Episode 9: Music Man Stephen Clair

Photos by Michael Isabell

Stephen Clair is an accomplished singer/songwriter and the proprietor of Beacon Music Factory (BMF). In this episode he talks about his creative process, Beacon’s expanding music scene and the evolution of his music school on Route 52.

He says one of the unexpected joys of founding BMF has been observing adult students blossom as skilled musicians and become good friends with like-minded Beaconites.

“It’s watching somebody who walked into BMF in their 50s for the first time,” he says. “They’re dusting off their bass or something that’s been in their basement for 20 years. They join a rock camp, they join another rock camp, and then they sit down behind the drums. They try out different things, and then they get better. If I take anything away from my Beacon Music Factory experience when it’s all said and done, it’s the kind of deep friendships I’ve seen forged among adult peers. That’s something I never anticipated. At a certain point in your life, you think your good friends and old friends are your good-old-friends, and you don’t anticipate making those kinds of friendships again.”

Also in this episode: Promoting music in Beacon, the return of “In The Pines,” and Stephen’s songwriting process.

“I love song writing so very much,” he says. “Once I set up the idea or have an idea about where I want the song to go, it’s about working and reworking … to bring [that] atmosphere or vibe or sensation.”