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Tag: Nashville Berklee Jam (Page 1 of 2)

Nashville Berklee Jam

Kate Taylor on Music for TV and Film

Eric Normand ’89 runs the Nashville Berklee Jam. For the full post please visit nashvilleberkleejam.com.

At the August Nashville Berklee Jam we were fortunate to have an expert in the field of music for television and film – songwriter and CEO of Song Placement International, Kate Taylor. A native of Michigan, Kate has been in Nashville since 1999 and has had her songs placed in shows like “The Young and Restless”, “Teen Nick”, CMT, and countless others. Through her song placement company she has placed songs for hundreds of artists and is currently working with shows like “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Nashville”, and “Duck Dynasty”, to name a few. Here are a few highlights from her in-depth talk about the ins and outs of getting music placed in TV, film, video games and commercials. (A video of Kate’s entire talk can be viewed here.)

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Nashville Berklee Jam with Judy Rodman

Eric Normand ’89 runs the Nashville Berklee Jam. For the full post please visit nashvilleberkleejam.com.

The guest speaker for the June, 2014 Nashville Berklee Jam was award-winning vocal coach, Judy Rodman. In this in-depth workshop she covers many facets of the most challenging endeavor a vocalist will encounter, singing in the studio. Here are some highlights from her talk (her entire presentation can be viewed here).

“The studio is an odd place to sing, it’s very artificial…it requires perfection, because the mic is really sensitive… and recording is forever.”

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Nashville Berklee Jam with Bryan Beller ’92 – April 29, 2013

Eric Normand ’89 runs the Nashville Berklee Jam. For the full post please visit nashvilleberkleejam.com.

Our second installment of the Nashville Berklee Jam at The Rutledge brought out a great crowd, an inspiring story, and some “vibey” performances. Our special guest on this night, bass extraordinaire and Berklee alumnus, Bryan Beller ’92, gave an insightful talk that touched on the ups and downs of his life and his experience in the music business.

Long before his recent work with Steve Vai, Dethklok, The Aristocrats, and his current role as bassist on Joe Satriani’s 2013 European tour, Bryan roamed the halls of Berklee College of Music searching for a higher level of musical awareness and his place in the world of music. This joureny would take him to LA and a stint with the Dweezil Zappa band, a move that led to an interesting chain of events.

To read the full post with photos click here.

Special thanks to Bryan and Kyra for making this event a big success; The Rutledge, alumni Amanda Williams and Arielle Schwalm, videographer, Jack Zander, and Fran Breen (drums) and Eric Bikales (keys) for donating their time.

The Nashville Berklee Jam is held at The Rutledge on the last Monday of every other monday, with the next event to take place on Monday, June 24 featuring special guest, President of the Nashville Musician’s Union and A-list bassist, Dave Pomeroy.

For more info about future events, please visit the Nashville Berklee Jam website www.nashvilleberkleejam.com. If you would like to learn more about the Nashville music industry, please check out Eric Normand’s book, “The Nashville Musician’s Survival Guide“.

Nashville Berklee Jam with Dallas Davidson – February 18, 2013 Part 2

Eric Normand ’89 runs the Nashville Berklee Jam. For the full post with pictures and videos please visit nashvilleberkleejam.com.

We were only halfway through our very first Nashville Berklee Jam at The Rutledge and those in attendance had received some amazing perspective, and enjoyed an inspired performance from one of Nashville’s top songwriters, Dallas Davidson. After Dallas’s portion of the night was over we took a moment to reorganize and then began the open jam portion of this night.

Among those who performed were alumni, Amanda Williams (also one of the organizers of this event), Mason Stevens, who played a Delta blues instrument known as the “Diddly Bo”, drummers, John Rodrigue and Russell Garner, and bassist, Austin Solomon (Austin took a means solo in Cissy Strut). A few others from the Nashville music community also sat in on drums, Austin Marshall and Tom Drenon.

All the performances were strong and everyone who participated had a great time, but don’t take my word for it, check out the videos below to get a better idea of what can happen at The Nashville Berklee Jam!

The Nashville Berklee Jam is held at The Rutledge on the last Monday of every other month, with the next event to take place on Monday, April 29 featuring special guest, Bassist, Bryan Beller (Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Mike Keneally) who will also be joined by his wife, Kira Small.

For more info about future events, please visit the Nashville Berklee Jam website NashvilleBerkleeJam.com

If you would like to learn more about the Nashville music industry, please check out my website and book “The Nashville Musician’s Survival Guide”.

Nashville Berklee Jam with Dallas Davidson, February 18, 2013 – Part 1

Eric Normand ’89 runs the Berklee Nashville Jam. Here is a recap of the last jam he held in February. For the full post with photos and videos, visit nashvilleberkleejam.com.

A cold, damp rainy night wasn’t enough to stop Berklee alumni and others from converging on one of Nashville’s coolest venues, The Rutledge in what would be the first Nashville Berklee Jam to be held in downtown Nashville. Monday, February 18 marked the one-year anniversary of this event which had previously been held in the suburb of Kingston Springs, and the move to downtown aims to kick the event’s profile up a notch as this centrally located venue is perhaps one of the finest performance rooms in the city.

People began rolling in around 6:30, and the guest speaker on this night, 2012 NSAI, ACM, and BMI songwriter of the year, Dallas Davidson began his portion of the night shortly after 7:00 PM. Dallas, Rhett Akins, and Ben Haslip, make up the songwriting team known as “The Peach Pickers”, who in recent years have become the most successful songwriting team in the history of Nashville. Since moving to Music City from Albany, GA in 2004 Dallas has had over 100 of his compositions recorded including 13 number one hits – “Gimme That Girl”, “Just a Kiss”, “The One That Got Away”, and “I Don’t Want This Night to End”, to name a few.

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