Carolina Characters: Teacher harnesses the power of music to heal, delight

Music is a mystery harboring secrets as vast and exquisite as the heavens. The power of it is unquestionably real. It is the one stranger we all befriend. Its instruments and sounds heal our hearts, ease our minds and satisfy our souls.

The best doctors surely envy it.

Therefore, folks hanging out with Laurie Russell aren’t the least bit surprised that they dig this lady. She is a master of music who uses the piano to support people determined to live joyfully, regardless of what life tosses their way. Since 1997, she has been teaching recreational music making classes by tickling the ivories.

“She is the nicest person you would ever want to meet,” said Alice Beard, an 80-year-old Myrtle Beach resident who has been Russell’s student for at least 16 years. “She is patient, and she never gets flustered, which is a miracle. Because when you first learn to play, you really stink. But, she never says a bad word. Laurie is always so encouraging.”

Russell, 56, believes in music’s ability to lift spirits, energize bodies, and minimize stress via piano lessons held in groups. Essentially, that is what recreational music making is all about. And it is what this Horry County native and church musician believes is her ministry in a world that will forever need those who ignite the spark of happiness.

Here, in a room tucked inside the Grand Strand Piano Center at Myrtle Beach Mall, Russell is moving her ox-blood, nail polished hands over keys to play “The Loco-Motion.” Music, she believes, massages away ailments and worries.

“Active music making and wellness go hand in hand,” said Russell, who also gives private lessons at her Conway area home. She holds up a fact sheet about music’s mojo to mend. “In an noncompetitive environment, where there is no stress and no pressure, you can enjoy music that will make your health better.”

She doesn’t need to show proof though. Her pupils are her testimony.

Some of them, 12 in all, have endured hip and knee replacements, battled cancer, and endured the death of spouses, but the music they make together has caused light to shine where shadows prevailed.

Every Wednesday, they arrive for one of her four classes with pep in their steps and smiles on their faces. Russell is their loving leader around whom friendship circles and counseling groups are built, with music as the foundation for each of them.

“After you spend time with her, you come back home feeling better,” said Faye Byrd, a 70-year-old retired principal, who had knee replacement surgery and began taking Russell’s classes in 2012. “She makes us feel that we can do anything.”

Russell has been playing piano since she was in the second grade. It was her first love, along with her childhood sweetheart, Dean Hudson. They had puppy love all the way up to fifth grade. Her husband, Frank Russell, 54, would eventually replace Hudson. Yet, nothing can or ever will replace music. It has been her faithful suitor from the beginning.

“Music is my ministry,” she said. “I have a chance to touch so many lives and help people get through things and make their lives happy. I don’t know how anyone could live without music because it is spiritual. I believe music is the one thing from the world we get to take to heaven.”

Without fail, Russell would break into her older sister’s room as a girl and listen to albums of The Beatles. Her music teachers also had a hefty hand in shaping her early on. So by the time she wrapped up her music degree, she was already a veteran piano player on a mission to bless those she encountered, key by key.

Russell’s students, although earthlings before she was, realize she knows her stuff and has musical wisdom that belies her years.

Russell’s mama, Kathryne Geddings, was a private piano teacher in the Homewood community, outside of Conway. She was also the music teacher at Homewood School and the pianist at Homewood Baptist Church, where she started the sanctuary’s first adult and initial children’s choirs. Russell has since walked in her mother’s musical shoes at home, church, work, and play without playing a wrong note.

The traditional hymns and gospel music of her mama, coupled with the bass singing of her dad, J.L. “Roy” Geddings, made for much merriment and pure inspiration punctuated with Rock ‘n’ Roll influence. The rapture of music has endured, even after her parents passed on to eternal rest, and she is thrill to share it with others.

Byrd is a witness.

“I just love Laurie to pieces,” Byrd said. “Her class lifts your spirits, brightens your days, and helps get you through the week.”

This story was originally published October 5, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Carolina Characters: Teacher harnesses the power of music to heal, delight."