Music City Memoirs

Fork's Drum Closet is one of the premier drum and percussion shops in all of the world.  It has been an icon in the music industry here in Nashville, TN.  Fork's was recently purchased by acclaimed drum shop owner, Steve Maxwell.  Steve sits down with us and talks about the history of Fork's, how the deal was made to purchase this iconic music store and some insights into how this store in Nashville is different from his two other very well known stores in Chicago and New York City. Steve also shares some perspective on why there needs to be specialty music stores like Fork's and big box retailers like Guitar Center and Sam Ash. We conclude the interview with Steve sharing an amazing story of one of the most well known and successful drummers of all time and how Steve was able to locate the drummers lost and most beloved drum set.  It is a beautiful story that should not be missed!

Brett Manning is one of the most well known and successful voice coaches in the entire world. Brett has coaches superstars such as Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan and Hayley Williams (Paramore). In this episode, Brett shares how he first got his start in the music business and his approach to working with up and coming singers and veteran world famous singers.

Nashville has been a hot city for people to move into, not just for the people of the good 'ol US of A but, for folks all around the world.   Listen to singer/songwriter Nick Howard share how he left his home in the U.K. to pursue his life long dream of being a full time performing musician. Nick shares some of the triumphs he's had along the way and some of the challenges. Nick also gives some insight about why he moved his young family from New York City to Nashville and why that's been a good move for them.

Roy Agee is one of the funniest men in Nashville. He is also one of the badest trombone players on the planet. This cat can throw down! In this installment of Music City Memoirs, Roy tells us how he got his start in music by trying to skip gym class in middle school, some of the differences in playing in a brass section in Nashville vs LA or NYC and what it was like to play in the band for the late singer, Prince. Listen and laugh along as Roy shares how his life has been filled with wonderful experiences, all because he learned how to play the "bugle".

Allie Farris is a brilliant singer-songwriter that also runs a very successful piano tuning business. She is one of the only female piano tuners in a large city where there are a lot of pianos that need to be tuned on a very regular basis.  Allie describes some of the unique processes that she goes through to get a piano sounding it's very best for some of the most critical recording sessions in Nashville.  As you'll learn, it's not a job to leave to a computer or phone App.  You'll also get a look into the difficulty of being a female in a male-dominated industry and how she has not just risen to the challenge but flourished in spite of the challenge.

Welcome to the first episode of Music City Memoirs!  The goal of this series is to broaden the spotlight on the music community in Nashville, TN. There are countless number of people that contribute is a wide variety of ways to help create a collective which creates music and art that moves and inspires people all over the world.  We want to tell some of their stories.