- [Narrator] Support for this program is provided by the Weldon F. Osborne Foundation.

The Schillhahn-Huskey Foundation, and viewers like you.

Thank you.

- On today's show, we will feature two impactful nonprofits.

Both are dedicated to growing the music and arts economy of our city.

We're Stronger Together Chattanooga, stay tuned to learn more.

(upbeat music) Welcome to Chattanooga Stronger Together, I'm Barbara Marter.

From the early 20th century into the 1970s, Chattanooga was known for a vibrant music scene.

Martin Luther King Boulevard, was once known as Ninth Street and the Big 9 was where you went to find the best black music in entertainment.

SoundCorp is a nonprofit dedicated to reestablishing our city as a destination for music lovers.

Growing the local cultural economy, Stratton Tingle is the Executive Director of SoundCorp.

Stratton, we are so excited to learn more about SoundCorp.

And I didn't know doing some research that where Bessie Smith Cultural Center is, used to be the Martin Hotel.

And so I love the fact that you are reestablishing that rich history of the black music and all the different genres and everything like that.

So welcome, and tell me some more about SoundCorp and what your vision is.

- Awesome, well, thank you so much, thanks for having me.

Grateful to be here and grateful for the ability to have an organization like SoundCorp, in a city the size of Chattanooga.

It's really unusual for a city our size to have an organization like us who is dedicated to helping local musicians and local music industry professionals build their careers right here in Chattanooga.

And like you mentioned, Chattanooga was once considered one of America's great music cities with a thriving cultural district there on 9th Street now known as MLK Boulevard.

Right there where the Bessie Smith Cultural Center sits.

And obviously one of our greatest musicians and our heritage comes from Bessie Smith, who herself was a busker or a street performer.

And she got her starts singing in the streets for food, and for money, and tips, and donations.

And grew to some of America's largest stages.

And obviously is an icon in American music history.

And so that's kind of where we start.

We start with a program called Sidewalk Stages, where we work with over 150 street performers, also known as buskers now.

Who activate public spaces throughout Chattanooga.

Every weekend from April through October, we manage around 700 total performances every year with Sidewalk Stages, our street performance initiative.

And that's just one of the examples of how we endeavor to build our local creative economy, helping local musicians to increase their careers, increase their finances through everything from street performances to performing on big stages, recording music and it goes up from there.

But I think that tie that you make with our history there on the Big 9 on MLK Boulevard with street performance, is a great place to start when we're talking about all of SoundCorps programs.

- So what are some of the other...

I know at one point in time I had heard, I think, you were in the hospitals singing to the young children in the pediatric ward?

- Yeah, that's right.

Yeah, absolutely.

- Oh, I see.

- So we work with musicians wherever they're at in their career.

And so a lot of times we start off with street performance, through Sidewalk Stages.

From there we grow into song scripts, which is a program that we ran for a number of years in Erlanger Children's Hospital.

During COVID, we were able to activate musicians around nursing homes and senior care centers and facilities through our partnership with Morning Pointe Senior Living.

But I wanna make sure that I'm clear that we also have a lot of programming that looks like what you might find at music business school.

So our programs that really serve musicians on helping them take their career seriously, think of their music projects as a business, and manage 'em like a business.

So one of those programs is called Craft Masters.

It's our eight week music industry intensive course.

We have a class of about 10 people who go through the course, and they come in with an idea that's in the music industry, and they come out with the tools and resources that they need to launch that idea.

And when I say come in with an idea, that could mean, I wanna record my first album and put it out on all the platforms.

I want to go on my first 30 day tour.

Or it could mean I wanna establish a new music venue, or I wanna start a new radio station.

Or I wanna start an artist management company or a record label.

Those are all types of businesses that we work with to help them try to establish their roots here in Chattanooga and grow right here in our hometown.

So a lot of times when I'm talking about SoundCorp, people obviously think about musicians specifically.

But we serve everyone that's part of the music economy.

And that includes venue owners, record label owners, record stores like Yellow Racket Records, music industry merchandising, like Colortest Merchandising right here in Chattanooga.

A lot of people don't even know that they're necessarily a local company.

But we work with all of those companies to try to ensure that we're creating jobs in the music industry here in Chattanooga, and supporting that creative economy.

A lot of the employees that work for those types of businesses are musicians themselves.

And may be doing street performances with us through Sidewalk Stages, as in a supplemental form of income.

And maybe taking part in the road to Nightfall Concert Series that we help orchestrate and partnership with Chattanooga Presents and Gig City Productions.

And maybe wanting to get on larger stages like at Riverbend, or at the Tivoli, or Memorial Auditorium.

