Eastern Mennonite University junior Maggie Garber has been playing guitar since she was 13. Between school choirs and worship bands, she also has an extensive history of performing publicly. However, spring 2022 marked the first time she performed her original compositions.
The occasion was a “songwriting showcase” hosted by EMU faculty member and alumnus Trent Wagler ’02, the lead singer and songwriter for the nationally recognized Shenandoah Valley-based roots music band The Steel Wheels. Wagler earned degrees in theater and peace, justice, and conflict studies (now peacebuilding and development) at EMU in 2002. Spring 2022 marked his debut as an EMU instructor.
Wagler’s first students were Garber, graduate student Tyler Goss, and junior Joseph Whetzel. Having a teacher of his caliber was an exciting surprise for all three of them. Garber said she “will forever be astounded by the way that the EMU Music Department contributes to an incredible education of its students by bringing in talented teachers and performers to lead us.”
The addition of Wagler to the faculty broadens avenues for students to explore genres, styles and forms of artistic expression, said Professor David Berry, music program director. “What many people don’t realize is that in addition to being an amazing and accomplished musician, Trent Wagler is also an excellent teacher. We are very fortunate to now have him here on faculty at EMU, inspiring and helping to shape the next generation of songwriters.”
In addition to Wagler’s class, EMU music also offers digital songwriting and production lessons with local producer and recording studio owner/engineer Lexington Bowler.
Berry says there are plans to add more sections of these songwriting classes in the future focusing on different styles and genres of music.
Leaving judgment behind
Wagler has taught songwriting classes in the past through the Front Porch folk music school in Charlottesville, as well as guitar and banjo lessons. “Songwriting is a unique pleasure to teach,” he said. “Many people come to a class with a bashful writing identity and a lot of self-judgment about their writing abilities. I like watching people gain confidence as they share their songs and I marvel at the many directions people can take a writing prompt to create something imaginative and new.”
Sessions cultivate artistic expression
Having one-on-ones with Wagler interspersed with group sessions “was a great balance of learning to write songs and also learning to listen and provide helpful feedback on songs others write,” said Goss. He also appreciated Wagler as a teacher. “He is so skilled yet humble, and he meets each of us where we are. I never felt embarrassed for my limited skill set. He always had something constructive and helpful to say after each play-through,” Goss said.
This style of class was also ideal for Whetzel. “I love to write stories, and often those stories tend to be thinly veiled memories of my own life,” he said. “I think songwriting is the ultimate medium for that. I came into this class with only a little songwriting experience on my own, and it’s been really nice to sit down and workshop my pieces with Trent and the other students. It’s really easy to be overly critical of your own work and I think this class has been helpful in just letting ideas flow.”
Songs ‘born and raised’ in class
This songwriting class was meant to be practice-based, said Wagler. “Writers write, and sometimes we improve through repetition and practice.” Wagler likes to think of it as he would think of a yoga class. “We’re all practicing together, writing, exploring, and growing.”
The academic portion of the class included discussing classic popular song forms and listening and critiquing songs. There was often a weekly writing prompt and class time “increasingly became about sharing new works and critiquing them with the goal of building each student’s repertoire towards the final performance,” said Wagler.
Wagler cherishes getting to perform with the students and being present for their public sharing. “Each student has their own unique writing voice and has grown throughout the semester,” he said. “There’s something really satisfying about hearing a song performed that was born and raised in the class.”
Having Wagler as an instructor was extra meaningful for Garber—as an early high school student, she “first watched The Steel Wheels play at the Redwing Roots Festival on a sticky night with a crowd standing shoulder to shoulder at Natural Chimneys campground,” Garber said. “Since then, I have wanted to be on that stage, playing my music.”
Story by Kate Szambecki
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