to him on the phone, I thought that he would probably be just a kid barely out of his teens. His voice and his energy level had caused me to vision someone who still had child like enthusiasm for everything. Then I noticed a tall, athletic man about my age watching me. Indeed, this was the person who convinced me to come to Las Vegas and give a workshop in a climbing gym of all places.

From the drive home to the drive back to the airport two days later there would be non-stop questions. "How long have you been playing?" "What do you think about Agave didjeridus? Are they good? Is that your favorite Didj?" Questions, questions, questions. He wanted me to play all his didjs and rate them. "Which of these should I get rid of?". His first didjeridu which his girl friend bought for him. The didjeridus he made himself out of blanks obtained from Peter Spoecker. I played them all.

Then there were the workshops. So many people. Two workshops as I recall, both full. More questions, questions, questions. A town which was just being turned on to the didj, wonderful people of all ages. People like John Snyder who was obviously in love with this idea of playing the didjeridu.

Well, that was going on three years ago and the questions never stopped. But the friendship has only grown deeper. This is an act of revenge. This article is where I get to ask the questions. What does this big, spiritual, generous kid in a man's body know from asking all these questions of everyone he can find? A lot....

[Ed] Do you remember the first time you heard the didjeridu? Did you think that you would ever play one yourself and that it would become as much a part of your life as it has?

[Rick] I don't really remember the first time I heard the didgeridoo, but I do remember that it touched something inside me. I knew that it was something special and would become a part of my life. Unfortunately I was under the impression that it was a sacred instrument and as a white, American boy, I would never be allowed to own one. I made two trips to Australia, in the late '70's and early '80's, and never pursued the instrument. The sounds always mesmerized me, but I never thought to research it. Then I saw one in a mail order magazine, but I couldn't afford it. My girlfriend bought it for me on my birthday. That was like the big bang, everything just expanded and grew from that point on. I could never have imagined what a huge part of my life it would become.

[Ed] After obtaining your first didjeridu, how did you go about learning to play it? Was it just natural to play it right away, or was there a learning process?

[Rick] Let's see, I got that didge about 1995 and I am still learning to play. It was a 36 inch pine didge, hollowed on a machine, and painted with something that looks like ochre. I was so proud of it, and I played it everyday for about 8 months. I'm sure my girlfriend was regretting the day she gave it to me. It came with a cassette tape by Alastair Black on how to play (the didge was not from Alastair) and I played along with it religiously. There was no one in Las Vegas playing the instrument at this time, and I didn't have anywhere to go for guidance, so I started buying every music c.d. I heard that had didgeridoo on it and tried to copy the sounds. I practiced like this for months, until finally I realized that my little instrument just would not create the sounds I was hearing on the recordings. So, I saved my money until I had enough to purchase a "proper" didgeridoo, and that's when everything really went out of control.

[Ed] Out of control? What do you mean? What did you do next?

[Rick] I just went didge crazy. I'd come home from work and play all evening until I went to bed. I only listened to didgeridoo music. I searched everywhere for information on didgeridoos and playing tips. I talked to and wrote to anyone involved with didgeridoos. I even started taking my vacations to see didge performances, visit didge stores, and take didge workshops. I saved all my money to buy more and better instruments. It was all I thought about.

[Ed] I bet you had a few experiences talking to that many people. What kinds of things proved to be the most beneficial?

At this time, I still had only heard recordings, never actually seen anyone play live. Stephen Kent had been writing to me some and was going to play in Flagstaff, which was only 4 1/2 hours away, so off I went. I don't know if it was the same with everyone, but the first time I actually watched someone play, it didn't make any sense to me at all. How could all those sounds and rhythms be happening at once, and coming from one person, who is barely moving or doing anything? I was totally mesmerized, and completely blown away. Stephen was so nice too, he let me go in early and watch his sound check, and afterward he sat and talked to me for about 30 minutes and answered all my dumb questions. He really listened and helped all he could. Then I got to meet Peter Spoecker, and got my first official lesson. That actually took place in public, while he was selling instruments and c.d's in front of a Wal-Mart in California. My girlfriend had dropped me off there to meet him, and when she returned, we were both playing and a big crowd had formed. Now I had just made my first public performance! From there, I went to meet Alan Shockley for a lesson, and ended up staying the whole weekend with him and obtaining one of his personal instruments. He was such a giving person, and so willing to share. I've found that the people who play the didgeridoo are very unusual, and special people. They all seem to openly love and accept others, and go out of their way to share and help each other.I feel that there is a tight, but open didgeridoo "family" covering the whole country here and I'm sure that wherever a didge player goes, there is always someone there willing to help them with whatever they need. It seems like wherever you go, someone wants to get together and play.