So we'd like to think of ourselves as a great stepping stone for people who may have been treating their music industry career kind of like a hobby, or may think that they may need to move to a larger market like Nashville, or Atlanta, or New York, or LA.

But we like to think of ourselves as a resource where those people can go and say, "Hey, I really hope to stay here in Chattanooga, I wanna manage my career from here in Chattanooga, what are my options?"

And that's something that we can help a lot of local musicians and music industry professionals.

We can lead them to success through some of our programs like Craft Masters, like TakeNote, our quarterly panel series.

We try to connect our music industry with the greater community through our online music industry directory.

We can find over a thousand artists and other music industry professionals on our online directory at soundcord.org.

So the list kind of goes on about sort of the breadth of our programming.

But you kind of get an idea that everything is built to serve the local musician and music industry professionals and helping them establish a career, take their business seriously and grow from there, right here in Chattanooga.

- Well, one of the things when you talk about the Craft Masters program, the eight week course and everything.

What if somebody...

Which I like about it because you're treating it as a business which in essence it is, it's music business.

But if somebody comes through there and then, "I've got this great idea, I wanna do this."

And then all of a sudden they're coming through this and they're like, "Yeah, this is not what I was thinking it was supposed to be."

But you could kind of help them redirect their passion - Absolutely.

- or where their skill set, or where their heart is, and help them to find what really fits what they're wanting to accomplish.

- Absolutely, ultimately we work with entrepreneurs.

If you're in the music industry, you're probably an entrepreneur running one or multiple businesses, managing a whole bunch of income streams.

And that can be really frustrating, it can be frightening, it can be a lot to manage.

And so we understand a lot of those hurdles and we understand sort of the different income streams.

And I think what you mentioned about understanding where to put your energies is really, really important.

I can think of a specific example of a person who went through our Craft Masters session.

And she went in wanting to establish a new radio station here in Chattanooga.

And we said, "Okay, well, here are some templates for what a budget looks like.

Here's some templates for a business plan, let's work it out, let's write it up."

And so she began writing it up, doing her research.

And pretty quickly came to the realization that one, it costs a lot of money to start a new radio station.

And two, I'm not so sure this is how I wanna spend my energy.

I want to direct my energy at... She ultimately decided to direct her energy at some artist management, as well as event production.

Now event production is something that's totally within the realm.

That's a completely, you can bootstrap that.

You can do that yourself.

You can start with very little to no money and throw some events that build a business.

So that was just one example of kind of what you're talking about, I think.

But yeah, that's ultimately kind of what we do.

Let's look at the bottom line together, let's get serious about your business.

Let's go through a business plan.

I like to say we kind of hood week people into the business side of the music industry by getting them into their creativity and their passion first, which is ultimately where their why is coming from.

That's why they're doing what they're doing.

And that's what's gonna drive them through the hard times.

And that's what drives any entrepreneur.

We're just here for the folks trying to do something entrepreneurial in the music industry here locally.

- I think there's a local example one of the artists that crosses all genres is Tyler, is it Martelli?

- That's right, yeah.

- He plays in five bands and he really captures the Chattanooga sound.

Because the Chattanooga sound is just not bluegrass.

It's just not jazz, it's not rock, it's eclectic.

It's a lot of different things.

- That's right.

- So are you seeing more Tylers out there like that?

- Absolutely, I think one of the beautiful things... A lot of times people ask me, what is the Chattanooga sound?

- Exactly.

- What is Chattanooga known for?

And I don't think it's appropriate to sort of do a top down definition of any community's sound or any community's genre.

When you think of the legendary genres that have come out of specific American communities, you think of like, grunge is from Seattle, you think of Dixieland Jazz from New Orleans.

All the various genres.

And those came out of a grassroots movement.

Those came from the artists collaborating, working together from the history of that place and grew naturally.

So I think that's what happens here in Chattanooga.

And I think a perfect example is when you look at an artist like Tyler Martelli, that is an example of someone who is an award-winning bluegras musician, but who is working in a lot of different communities and a lot of different genres.

And we're seeing new collaborations, not just through programs like SoundCorp or projects like SoundCorp, but with local venues like the WanderLinger Brewery who features all kinds of artists on their stage.

JJ's Bohemia, I can't go down the whole list, 'cause I'm gonna forget someone and I'll be in trouble.

But that's where you see the real grassroots organic collaborations coming from.

Is on those local stages, on those late night jam sessions and those hangouts.

And you see people coming up with new ideas, being excited about each other's creativity and each other's art, and being able to be fluid amongst genres.

And that's where we're gonna hear the Chattanooga sound come out.

'Cause we're really a crossroads, if you think about it.

If you think about the history of the Big 9, you think about that history of jazz, blues, and R and B.

