2020 started with hopeful thoughts for many, but soon premature hopes would be dashed on the proverbial rocks as 2020 tumbled down the cliff, moving ever more rapidly to becoming the worst year in recent history for the entire planet.
(Nashville, Tennessee)
In East Nashville, where Kenny Schick and his wife, Sabine Heusler-Schick, run Basement3Productions, a music production company, many of the businesses that made East Nashville vibrant (including a very popular music venue, The Basement East) were torn to pieces, just a few blocks from the Schick’s ‘compound’.
Immediately following this tragedy, the whole planet went into lock down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nashville, being a town where music, entertainment, tourism, and restaurants make it the destination it is, and being a town full of musicians who rely on gigs and touring, immediately felt the full impact of the shutdowns.
Followed immediately by Black Lives Matter protests and riots, Nashville unraveled quickly as opposing ideologies and contrary opinions about how to ‘carry on’ clashed in grand fashion. Musicians and the music industry that gives Music City it’s identity, an industry whose employees often struggle to eek out a living even in the best of times, hangs on the verge of extinction in Nashville, and many wonder if the clubs, the artists, the hotels, the restaurants will survive. Even before 2020 reared its ugly head, concerns of rapid growth and rising housing costs had threatened the survival of an already challenged music industry, as well as the charm and history of Nashville.
It is with this whirlwind of thoughts and fears that Kenny Schick penned the song, "The Ghost Of Nashville", a tribute to his hometown of just 3 years. Schick and his wife had fled the San Francisco Bay Area as some of the highest costs of living in the country had gutted the once thriving community of artists there. Schick and his wife knew Nashville was growing quickly, but both were surprised to see a place called ‘Music City’ on a trajectory to let economic growth alone potentially devour the very industry that attracts so many to Nashville from around the world. "The Ghost Of Nashville" leaves listeners with lots of questions, but Schick hopes it inspires thoughts and new ideas that will lead to preserving the heart and soul of Music City.
"Will the songs of Music City die? the beating heart, the poets cry hindsight is 2020, foresight is 4 eyed will we pack our cars leave music row behind, Wave goodbye to the blind?"
About Kenny Schick
Kenny Schick might get labeled a singer/songwriter simply because he plays solo, his weathered acoustic guitar supporting his lilting tenor vocal, but Schick has a loyal following because those who experience his shows find a lot more ‘under the hood’ than just another guy with a guitar could ever provide. Schick’s audiences feel this passion – the experience of decades of performance in every imaginable genre and the observations of one who takes the sometimes tumultuous road less traveled. At Kenny’s shows, there is laughter, tears, musical craftsmanship, and thought provoking lyricism. The shows take listeners on a journey and includes them, with much banter back and forth.
Stream on Spotify
Connect on Facebook
Subscribe on Youtube
Contact: https://b3pmusic.com
Comments