(Photo: MS Music Foundation)
- The foundation offers mentorship opportunities, workshops, and internship opportunities to help aspiring artists with their work.
Mississippi’s moniker as the birthplace of music is well-earned. It’s safe to say that Mississippi has produced the founding father of blues, Robert Johnson, the creator of country music, Jimmie Rodgers, and Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll.
Many other Mississippians have dominated the music scene from nearly every genre. Keith Thibodeaux is the drummer for David and the Giants, a Christian rock band. Faith Hill, Leeann Rhimes, Charley Pride, Tammy Wynette, Marty Stuart, and Conway Twitty are all Mississippians who have left legacies in country music, new and old. Tommy Aldridge, a heavy metal and rock drummer from Pearl, Mississippi, has played with Ozzy Osborne, Whitesnake, Ted Nugent, and more. Lance Bass hails from Clinton, Mississippi, and is part of one of the greatest boy bands of all time (by this writer’s standard, anyway).
This is not an exhaustive list. There are many, many more examples of great musicians who have come from Mississippi.
Mississippi Music Foundation brings priceless experience to aspiring artists
One commonality unites the rich and famous multi-Grammy winners in the music industry with those who are still strumming away on borrowed guitars. They all had to start somewhere, and the Mississippi Music Foundation exists to help budding artists get into the industry.
Peter Whitham is a composer, producer, and audio engineer. His passion lies in his work as the president and CEO of the Mississippi Music Foundation, celebrating artists in their successes and assisting others in breaking into the industry.
“The Mississippi Music Foundation helps individuals grow with their music,” said Whitham. “We promote Mississippi composers all over the world.”
No recorded music yet? That’s okay. The Mississippi Music Foundation helps those artists as well.
“If someone wants to document their song, and they don’t have a lot of money, we have a money match program,” said Whitham. “When you get started in the music industry, not having a lot of money is usually the case.”
The foundation also offers mentorship opportunities, workshops, and internship opportunities to help aspiring artists with their work.
“We work with many different recording studios throughout the state,” said Whitham. “We have a lot of people within the industry who help us promote musicians.”
The Mississippi Music Foundations Awards at the Landers Center in Southaven on May 24th will not only recognize Mississippi artists and their great achievements but also provide a new artist with the opportunity of a lifetime.
“We do a lot of work for unsigned artists because it’s a tough industry to break into,” said Whitham.
In conjunction with the awards ceremony, there’s a contest for an unsigned artist to get an original single recorded in a studio and have a music video produced for the song.
“This is a fifteen thousand dollar value package,” said Whitham. “It is make it or break it for many artists.”
The Mississippi Music Foundation helps from start to finish, from recording the music to distributing it worldwide once it has been released.
“It has become international,” said Whitham. “We have Mississippi artists getting into the European and Asian markets.”
For more information, visit the Mississippi Music Foundation on Facebook.
Courtney Ingle