And then you think about the history of bluegrass and the Appalachia and the mountains around Chattanooga.

And you think of that beautiful, perfect storm of crossroads.

Where we can have musicians of different genres coming together, collaborating and coming up with the sound that is uniquely Chattanoogan.

- Thank you so much for coming in today.

And I want to direct our viewers to go to your website.

There's so much more information in there that I think if we'd had an hour show, we could have probably not covered all of it at that time.

But anyway, thank you so much for coming in.

I really appreciate it.

And I know our viewers will love learning more about SoundCorp.

So up next, we will have Shane Morrow, Executive Director of RISE, stay tuned.

We wanna know how you serve your community.

Send us photos or videos of you or your family volunteering.

And we may feature it on a future episode.

Email, stronger@wtcitv.org, or use the hashtag StrongerWTCI on social media.

Welcome back.

We're happy to have Shane Morrow with us today.

He's the Executive Director of RISE, which stands for Responsive Initiatives for Social Empowerment.

RISE is dedicated to the development of creative programming and events that transcend cultural barriers, promoting awareness, vibrancy, inclusiveness, and resiliency for communities in the greater Chattanooga area.

Shane, it's a big mission.

And I'm pleased to have you here with us today to tell us all about - Thank you.

- what RISE is about.

So I know that RISE started out of the community foundation - Yes.

- In 2011 as a one day program.

And it was originally called Jazzanooga.

- Yes it was.

- So you are coming in the picture now, so I wanna know your story.

I wanna know your why, and where it started in 2011 to where we are today.

- First and foremost, thank you for the opportunity to sit down and chat with you in regarding to RISE.

And yes you are right, we started back in 2011, originally as a one day festival.

I got here in Chattanooga back in 2003 and realized there was a wealth of talent and such great cultural history.

Especially around blues and jazz.

And I thought that was a great metaphor for life.

Because one thing about jazz is always changing, it's always evolving such as life.

But jazz originated here in the south.

And like, we need to celebrate that more.

So I went around, begged a couple folks.

I'm from a long line of piano players.

So I thought that I could be able to utilize my gift and also be able to showcase others.

And we started the one day Fest.

Never did I think in a million years that it would manifest itself to being a year round programming, an annual festival.

It literally changed overnight.

And I think that was due to the fact that our city continues to have this yearning of learning more about our local culture, and also about jazz itself.

So it started as Jazznooga.

We went down over to the community foundation, a greater Chattanooga and we started a fund.

Then from there we went ahead and changed our name.

Because we realized that we were doing much more than just music, and that became RISE.

- Okay, that sounds good.

So let's fast forward.

- Please.

- During COVID, you stepped out again and said, "Oh, let's buy a church."

So tell me about this church.

- Well, it's funny.

When I look backwards and realize that during the midst of a pandemic, that I would start looking for property to be able to continue the expansion of program and services, never did I think I would find a church, but we did.

This church is located inside the Glass Farm Historic District, in east Chattanooga.

I recognized that within that building was a catalyst.

I see it as a catalyst to be able to bring forth more energy opportunities.

Not just to uplift that community, but to uplift the city itself.

Because I think as a nonprofit, when you say that you're working in the community, sometimes you need to be within the community.

- That's true.

- So we went ahead and bought this church that was somewhat dilapidated.

But we knew they had great bonds and also knew that there was a historical value and significance of being with inside of a church.

And with that being said, we went ahead, got to church, and we just finished up about 85% done in renovations.

- Oh wow, that's amazing.

- 15,000 square feet of church that we have now converted into a performance venue, educational space, and a resource hub.

For not just that immediate community, but for others as well to learn more in regard about community engagement, about the cultural significance of being around with each other, and also to learn how, hopefully learn how to learn from each other.

- So when you say resource hub, - Yes.

- What does that encompass?

- Yes, thank you.

We started incubator program.

The incubator program is for creatives of color and women.

And I'll explain that.

Everyone has a gift.

And really- - Not everybody.

Not me.

- I'm a firm believer, everyone has a gift.

And when you are a created in spirit, sometimes you may not need a handout, but a step up.

And we totally believe that if people are starting their small businesses, especially within the creative realm, they may need some tools to be able to elevate their programs or elevate their programs and services.

So we decided to start an incubator program to sit alongside and walk alongside individuals that may need some help to be able to elevate their services and programs.

- Oh, that's amazing.

So somebody came in, - Yes.

- are you gonna be able to also not only give them the space to work out their ministry or their artistic ability and everything.

But are you also gonna come alongside them and help them with the management aspect of it?

And if they're gonna create, they're gonna be a songwriter or whatever venue they're gonna take, are you kind of bringing alongside other resources for them to help educate them?

