Between Two Worlds - From a NYC High School to Carnegie Hall and Back: Shawana Kemp

Many people dream of pursuing their creative passion outside of work but then never do it. Career demands, family and life stressors get in the way. Shawana Kemp, or "Shine," of Shine & the Moonbeams, has managed to do it with great success. Shawana is a full-time special education teacher at a high school in the South Bronx as well as an in-demand singer/songwriter of a unique R&B style children's music which she performs at major concert venues in NYC and other cities.

How does she do it? What I learned in my interview with her is it's not just sheer hard work, commitment and passion but something more nuanced - the ability to move between two very different worlds that don't always speak to each other and to find strength and inspiration from within the gap.

How did you get into writing and performing children’s music and also teaching?

I was a full-time performer for many years. I was in LA for 7 years. I did everything from Broadway to wedding bands to cruise ships. And then I moved back to NYC in 2002 and went on the road. I was in Switzerland and it was Christmas and I was like, okay, I’m no longer the youngest one in the show. I’m not 20 anymore and I think I want a family so I focused on getting married and having my son. And then those things [the music gigs] didn’t work anymore. I was doing a voiceover and my son was crying in the hallway and I realized this is not going to work.

So I was a teaching artist for a long time. And I wondered what it would be like to just be in school. I went back to school to be a speech pathologist, got my BA, and then I realized getting a master’s in this was no joke. So I flipped it and got a grant to become a Special Education teacher. So far, I’ve been a full-time teacher for four years. In addition, I got divorced and I had a reading from a woman who said your child has to know you sing. Someone suggested I go into children’s music. To me children’s music was leaving out an interesting sonic thing. It was corny to kids. I thought let me start a project that is more in line with what I like to sing and thematically where kids are. I used what I learned in school to craft my songs. Two years in I had a band and we did our first show. That’s how Shine & the Moonbeams was born.

How did you end up on the main concert stages?

I think our songs are different, the kind you would hear on the radio but just have kids at the center. Our music went viral. People started inviting us to Illinois and Chicago. It happened really fast. We’re now 4 years in. We’re very locked in. It’s the same people that started the band. It has a seamless kind of sound. 2015 was the pinnacle year in that we headlined at SummerStage in New York City, played at Carnegie Hall and did the Getty Museum in LA. These are the big gigs. If you do these rooms you’re really in.

What is like being a full-time teacher and a performer?

Now that I’m a full-time teacher and Shine & the Moonbeams is on the weekends I don’t have time to record. Today I had a day off and I’m filling in my blanks with Shine & the Moonbeams. I’m tired. And then I have to switch gears and write an IEP (Individualized Education Plan). On top of this I’m a single mother. Straddling both worlds is challenging. I want more opportunities to perform which requires time and energy to make them happen. I do it though because I’m all things kids.

What is it like going between the two different worlds of teaching Special Education and Shine & the Moonbeams?

The disparity between my school and my concert audiences is hard. I teach special education at a high school in the South Bronx. I’m in a rough demographic because my kids can’t read. It’s a failing school on the verge of closing. Today I had a gig in Battery Park with stay-at-home moms and babies who are being stimulated in the womb. It's a big contrast from my classroom. It’s strange to play at Carnegie Hall. I invite my students to come but they’re not going to come because they feel it’s not for them.

I know I’m in this space for a reason bigger than I can articulate at the moment. I’m in it but I’m also critiquing it from this socio-economic-political space. It’s hard work having to go between these two worlds. They are very separate worlds. It’s an overt gear switch. At my concerts they’re like, “Oh my God, it’s Shine!” And then I go to school and most of my students and colleagues don't even know about the other things I do. My first year of teaching I was gung-ho but then I was seen by the teachers as threatening. People can be apprehensive or tentative about doing things outside of a multiple choice test. It’s hard to play. It feels like there is an anti-joy buy-in and so if there’s a presentation of play it’s met with suspicion. I had to learn to not talk about what I do outside of school. Sifting through this can be exhausting.

