Nashville readies next generation of stars

www.cmpemedia.com — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 13:32:55 +0000

It’s never been easy breaking into the record business, but when you live in a cultural hotspot like Nashville, Tennessee, it sure helps. Two years ago, aspiring Tennessee songwriters were gifted with another advantage: the “Partners in Craft” program at Middle Tennessee State University. This program partners MTSU commercial songwriting majors with mentors in the publishing and recording industry. These mentors include members from Sony, EMI, Carnival Music, Universal Music Publishing, Warner-Chappell, and more, some of whom are MTSU alumni. PIC is itself a partnership between MTSU’s Recording Industry department and the Nashville ASCAP office.ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) includes Nashville as its own genre on its website, along with jazz, pop/rock, rhythm & soul, and more. Nashville reciprocated in 1989 by declaring February 13 (the day before Valentine’s Day) as ASCAP Day. The office already offers songwriting workshops for those who apply, but the PIC program has been a whole different kind of success. In just two years, 53 students have joined, ten students either have or have had internships, and graduate Eric Paslay is close to signing a major-label contract.

Capricorn Recording Studio in danger

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:04:37 +0000

The studio which launched Duane Allman to stardom may not last much longer. Capricorn Recording Studio, located in Macon, has been placed on the Georgia Trust’s 2010 “Places in Peril” list. Some of the issues noted include extensive weather damage, vandalism and burglary, and the dilapidated state of the surrounding buildings. This may not mean much to fans of artists like the Marshall Tucker Band, the Charlie Daniels Band, and Dixie Dregs, which were all launched from the studio.Capricorn was founded in 1969 when founders Phil Walden and Frank Fenter started the Capricorn Record Series, which became noteworthy after releasing the Allman Brothers Band‘s debut album later that year. Two years later, the studio released what many still consider its most acclaimed album, the Allman Brothers’ double LP At Fillmore East. In 1979 the studio went under for the first time, but was relocated to Nashville in 1991. There, it became a part of the Warner Records label and held its own in a changing industry, recording artists like Widespread Panic, Cake, and 311.However, changing owners and other problems led to the studio’s closing in 2000. At one point, the building was under the protection of Mercer University. However, the studio was finally foreclosed upon at the end of last year. It has stood as a reminder of its glory days since then, but now even that appears in danger of changing. Fans interested in seeing the “birthplace” of some of their favorite artists should make the journey while they still can.

CMPE Media » Recording Studios

Nashville readies next generation of stars

Capricorn Recording Studio in danger