- For sure.

- For sure.

Involve them in the particular program that they'll be developing a business plan, they'll be working alongside with mentors, other entrepreneurs.

- Okay, good.

- Within side the field, they can give them their guidance on how they moved forward in the field.

At the end of the program, they get opportunity to stay within side of our building as a co-working space.

So they'll be able to have this hub to work out of, as long as they're able to take the gifts that they have and to help back the other community members as well.

- Oh, that's wonderful.

I love that.

- So we have this long list of sorts of folks that are just so creative we giving back.

Example being, we've had so many great collaborations throughout the years.

And so we started a program a couple years ago, exclusively for senior citizens, which is called the Piano of Life or the Keys of Life, we call it.

Where it's free piano lessons for seniors.

And I consider myself to be 50 and over, for seniors that wanna learn the basics.

'Cause there's so much that you can be able to learn about self at any age.

For me, I always believe that learning is something that you can do throughout your whole life.

I laugh when people say, "Your old dog can't learn new tricks."

I'd like to dispel that myth, this old dog has learned a lot of new tricks.

And I thought that having the type of program for free, gives an advantage point for (indistinct) they're looking for something to do.

- That's true.

So you talk about piano lessons.

- Yes.

- Did you not mention to me that you had 40 pianos?

- We had just got donated 40 digital pianos for our program.

- Oh, the digital.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- 40 digital pianos.

- That's cool.

Like where are you gonna put these 40 huge Steinways.

- But the great thing about that is that every piano that we get donated, and everyone that goes through the program, they get that piano.

- Seriously?

- Yes.

So you get a free piano, you get all the material for the program that just mentioned to you for the Keys of Life.

So you go through that program, at the end of the program that piano is yours.

- And how long does the program last?

- The program last for six to eight weeks, depending on your level on how quickly that you pick up.

- Oh, okay.

So if it needed to extend a little bit past the eight weeks, you're flexible with that?

- Right.

- We have learned that give some people a little extra time just in case.

- So in addition to piano instructions, what other instruments do you give instructions in?

- We're getting ready to start a guitar program.

We have a drumming program.

All of these classes that we're offering for the community are absolutely free, there's no cost.

- Oh wow.

- There is no cost.

And they all will be done with inside of our hub, AKA the church.

It's so funny that someone recently asked me, "What is the name of your facility?"

And I think long and hard about that one.

Because I wanted the community to be able to name it.

So right now we're just calling it the House of RISE.

- Aww, that is so sweet.

Well, that kind of stays with the jazz, and the theme, and everything the House of RISE.

I love that, I love that.

So in 2019- - Yes.

- Something special happened, what was that?

- Something very special happened.

We got invited through one of our sister city programs in Chattanooga to come to China, just before COVID.

We were very fortunate to be able to sing at the Shanghai International Music Art Festival.

- Oh wow.

- We were the only African American performers.

And we were the only American performer that particular year.

- In your group- - Yes.

- What was the age range?

- The age range from 20 to 62.

- Oh, okay.

- I selected and I called it to the Ambassador program.

We selected individuals, 'cause I didn't want it to all be where it was gonna be all professional singers and performers.

We picked folks throughout the community that would meet the need for us to illustrate through music.

What Chattanooga was about, what the power of jazz was all about.

So we had individuals that worked at city hall.

We had individuals that were actually just graduated college that we selected, that we in turn through a very great donation, was able to go to China and spend eight days.

- Wow, that's absolutely.

- In performance.

- That's amazing.

So we have one minute left.

- Yes.

- So tell me about symbol your opportunities.

- There's always volunteer opportunities - I can imagine.

- that will rise up.

Throughout the year that we do a couple of music festivals, local music series, and we're always looking for folks to be help us to get the word out first and foremost.

Anyone that's interested or who has a musical experience background, and would like to be able to share that maybe through training others or being a mentor of some of our folks that are learning piano lessons or have you, they're more than welcome to reach out.

And they can reach out through our email, which is info@risecha.org.

That's I-N-F-O @risecha, R-I-S-E-C-H-A.org.

- Thank you so much for joining us today.

- Thank you.

- Educating me and our viewers more about RISE and the awesome work that you're doing over there in the Glass Farms area, so.

And thank you for joining us as well.

We hope you've learned more about the incredible work being done by nonprofits in our community.

So tell us what you think.

Email us at stronger@wtcitv.org, or use the hashtag StrongerWTCI on social media.

I'm Barbara Marter, for all of us here at WTCI, we'll see you next time.

(cool music) - [Narrator] Support for this program is provided by the Weldon F. Osborne Foundation.

The Schillhahn-Huskey Foundation and viewers like you.

Thank you.