Class helped me meet a celebrity…
Piggybacking off of what fellow blogger Lindsey Rothrock talked about in her post “Homework: Go to a Concert”, I have been in three music classes (American Music, African Music, and Blues) where I have had to attend concerts and write small papers on them. These active assignments encourage students to explore Nashville for what it really has to offer: Music.
One of the most memorable concerts that I wrote about was actually a private sound check performed by Amos Lee, the Philadelphia native, jazz, soul, and blues artist. The intimate pre-concert rehearsal took place at the Mercy Lounge/Cannery Ballroom in downtown Nashville. Ironically, I was given the opportunity to attend this sound check through a program that I heard about in my Business of Music class. My Business of Music class is offered through Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music and was different than the rest of my music classes in that it wasn’t about teaching the specific type of music and its background but instead it taught the evolution of the music industry itself and how music is licensed/protected/copyrighted. Interestingly enough, Nashville is home to many recording studios and performance-rights organizations. In this class was a representative from an organization called GrammyU that seeks to expose college students to various sectors of the music industry through sound checks, media talks, and networking events with singers, songwriters, and musical engineers. Fortunately, Nashville is the ideal city to live in when participating in this program. It was through this organization that I had the opportunity of attending Amos Lee’s sound check as well as his meet-and-greet after the show. Lee’s personal discussion of his career gave the thirty members direction for their own career paths in the music industry. For me, the interview enhanced what I learned in class. If you’re interested at all in music, I recommend you sign up for this program. It only costs $50 for membership and grants you great opportunities to get your foot in the door to the music industry.
