SoundCorps Launches To Revive Chattanooga's Music Economy

  • Friday, October 9, 2015

In an effort to grow Chattanooga’s music economy, a new organization called SoundCorps is launching Monday to provide local music industry professionals with resources to move their businesses forward. SoundCorps will celebrate the occasion with a 7 p.m.-midnight Launch Party at The Revelry Room.

The event will feature a diverse cross-section of popular Chattanooga music, highlighting local artists representing genres and disciplines such as improvisational jazz, rock 'n roll, old-time, electric blues, hip-hop, spoken-word, noise/experimental, acoustic blues, techno and more.

Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke will deliver brief remarks prior to a ribbon cutting ceremony at 7:30 p.m.

Admission is free. Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served and a cash bar will be available. Click here for details and to reserve a ticket.

SoundCorps is led by Executive Director Stratton Tingle and supported by the Benwood, Lyndhurst and McKenzie foundations. The organization was established in early 2015 and will serve local music industry professionals ranging from artists and venue owners to booking agents, instrument retailers, recording studio owners and more.

“Between the 1940s and 1960s, Chattanooga was widely regarded as one of the premier destinations for music activity in the Southeast,” said Mr. Tingle. “The Big Nine (now known as M.L.K. Boulevard) gave birth to nationally-acclaimed successes like Bessie Smith, Jimmy Blanton and the founders of The Impressions. Unfortunately, the rise of racial tensions in the 60s paralyzed the growth of Chattanooga’s live music scene and led to the mass exodus of some of our most successful artists.

“Today, we have an opportunity to address those long-standing issues by reigniting Chattanooga’s passion for local music of all genres through SoundCorps. We are working to develop music industry infrastructure and professional expertise through a wide variety of programs, initiatives and collaboration-centric events.”

Among those initiatives, SoundCorps will work to accomplish the following:

  • Provide professional development programming to existing and aspiring music industry professionals
  • Offer ongoing opportunities for local music industry professionals to network and collaborate
  • Elevate the voice of the local music community on topics and issues that affect their businesses
  • Increase opportunities for the Chattanooga community to enjoy local music and interact with Chattanoogas music industry professionals
  • Re-establish Chattanooga as a hub for music activity and entertainment

SoundCorps programming is driven by the needs of locals working within Chattanooga’s music economy. In late June 2015, more than 200 music industry professionals convened at Track 29 for the SoundCorps SpeakUp event, where they expressed their most pressing business development needs. The majority of that feedback revealed that music industry PR, marketing and audience development were the most important needs.

As a direct result of that conversation, SoundCorps developed TakeNote, a quarterly workshop series with a focus on professional development. The first installment will take place Nov. 9 at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center at 6 p.m. and will feature Jeremiah Lewis (Redeye Worldwide - Burger Records, Yep Roc), Kimberly Novosel (Press Management Group; Clint Black, Reba McEntire), Max Pete (Empire Distribution - Gladys Knight, T.I., Tyga, Paul Wall) and Seth Weiner (Shimon Presents - Coachella, Hangout Music Festival). The price of admission is $10.

At SpeakUp, local music industry professionals also indicated they would value more opportunities to connect with one another both in person and online. To address that interest, SoundCorps has developed an online directory of local music industry professionals and businesses, which users can browse by categories. Some of those categories include artist, venue, festival, sound recording and radio. Users can sort through a number of tags and descriptors to easily connect with Chattanooga music industry providers for hire. In addition, SoundCorps has committed to providing ongoing networking events that allow local music industry professionals to meet and combine their respective areas of expertise.

The SoundCorps Directory will be publicly unveiled at the Launch Party Oct. 12. For details on TakeNote and upcoming networking events, click here to join the SoundCorps mailing list.

The SoundCorps board of directors comprises Corey Petree of Jolly Walrus Productions, Daniel Barber of Elliott Davis Decosimo, Tish Calitz of Action Environmental, Mark Hackett of Evans Harrison Hackett, PLLC, Tia Capps of The Company Lab (CO.LAB), Darian Scott of Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, Monica Kinsey of Track 29 and The Revelry Room and Scott Bruce of Chattanooga Times Free Press.

To learn more about SoundCorps, visit www.SoundCorps.org and follow the organization on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SoundCorps and on Twitter at @SoundCorps.

SoundCorps is a 501c(3) nonprofit dedicated to growing the music economy in the Chattanooga region. The organization was established in early 2015 and serves local music industry professionals ranging from artists and venue owners to booking agents, instrument retailers, recording studio owners and more. SoundCorps devotes its energies to building local music industry infrastructure and professional expertise through ongoing programs, event and initiatives. To learn more, visit www.SoundCorps.org.


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