Can We Practice Our Imagination?

A 30-minute conversation with jazz vocalist JD Walter on imagination, intention, and telling the truth in your art.

Two years ago I did something that scared me. I went to jazz camp as a vocalist.

If you know me, you know I’ve been a drummer most of my life. Singing in front of a room full of serious jazz musicians was a different thing entirely. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. But I threw myself into the deep end of the pool anyway, and I’m better for it.

The teacher I worked with the most that week was JD Walter.

JD is one of those rare musicians who makes you think harder about your own art just by talking to him. He’s a drummer as well as a singer, trained at the University of North Texas, and he’s spent a career chasing something deeper than technique. We hit it off, stayed in touch, and last week we finally sat down for an interview.

We covered a lot: his philosophy on creativity, the role of intention, and his new voice course for musicians. But the idea I keep coming back to is this one.

You can practice your imagination.

Most of us treat creativity like a fixed trait. You either have it or you don’t. JD doesn’t see it that way, and neither do I anymore. He talks about imagination as something you train, the same way you’d train your ears or your hands. Take a song and ask how a country singer would phrase it. Then a reggae singer. Get specific with the emotional story behind a piece until your thinking mind steps aside and lets the music come.

It’s a workout for the part of you that makes things. And most of us never train it.

The full conversation runs about 30 minutes. Whether you make music or make anything at all, I think you’ll find something in it worth carrying into your own work.

You can find more writing like this on my blog:

https://www.davehilljr.com/writing

Stay courageous out there
Dave