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16 of our extremely talented Singer-Songwriter Artists, 3 superb WTV film crew and 4 members of staff, led by
our Head of Jazz, Rock & Pop, Ben Greenslade-Stanton, joined together this summer in a once in a lifetime road trip to Tennessee and Alabama. Nerves, pressure & jet lag were completely bypassed by the energy and excitement of playing and recording at five of the most historically significant recording studios in the world of popular music: SUN Studio Memphis; Columbia A, The Quonset Hut & House Of David in Nashville, and FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals. Highlights included re-making our own ‘cover album’ of Bob Dylan’s classic Nashville Skyline in the very studio it was originally recorded (Columbia A) and a brief special guest discussion with Wayne Moss – one of Dylan’s original session musicians on his Nashville albums!
The group covered songs in Sun & Fame that were originally recorded there, reliving the beginnings of Soul and Rock & Roll and feeling the electric atmosphere as though Elvis or Cash or Aretha were in the room with them. Our songwriters felt the culture & history of these cities, people, towns, spaces,
not simply reading about it, but experiencing it first-hand – before laying down original songs in Nashville & Muscle Shoals, where such legends recorded their own songs.
The entire group received rave reviews from all of the engineers and producers based in the studios: no mean feat considering these are seasoned professionals who work with the greatest musicians & artists in the industry on a daily basis. A truly awesome tour, a fantastic group of creative artists, with success that is hard to put into words. The WTV produced film, Nashville Skyline, will have its World Premiere on Friday, 14th October in the CLT as part of the Wellington College Arts Festival. Above all it gives a real sense of new talents setting out on artistic journeys – and all filmed and recorded by WTV. Schoolboys and girls maybe — but as artists, equals!
