Why is it called Woodside Avenue?

Woodside Avenue is actually a quiet, shady street in the small Wisconsin town of my youth.  In the living room of our home on Woodside Avenue I first learned the joy of making music with others, playing piano duets with my dad.  I thrilled to my older brother’s shockingly loud rock band in the basement and dreamed of someday having my own group.  Then one day I sat in my room with my trumpet on my lap and my first Louis Armstrong record spinning on the turntable.  I had never, ever, heard anything as beautiful.  I was transfixed – and knew at that moment that I needed to be a musician.

Countless musical experiences on Woodside Avenue helped form and inform my youth.  There was a sense of utter delight, of wonder and creative discovery that accompanied those years.  Much later, with a home in Chicago and a family and musical career underway, I grew to understand the importance of that time.    I longed to maintain that memory, and to draw from it.

I couldn’t go back, but I thought maybe I could bring a piece of it with me – so I named my business Woodside Avenue Music.

– Steve Rashid