Two Governor Mifflin graduates attribute their musical success to community support
Berks County is no stranger to good music. From the Reading Symphony to the Berks Jazz Fest, to festivals like West Reading’s Arts on the Avenue, music is easy to hear and find in Berks. An important part of this music scene are the numerous youth programs organized by the school and county, such as the RSJSO and RSYO of the Reading Symphony, the jams of the Jazz Fest and of course the Reading Musical Foundation.
This appreciation for music that the residents of Berks have makes it easy for musicians to perform and sometimes make a name for themselves.
Two of these musicians are Erich Cawalla, a seasoned musician with a long career in music, and Emme Ryan (Drago), a newcomer to the Berks music scene, both graduates of Governor Mifflin. On Monday, July 4, they’ll play a bit of a homecoming, taking the stage at Shillington’s Community Days opening night.
Erich, a multi-instrumentalist (mainly alto saxophone), vocalist and bandleader of the Uptown Band, grew up in and began his music career in Berks County, making it his lifelong home ever since. He attributes much of his success to his hometown, convinced he wouldn’t have made it so likely if it weren’t for the local musical appreciation. This appreciation has continued even after Erich’s initial professional career with the area’s current musicians; one of the county’s youngest up and coming musicians, singer-songwriter Emme, and she’s looking for a similar path to a music career. Erich and Emme, both natives of the area and graduates of Governor Mifflin, came to me for an interview, talking about their musical education and all that Berks County has done for them.
Sitting on my porch in Shillington, admiring the sounds of the birds and a neighbor’s lawnmower, Erich told me stories about the neighborhood (where he’d lived), and by delving rough into his past, he got to the origins of his saxophone playing.
“I didn’t start playing my instrument until I went from 8th to 9th grade,” he said, “and I sang in the chorus and stuff, but I never really thought it was something I was going to do.”
His parents weren’t the strongest advocates of a future in music, he said, so he decided to get a degree in accounting from Shippensburg University. He began performing semi-professionally with another local musician, Bobby Mercer, who had a big band that toured the East Coast.
Erich told the story of how they met.
“I get a call on the line from a guy named Bobby Mercer, and he said, ‘Oh you need to come out and see my band! I saw you perform at the jazz festival.’ It took him three phone calls, but in the end I went. I was in the spotlight that night and only played one song, and from that moment I started playing music professionally.”
Erich continued to work as an accountant while acting, but he never really saw that going anywhere, especially on a day when his company didn’t let him leave for a gig earlier.
“They didn’t let me go. So that Monday I gave my two weeks notice,” he said. “It wasn’t like I stopped to stop. I just wanted music to be my life.”
Emme’s musical playing started a little earlier.
“When I was five, the first instrument I picked up was violin,” she said. “I learned the violin and didn’t play classical. Instead, I learned everything by ear, and I feel like that really helped me a lot, you know coming up with melodies for songs so far.
Her father, a musician and teacher to Governor Mifflin, strongly influenced her and she “took up the guitar and started writing songs because of him.”
“I started writing more and more and performed in a small act at one of the high school shows. I was playing an original song in front of an audience for the first time, and that was kind of when I thought, ‘I really like doing this, I could do this for the rest of my life.'”
From then on, Emme started trying to get gigs in the area and make it as a musician.
Unlike Emme, Erich was not always so sure of himself and of a future in music. In fact, he almost quit once while in high school, disheartened by his initial inability to play. Music wasn’t easy for him, but his band director wouldn’t let him stop and encouraged him to keep playing at Mifflin High School.
“I only had two months of training. I started there with a marching band, but I couldn’t really play my scales and I couldn’t really do much of anything. I remember the section leader laughing at me. So I was ready to quit. I went to the band director one day and told him I didn’t want to play anymore, and he wouldn’t let me stop. He said to me, ‘No, no, you can’t stop. You keep playing,’ and I didn’t stop. He was so quick to turn me down and thank God I didn’t. The educators’ job is to keep us going, and that’s what he did; it’s so important. The Berks music community is really good, we have some really good teachers here.”
Erich also included the Reading Musical Foundation and what it does for the community.
“I’ve been working with RMF for at least 15 years and what they do for children – giving scholarships, instruments and lessons to children – is all fantastic.”
“I’ve benefited a lot from the resources they’re releasing,” Emme chimed in. “I love it. It says a lot about the music community that we have an organization that is so willing to give to children. It really helped me find my confidence, especially in my voice, because I was able to get singing lessons. Without them I would certainly not be so confident.”
Emme has noticed that she has been encouraged by everyone in the community around her. “The older musicians are so willing to give advice, and they really pump you up and really encourage you to keep going,” she said.
Even Erich, sitting next to her, gave her advice, telling her, “Yeah, it seems like you’re really doing the right things with your songwriting. However, make as many collaborations as you can, whether it’s with a goofball like me, or someone else. Play as many kinds of gigs as you can, because it will always help you become a better artist, and the money that comes out can be invested back into yourself to make the music you want to make. Keep investing in yourself.”
Emme embraced the advice, as she’s only been in the field for a year and young.
She said: “I’m just trying to focus on the present, and that’s all I have to think about. Right now I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do in the future. I just know I want to play.”
Erich told her that was fine, and even made some suggestions, but made it clear that she had to be herself musically.
I ended up asking what they would do if they weren’t professional musicians, and they both looked at me strangely. It was a difficult question for them to answer; they knew this was what they wanted to do. Emme just started doing it and Erich has been doing it for most of his life at this point. But they share the same passion – which was supported by Mifflin’s music program.
“Music is there anyway; I can hear it anyway,” Erich said, again referring to the lawnmower, “music is everywhere.”
“Sometimes I can’t help but write…and yes, I think it would just always be there.”
However, they don’t need to be alone in the background, they make it work and follow the dream. Erich has only recently started releasing his own music and is now incredibly proud to have released the kind of music he really wants to play with his latest American Songbook album and Emme performs almost all her own music. They attribute that creative independence to the encouraging community around them.
“To celebrate the upcoming performance, the three of us covered Hooverphonic’s trip-hop classic ‘Mad About You.’ Listen via the link below.”
Emme Ryan and Erich Cawalla cover Hooverphonic “Mad About You”.mp4 – Google Drive
