About Ed Cunliff
 

I’ve I’ve spent most of my career as an educator, but the settings have varied.  My first job was doing social services with the War on Poverty programs.  Since then I’ve worked in a hospital setting in management development and in higher education in the area of institutional effectiveness.  Creative problem solving is one of my favorite processes to use in multiple settings – work and music.  My weekends and spare time, for as long as I can remember, have involved working with kids (my own included), playing music or doing woodworking.  Over ten years ago I got serious about guitar and mandolin construction and repair.

I play guitar, mandolin and occasionally strum the ole banjo.  Playing, I think, helps me have a better understanding of what will and will not work for players.  The blend of player and fixer works for me, though there’s never enough time for either.  I particularly enjoy working on restorations of old family, sentimental instruments – they usually have a nice feel to them.

I’ve performed and taught some in a variety of settings.  I played and performed folk and traditional music since I was a teenager.  I taught beginning guitar in college and taught beginning mandolin for the Oklahoma City Traditional Music Association.  Recently I’ve collaborated with a local composer/musician and my wife to do some children’s music and recording.  Believe it our not, we’ve formed a group called Quackadoodledoo.  We hope to make music fun and educational for young children, both in English and Spanish, and have conducted workshops for educators.

I mentioned the Aikido practice on the home page.  Aikido is a martial art that originated in Japan.  It is defensive in nature and operates on the concept of using an attacker’s force against them.  It surprises me at times how much that concept sneaks into my daily life.  In the repair work it ties into a complete assessment of what’s there and finding the gentlest way to work with the instrument.  In playing it involves understanding and moving with the music – finding harmony.  I’ve also found it handy in facilitating groups in a range of activities from strategic planning to creative problem solving.

I’m a big believer in supporting the groups that support me.  I like to support city and state government when I can through participation in committees, etc.  In music I’ve served on the board of the Oklahoma City Traditional Music Association.  On the repair and construction side of things I’m a member of both the Guild of American Luthiers and the Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans.

I’m a constant learner, and all of these endeavors allow me to continue to learn and enjoy life.