Nashvill "road trip" (yeah we flew...)

Nashville…the city of music.

WOW…what a weekend!!! Last Friday we flew as a group out of Providence, RI and landed in Nashville around 8:00 at night. We were together as a group till Wednesday morning. Now, we are on our short spring break…we have dispersed to our various homes and friends houses. Some have stayed in Nashville and others have flown home. Let me see if I can remember as far back as Friday to give you a run down of the weekend…

FRIDAY:

We started at around 9 in the morning…drove to the ferry and then once we were on the main land we drove to Providence to catch out 4:55 flight out. We were doing great until we were about to walk through the gate at which point I realized I didn’t have my phone on me. Now, for those of you who know me…a cell phone is still an exciting thing for me and I had just gotten a new one over Christmas break so I was kinda really upset that I couldn’t find it. I even had a friend call it and I couldn’t hear it…I knew I had turned up the sound on it (luckily) but I couldn’t hear it ringing. So, I went to the Enterprise desk and asked them if they could check in one of the 5 mini vans that was just returned for a red “chocolate” cell phone…they checked and couldn’t find it…until I gave them my number and they went in every van calling it…but it was found!!! YAY!!!

After getting to Nashville we got to our rooms went and got a very late dinner (at taco bell) and then went to a “Scratch Track” concert. Scratch Track is 2 guys that make the sound of a full band…they are so great. And both of them came to CMC a long time ago…now they are working on signing with a label…that is sooo cool!!! They had a great show. This is my third time seeing them, and I have to say love them every time! Check out their music at www.myspace.com/scratchtrack. After that we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep…we had to be up and ready to go at 6:15…yeah, early!!!

SATURDAY:

Like I said our day began at 6:15…we had a 7:00 appointment at Blackbird Recording Studios. This is like the heaven of all studios…I mean really; it is where the best work is done. Most of the award winning songs and albums are recorded there. Vance Powell, who is responsible for the sound of the new Jars of Clay album “Good Monsters” gave us a full tour and had many stories to tell us. We had to be in and out of there so early because some bands were coming into record and they didn’t really want us around…it was very surreal…

We basically had the day off after that…so I hung out at the pool (yeah, it was 85 out…haha!) and then at night we went to the Hard Rock Café. Amy, I thought of you…but I couldn’t get a shirt…they were a ton of money!!! Sorry! haha!

SUNDAY:

Sunday was a really relaxed day…we just went out to eat and hung out…no meetings or anything, which was nice…

I would say we needed this day in order to get ready to meet the monster of and industry on Monday….

MONDAY:

This day was probably the most frustrating and disheartening day we encountered…

We began the day at Creative Trust and learned about radio and what it takes to get your song played on the radio. I can tell you now that if I ever get one song on the radio…I’m throwing a big party!!! Haha!!!

Then we had a guy talk to us about…ummmmm….I think it was about how it works on the sales end of records…not quite sure, to be honest he was slightly confusing and just restated how we all felt about how messed up the music industry was…so we felt rather frustrated after that meeting. Then after lunch we had a meeting with a SWAG girl…(which is basically…“Stuff (or S***) We All Get”) It was interesting just to know some figures and how the merchandise(merch) side of things works.

Then came the real industry fun….or no fun. We went to EMI which is one of the big label groups that has smaller labels under it: “Tooth and Nail” “Rethink” “Sparrow” …….. just to name a few. It was interesting to sit in there and realize that though this is the Christian music industry…they are still just as deep in the machine as any other label. They still have to work the system…and they still need to make a living. We were told many times in an hour that we were a “sharp” group. To be honest…that word had a double meaning in that room…we were smart and we stabbed. We let them know that we knew they were trying to sell us something, we helped them see that we understood what was going on behind the scenes. There were many times where the person speaking would go to answer a question and the first words would be “I’m not sure.” or “I don’t know.” Our professor made a great statement that really made them think. I do think that they (the EMI people) were frustrated as we left…but part of me is okay because they need to understand that as Christians it is our responsibility to spread truth, and to not live like there is nothing wrong with the world. So, for them to stand there and say they let their artist do their second “Atrsy/Opinionated” record and hope it is out of their system….is really disturbing. It is as if the artist has no free liberties to be an artist…unless their “art” falls under what the label wants…and then their opinions can be voiced as long as it is “safely” done…SAFE!!! Right…basically they want it to be okay for a 10 year old to listen to…but the thing is if all music is safe then it is not addressing the real issues…the hardships and the crap of the world.

