Every year, students in the BC band are given the opportunity to travel as a group to learn more about music. This year’s trip was to Nashville, Tennessee. Often regarded as the birthplace of country music, Nashville has a rich history of jazz, rock, and other genres. The band students voted for Nashville as this year’s destination. From February 28 to March 1, the band made the most of the city.
A multitude of students said their Nashville trip highlight was one of four shows they attended. The first was Motown, a concert of music associated with the Motown records style: mostly country music. The Honky Tonk show was a display of more recent country music as well as rock. Students were even given the chance to perform on stage. The Duke Ellington Symphony honored the legendary Ellington’s jazz music. The Symphony celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, which made the band trip even more special. Finally, there was the Grand Ole Opry, a live country radio which the band got to witness in person. A variety of talented musicians perform at the Opry every week. Addison Jahner (trumpet) said the performance was “exciting because [she] learned a lot from just listening to them, and could picture how some aspects of the show could apply to playing in Band.”
As well as live music shows, the band students learned about the history of music in Nashville. They toured the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which displays priceless items such as instruments and stage wear belonging to country music titans. The band also toured the National Museum of African American Music, a favorite moment of Meghan Roskoph (french horn) because she was “fascinated by the influence African American artists had on shaping new genres of music.” The museum is known for its interactive galleries which focus on different parts of African American music history, such as the “Wade in Water” gallery which documents the survival of religious music, or the “Crossroads” gallery on how the blues genre originated as work songs in the post-slavery period.
The Historic RCA Studio B, according to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, is “known as the birthplace for the ‘Nashville Sound,’ a style characterized by background vocals and strings that helped establish Nashville as an international recording center” (countrymusichalloffame.org). Studio B was founded in 1957 and has been the recording home for legendary performers such as Elvis Presley, Chet Atkins, the Everly Brothers, and Dolly Parton. The BC Band toured Studio B and recorded three songs there. Paige Braden (flute) said it was her favorite moment of the trip because “it was such an honor to play in the same space as iconic people in the country genre.”
The Nashville trip was an enjoyable, educational experience for the members of Brookfield Central’s band. The combination of music history and musical performances has been invaluable to each of the individuals who attended, and the knowledge gained will be put to good use in future band performances.
