Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
PIERCETON - She received the telephone call during a piano lesson and burst into tears at the message. The concerned student and her mother rushed to the teacher's side, fearing the worst.
Kathy Sullivan's news wasn't of tragedy, however; it was some of the best she'd ever received. Willis Music Co., one of the top music publishers in the country, had accepted her second submission of songs.
"My student and her mother must have thought I was crazy," Sullivan said, laughing.
"Feelin' Kinda Crazy" happens to be the title of one of her tunes, designed to spark the interest of a bored level 3 piano student.
"The songs aren't as much about a particular technique as it is to get their interest sparked during a slump," she said.
Sullivan knows slumps. The 1976 Wawasee High School graduate has been at the piano since third grade.
At one time she had 14 piano students, letting some go as they advanced to write music and lyrics.
A part-time radiologist for the Warsaw Women's Center, Sullivan has about six students now who screen her original works.
Dedications, to Caleb, Kelly and her daughter, Becky, are sprinkled throughout the material in "Singable Solos."
Geared toward later elementary level piano students, the songs are singable, too.
The lyrics are silly and the music sounds harder than it is to play.
From "The Hiccup Waltz" to "The Wash Rag," Sullivan's self-admitted, off-the-wall humor shows through in title and verse.
Here are a few words from "Aliens Have Landed!!!"
"Last night I was sleeping in my room, When I heard a terrible 'KA-BOOM!' Peeking out my bedroom window was a scene from my Nintendo! Aliens have landed in my yard. This is so cool I have to run outside to take a closer look!
They were light green with a purple streak! And when they spoke they went, 'GLEEK, GLEEK, GLEEK!' My head was spinning, my knees were weak. When they asked me if I'd come inside to take a peek!"
The lyrics go on to detail a space ship trip ("We were traveling the speed of light! Touched the Milky Way and took a bite!"). Sullivan said "Aliens" wrote itself.
Then there is "The Cowboy Blues," about a lonesome young hand who is considering a change of career, like driving an ice cream truck.
Spirited and delightful, upbeat like their author, the songs are designed to perk up any fifth-grader whose attention is drifting more toward the open window, where spring calls, than notes on a scale.
"I used jazz cords because they sound interesting, fresh to the student's ear," Sullivan said. "They need something different."
At about level 4 or 5 piano students begin to drop away from their teachers. "Levels" refers to skill levels, not necessarily a grade level. Yet, in many cases, middle school society and the onset of puberty, turn an 11-or 12-year-old's attention toward other pursuits.
"All of a sudden they're too cool for the piano," she said. "But if they're really cool they'll stay with it because they can always entertain their friends that way."
Sullivan's ardor for the piano has never waned and she thanks Wawasee high school choir director Varner Chance; former WHS band director David Blackwell; and her piano instructor Verna Mae Felts for inspiring her.
On the heels of the Willis Music Co.'s acceptance of her work, came an announcement by Voice of the Rockies who published a book Sullivan's traditional carols arranged for piano.
In "Christmas At The Piano" "Silent Night," "Away In A Manger" and "Angels We Have Heard on High" are given new life.
The music publishing field is highly competitive, "horribly competitive," Sullivan says.
"If its not outstanding they won't take it," she said, citing one Willis editor's job of screening 500 songs per day. "The songs have to have personality."
Her introduction to the music publishing world came when she attended a Willis Music-sponsored seminar in Indianapolis.
The presenter played music the company considered acceptable.
Like any wannabe author, Sullivan, who had been writing music for years, thought "I can write better than that."
"I don't know what she thought," Sullivan said, laughing, "but I went up to Ruthanne Anderson (Willis' coordinator of potential new composers) and said "Remember my name, its Kathy Sullivan. Someday I'm going to work for your company.'"
"Ruthanne avoided rolling her eyes and was very gracious, but I wonder what she thought about this pushy woman."
"I set my mind to this," she said. "I believe in my music and I'll never stop trying."
The big bucks aren't rolling in yet. Publishers pay about $.10 per book sale to the composers which is paid in royalty checks.
Sullivan's books are available locally at Harrold Music Store in Winona Lake.
Sullivan and her husband, John, an accomplished acoustic guitarist, are parents of three children, Matt, 20, Carrie, 18, and Becky 13.
"John doesn't want me to clean the house anymore," she said. "He wants me to write!"