I should probably get off my soap box now….sorry…

Monday night we had a get together at the cabin of some CMC alum and I had the chance to meet an artist that is working here in Nashville trying to get her music under way….it was great just to chill with people and talk about the common interest in music.

TUESDAY:

What a great day to end with. We began with an amazing conversation with the guys, Steve and Dan, from Jars of Clay. It was great to hear from them their view of the “machine” as we affectionately call the music industry. They were really insightful. I really appreciated what they had to say about the ministry that they supported, “Blood Water.” They talked about how because they have experienced it themselves they are now able to write about it more accurately and they also now have a cause to fight for. I felt like that is my same thought behind my work with At-Risk Children…I have such a passion for them and it is mostly due to the fact that I have worked with them. I have seen the pain first hand and felt my heart fall as one of my campers told me of her thoughts of suicide. There is pain there that you and I can’t even begin to imagine. These children are often my inspiration for many of my songs. I want to share their story with the world. I just have to figure out how to do that.

After Jars we met with the ASCAP people…American Society of Composers, Artists, and Publishers. This is a company that works to protect the songwriters right to get paid for the use of their songs…it was really cool to talk with the guys from this company. They really are working simply for the artist/songwriter. They are a non-profit…so their goal is to make sure the songwriters make money so they can make money….which makes it work a lot better. At the top of the power level of this company is always a songwriter…so that the songwriters are always thought of first. GREAT!!!

Then, we had a barbeque with Brad Paisley…no big deal…HAHA!!! Right, I’m in Nashville. Though he wasn’t there for us…we were totally invited that afternoon…it was still cool to go see him get awarded by ASCAP and some other places for his new #1 single “She’s Everything.” Jars in the morning, Brad for dinner…and then Terry McBride to top off the evening.

Teri is the president of Network Management…one of, if not the, top management group in Nashville. Teri is probably one of the most intelligent people we met with. And we were talking with some very smart people this weekend…he just knows what he was talking about. The music industry is not doing well right now. Many artists are frustrated and are working independently…they are “Inde” artists (independent of a label). This is causing the labels to not do so well. But Teri is working hard to continue to make his artist money…he has a game plan, and though we are not sure if it will work, at least he is heading somewhere. It was really cool to see/hear what he had to say.

THE END:

And there you have it…Nashville…constant meetings and long talks. There is a lot to think about and evaluate. I still don’t know what to think for sure. But I know I enjoyed just being here…even on Monday. Though it was hard to sit there and know that I am being pitched something I don’t want to hear…it was really good to get a view of it before I am out on my own in this. I will let you know my thoughts as I think more on the industry. I realize that the people at EMI want to do what is right and want to help Christian artists….they have some great ideas with the “rethink” label…but it needs to be executed in order for it to make a difference. We will see what this all looks like in a year.

I know this is really long, sorry….Please check out my pics on my picasa page…I would really love for you to see where I have been for the past few days!!! I miss you all so much and I can’t wait to sit down with you to share stories and more pictures. Thank you all for your continued prayers and words of encouragement…if there is one thing I have realized this weekend it is that this world…the music industry…is brutal and very hard. But I continue to trust that God has opened doors simply for me to walk through. I know He is there guiding…it’s just that sometimes He is behind me encouraging and pushing me out of my comfort zone, not ahead of me clearing a path.

I hope you all are doing well. I would love to hear form you!

God bless,

~Kels