Article and photographs by Sarah Godcher Murphy

Ask Nashville's high-powered music professionals why they chose to settle in the heart of the mid-South and this is what they will tell you: Nashville is a place where good things happen to talented people.

	Gillian Welch and David Rawlingsperform for students at the Bluebird cafe

That's what industry heavies told the scores of Berklee students who converged on the business district known as Music Row in M

arch for Berklee's annual Nashville spring- break trip. Opportunity abounds in the Music City for hard-working, gifted folks, they said. And that was music to the ears of Berklee's future songwriters and producers, looking for the right place from which to launch a career.

Over 100 songwriting and music production students headed south March 12-17 for Berklee's 11th annual Nashville spring break--a whirlwind mini-course in how to establish a music career. While in the city, students got to know Music Row, attending clinics and panels with the city's songsmiths, session musicians and producers.

Hit songwriters like Gary Burr, Mike Reid and Beth Neilsen Chapman, 70s rock hero Peter Frampton, superstar producer Don Was, MCA Nashville President Tony Brown, and young country artist Paul Brandt were just a few of the many talented professionals who participated, giving generously of their time and heartfelt advice. They talked about their rise to success in the business and encouraged students to chase their musical dreams in the Music City.

Students were heartened by the stories they heard.

"From what everyone was saying, it seems like you just have to go down there and pay your dues. If you have talent, it will be found," said Songwriting major Cameron Pruitt '01.

Alumnae Gillian Welch '92 and Kami Lyle '92 found this to be the case. Both had gone on the Nashville spring break as students and were drawn to the city's songwriting community. Both took the plunge and moved to Nashville, logging their miles at local songwriters' nights and winning over a local following. And within a few years of relocating to the Music City, both had earned recording contracts, and Welch had scored a Grammy nomination for her first album Revival.

"I moved here with about four songs," Welch laughingly told students. "They were all assignments from Pat Pattison's class, like 'song with a pre-chorus.' But some of those songs have gone on to have lives here in Nashville."

Gillian and her partner, guitarist David Rawlings, began a rigorous routine of going to writers' nights three or four times a week. Often they would sit through hours and hours of bad songs to get their turn at the mic.

"I found that to be grueling." Welch said. "But some [job] interviews actually came from those. There were song pluggers out at those writers' nights."

Kami Lyle '92 (left) and band mate Chris Cottros '92.

Brown had been lured to the alumni showcase by the trip's two organizers, Professor of General Education Pat Pattison and Associate Professor of Music Production and Engineering Stephen Webber, whose many friendships with Nashville's musical elite make the spring break trip possible. Impressed with Lyle's performance, Brown recommended her to MCA's pop/rock executives in Los Angeles and soon afterward she signed a contract. Her first album Blue Cinderella was released in 1997.

Although Kami's label is based in Los Angeles, she has chosen to stay in Nashville. Her jazzy pop style might seem like an odd fit in a city known for its country flair, but this is not the case. Nashville isn't all black hats and cowboy boots. While it is true that many of the tourist-oriented sites play to that honky-tonk sense of country charm, the city embraces all styles of American music, including rock, pop, jazz, blues, and bluegrass.

Like Lyle, many in the music industry who have relocated to Nashville from big cities say they prefer its small-town feel. Other panelists and clinicians told students they found Nashville's provincialism to be a welcome change and were appreciative of the close-knit and supportive community of music professionals. Many of the students on the trip also seemed drawn to Nashville's friendly, laid-back environment.

"Being an older student, when I graduate, I'm ready to start thinking about a family, and New York or L.A. isn't the kind of place for two kids and a dog," said Music Business and Management/Music Production and Engineering double major Wydell Croom '00.

While Nashville disproved many country stereotypes, there was one that it more than lived up to--that of Southern hospitality. Music Row threw open its doors to Berklee students, made them feel at home, and encouraged them to pursue their music careers. Many students were impressed by the caliber of artists and professionals taking the time to meet with them and were touched by their sincerity.

"They were so down to earth, even the major successful people like Beth Neilsen Chapman and Don Was," Cameron Pruitt said. "They were so easy to talk to and so masterful at explaining what they do."

Nashville's Berklee alumni also offered their advice and assistance to students during the alumni reception at the Westin Hermitage. Dozens of alumni attended and socialized with students, urging them to move to Nashville and offering to set them up with internships. The students, in turn, seemed grateful for the opportunity to network with successful alums.

"Sometimes alumni who have made it don't bother to talk to students. But they were so nice," said Wydell Croom. "They gave out their business cards and said, 'When you get down here, give me a call.' "

The success of Berklee alumni in Nashville has helped open the door for recent graduates looking to settle there. And 11 successful Nashville spring break trips have raised the school's profile with music business professionals, who say they are impressed by what Berklee grads have to offer.

"There are lots of opportunities here," Pat Pattison said. "All of that has to do with this trip."

Sarah Godcher is a publicist in the Office of Public Information at Berklee College of Music.