The one-size-fits-all that happens in a traditional job setting where you can’t be that much of an individual and you have to toe the line, get it done, or make it happen is hard. Being creative isn’t necessarily revered and in some ways you don’t even have the time to be creative. The one thing I love about Shine & the Moonbeams is it’s organized play.

What is next for Shine & the Moonbeams?

I feel there is an opportunity with the two worlds that I’m trying to craft. My hope is to figure out how to bridge the gap for me and the kids I teach. I’d like to take Shine & the Moonbeams to schools. I applied for a Character Lab grant to bring Shine & the Moonbeams into the classroom. I presented it as an example of teaching character in the classroom. The grant asks you to pick three things you think are important for kids’ character and I picked purpose, optimism and zest. I have songs that speak to this.

I want to tell people who I am and what I’m about. I know that if I don’t fully show up as me then it’s not a benefit.

What do you most love about writing and singing children’s music?

I think it’s very joyful. I love how as soon as the show is over all the kids come up and hug me. I feel that it is important work and like it is really where I am. I wouldn’t have anything to say in another genre. I’m not in a space where love is a conundrum. I’m not in the club. I’m not wondering if he likes me or feeling like my heart is broken. I am in a family space. I am very deeply concerned about children because I have one.

What is most special or unique about your music?

I feel like I’m sort of the breakout artist in this genre because it’s not kiddie, or dumbed down, quiet or soft nap time music. It’s music where adults have come up to me and said, “I felt like you were talking to me.” It’s universal themes. It’s music that has a shelf life. I feel like these songs will never get old. There will always be a need for someone to hear, “There will always be a space for you. You don’t have to compete.”

I think people think kids are not in the room. Kids have receptive language before they have expressive language. They are taking in everything and know what moves them way before they can say, "I like that." So I’m really interested in creating songs that are thought provoking, beautiful, jamming, flavorful, joyful, sad, the gamut of the emotional rainbow. Kids go through these emotions in two hours.

This work has also memorialized my experience with my son. I feel like I’ve created amazing memories with him by doing this project. At one point he was singing these songs and he was making animal sounds. He has inspired it and been a part of it. He’s on the record.

I think it’s necessary for black children to see other black artists doing stuff that’s for children which was my initial catalyst for this whole project. I felt like and still feel like there’s no black people in the children’s music sphere. I think it’s insane and dangerous to constantly look at people in these spaces of joy and opulence. It makes them not like their lives. I constantly have to deconstruct that for my son and tell him that’s not real life or at least not the whole picture. I really feel like there needs to be more balance in the children’s music sphere. I think there needs to be more diversity. Most of my shows are free. I feel there needs to be someone inviting them to the party. All children need to see reflections of themselves in the world. Music is a meeting place for all.

What is your dream for Shine & the Moonbeams?

TV. We haven’t been on TV yet. And Ellen specifically. The View, a morning show. I feel like we are still very localized. Performing arts centers know who we are. We need a national spark. It would put us in a space where we could really get somewhere. I’d love to have exposure on TV and then ultimately do a show where we talk about feelings. I’m visualizing a national platform. That’s what I’m trying to bring to me. We’re at the top of what it bears. We’re at Carnegie Hall, BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music). That’s great. We need a platform that is in peoples’ homes, cable. That’s my goal. I feel like we’re at a place where we’re at a high point where it’s really good. It’s delicious.

To learn more about Shine & the Moonbeams check out their videos on YouTube and follow them on Facebook.

Julie Friedberg is an executive, business and personal leadership coach. She works with executives, entrepreneurs, changemakers and creative ambitious people to nurture and express their genius, unleash their creativity, expand their impact, launch and grow their dream venture and create the work and life they want. She also coaches polymaths juggling disparate worlds to find wholeness, success and joy. To learn more about Julie's coaching see www.juliefriedberg.com.