[Ed] This sounds like it leads right up to the time I first met you in Las Vegas. What happened next?

[Rick] Right, you were actually the first person I really got to know and become friends with. You probably don't realize this, but you have been my mentor and biggest influence. I first learned about you through your web site. Three years ago, it was the most complete and comprehensive site around. Since I was starving for didgeridoo knowledge, and in dire need of lessons, I put together a plan to sponsor a didgeridoo workshop in Las Vegas. You had been teaching for a long time, and I decided that you'd be the best teacher available. I really thought that there was no way we'd get enough interest to justify the cost of bringing you here, but my plan was to have you stay at my house and I would get several days worth of private lessons. You agreed and our timing was perfect because Paul Taylor had recently been here to present a show about Australia and interest was high. The fact that we got twenty five people to sign-up was amazing. I think you still have a photo of it on your site. After that, people started calling me about didgeridoo related things and within six months, they demanded you back. So, in less than a year's time, Las Vegas got it's second didgeridoo workshop, and even more people attended! It was really exciting. Through you, a lot of people were exposed to the didgeridoo, and I was now slowly becoming a player.

[Ed] I certainly enjoyed meeting everyone and seeing all the excitement around the instrument in Las Vegas. I know that since then, you've done a fair bit of traveling - Folklife NW, the White Cockatoo concert in Portland, a trip to California to take a workshop and I believe you visited Alan Shockley in Tucson as well. Can you tell us a little about what you learned from those experiences?

[Rick] Well, like I mentioned earlier, I was the only person playing in Las Vegas. There really is only so much you can learn from CDs and videos, so I decided that I was going to have to start traveling if I wanted to continue learning. My first exposure to any sizable didgeridoo scene was the annual Folklife Festival in Seattle. I think there must be more didgeridoo players there, per capita, than any other city in the U.S. It lasted several days and I got to see about twenty five different solo performances. Next came a short drive down to San Diego for the Mark Atkins and Janawirri Yiparrka workshop that Randy Graves put on. That's where I first started meeting people from the famous Didgeridoo List. I knew lots of names from the postings, but had never met anyone in person. It was almost like going back to an old high school reunion. People didn't recognize you, but knew your name, and it was like you were long lost friends. I was excited and felt like I was one of the group. Then I received your once-in-a lifetime offer to come to Portland and see David Blanasi and The White Cockatoo Group perform. Unbelievable! I got to go to the workshop and I got advice from The Man himself. What I saw and heard there will be with me forever. This year I also made the trip to Tucson for Alan Shockley's annual birthday bash. If you can only go to one didgeridoo event, go to this one.! There are several days of hanging out and playing with lots and lots of people, a visit to Alan's home and playing all his remarkable instruments, and then the big show. I guarantee you will see and hear more talented musicians and didgeridoo music than you can possibly absorb. So to answer your question, I guess what I'm trying to say is that it is worth whatever time and money you spend to go experience the incredible variety of people who share themselves and a part of their lives with this amazing instrument. It's really an investment in yourself. I promise that it will be worth it!

[Ed] What about the immediate future? What are you plans to continue this journey?

[Rick] As for the immediate future, I've just finalized plans to go to San Francisco this month and receive some lessons from Stephen Kent, and see the Wicked Sticks gallery. This has been coming for a long time and I know that now is the time I'm supposed to be there. Not only will I get to learn from him, but I'll also get to see Stephen perform live again! In answer to your second question, I think that four years into this journey almost qualifies me as a beginner. I've found that every day I play, I learn something new (a rhythm or sound) that I didn't have before. The more I learn, the more I hear in the recordings I listen to. Sometimes I'll be listening to a CD I've heard hundreds of times over and I'll hear something that I never heard in it before. I view this as a positive sign that I'm on the right track and learning, and that I just wasn't knowledgeable enough to hear it, or realize what I was hearing in the first place. When I first started playing, I had no idea of how long this journey would be, or where it would take me. Since then, I have resolved myself to the fact that for as long as I live, I will always have heaps more to learn about playing the didgeridoo.