September 23, 2025 • 62 mins
We're talking with the President/CEO of The Stax Music Academy and Soulsville Charter School Pat Mitchell Worley on The Bev Johnson Show on WDIA Radio.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
W d I aint my bell got me a missed king.
(00:48):
Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome in to
w d I A the Bev Johnson Show. I'm Bev.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
It is indeed a pleasure to have you with us
once again on this Tuesday, September twenty third, twenty twenty five.
Enjoy this fabulous day to day. Get ready to put
your ears on as we spread the good news. And
(01:19):
good news is gonna come out of Solsville, USA.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Stick and stay for that. What at your turn to talk?
You know you can. All you need to do.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Is dial these numbers nine zero one, five three five,
nine three four two nine zero one five three five
nine three four two eight hundred five zero three nine
three four two eight hundred five zero three nine three
(01:51):
four two eight three three five three five nine three
four two will get you in to.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Me.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And if this day, this.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Day, Tuesday, September twenty third, twenty twenty five, is your birthday.
Happy birthday to each and every one of y'all out
there who may be celebrating a birthday on this day.
(02:34):
You know what we say, Go out, y'all, go out
and celebrate your life.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
You better, you better when we come back. We'll find out.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
What's going on in Soulsville. U s A there. We
will next with me Bev Johnson on the Bev Johnson
Show on the Hardened Soul of Memphis.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
W d I A.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
M H.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Good morning and welcome back to w d i A
The Bad Johnson Show. It is indeed a pleasure to
have you with us once again on this Tuesday, September
twenty third, twenty twenty five. Enjoyed this fabulous day to day. Well,
I had to start you off. I had to do
it with some music from Soulsville, USA, my favorite place, Soulsville, USA.
(04:22):
But this morning with me, I have the president on
the CEO of the Stax Music Academy.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Yay, Miss Pat Mitchell Whirly, Good morning, sister. How are you?
Speaker 5 (04:37):
I am wonderful. I am just absolutely pleased to be here.
The Lord woke me up this morning and everything's working. Hey,
you know, you gotta enjoy that everything's working. I don't
have a mystery pain in my knee or anything like that,
so I.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Figure today is an excellent day.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
It is, you know what, Pat, I'm glad you said it,
because a lot of people can get a dooming.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Glue Hey, you you are up and rolling.
Speaker 5 (05:02):
It's just like that is something to celebrate every day.
And I just don't, you know. I'm around kids a
lot at the music Academy, at the Soulsville Charter School,
kids that come into the Stacks Museum, and I see
these little youngins and I just think to myself, Oh,
I used to be like that.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
I used to be me.
Speaker 5 (05:25):
We were watching watching some kids dancing and they were
going down and they were bending their knees, and my
knees hurt watching them, and I'm just like, I remember,
I used to be able to do that, and now
I cannot.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
I cannot get back up as we as we age.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
Sister, that's right, but it's like it's a blessing to
have every day. It's a blessing to have no matter
what you can't do, just think about the things that
you can still do and celebrate that.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
I like that celebration.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Well, as I said, I had to start you off
with some Soulsville music booker t and MG. You know,
but I get so excited, Pat because I love that neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
I grew up. My grandmother mother lived in that neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Matter of fact, around the corner from from where it
was Stacks and now Stax Museum American Soul Music, and
the Stax Music Academy and the Sas Charter School. I
know about that area and I love I love it,
I love it, I love it.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
But pat for people who are listening. We know we're
gonna talk about some good stuff coming up. But people
who are listening and they're listening to you, pat across
the country. I tell them about the Stax Music Academy
and Soulsville Chartered School.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Well on this one campus that used to be Stax Records,
that college were college and Maclamoremon it used to be
apartments and yeah, there were apartments there after that and
the space as the home of Stax Records is. I
tell the story to people. Young people could come and
(07:08):
discover who they were. They could find that they could
do amazing things by writing a song, coming up with
lyrics and it would touch people, it would speak to them,
and they found out they were more powerful than they
thought they were. And that still happens on that campus today.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Wow. And so that.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
Is the that's the thing that gets me up in
the morning and I hop out of bed because there
are young people that are finding themselves, that are figuring
out what do I want to do for the rest
of my life?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
You know?
Speaker 5 (07:45):
And are they they're you know, on a quest for
like knowing themselves, but also what do they enjoy?
Speaker 1 (07:54):
What can they contribute?
Speaker 5 (07:55):
All those things are going through their little minds by
the time they hit twelve grade.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
All of the.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
Students at the charter school and the music Academy we
have one hundred percent college acceptance.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
We work to make sure that our.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
Students are We help them find scholarships to pay for college,
because if you can't pay for it doesn't matter where
you were accepted exactly. And so we also, as I
say that, we don't expect every student to go.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
They have to apply for school. But some students go, I.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
Want to be a fireman or I want to go
to trade school. Though you know, we don't discourage that
path anyone in any way. It's just like they get
to figure it out, but that college is an option, yes.
And then we asked this question on campus. I pick
it up from the teachers, what is the post secondary pathway?
(08:57):
And so, but one of my friends goes, people don't
know what post secondary means.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
That's some educator talk, and it's just like, what are
you going to do next?
Speaker 5 (09:06):
You have to have a plan of what you're going
to do next, because things don't just, you know, fall
in your lap. It is a combination of opportunity and
hard work that make things fall in your lap. And
so for us, we make sure that every student you
don't get to leave our campus without knowing what you're
doing next. Great we stay with our students till they're
(09:29):
twenty five years old, which you know, when you really
think about that, when you're you don't magically turn nineteen
and go I figured it out. No, no, no, you
do not not In nineteen you couldn't even figure out
how to get MLGNW. When I got my first apartment,
I was just like asking my parents, well, what do
(09:50):
I do and what I have to go down there?
Speaker 1 (09:52):
What exactly?
Speaker 5 (09:54):
And so for us, it's about them having a mentor
them having someone that they can call on for advice,
because it increases their chances of success, It increases their
being able to discern the good opportunity from the one
that's going to lead them astray because they can call
(10:15):
and they can talk to somebody about it and so
I think that that is one of the coolest things
about what happens on our campus, and there is, and
it's so you know, we have an office in the
charter school called College and Alumni Support Team, and we've
(10:36):
got an Office of Student Success in the Music Academy,
and to me, it's just like, well, everybody.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Should have this, every school should have this.
Speaker 5 (10:49):
It's just like when I was when my daughter was
in Clue when she was a little kid, and I asked,
you know, what's Clue looked like these days? And they said, oh,
they just make sure that they have experiential learning alongside
the learn And I was just like, well, why don't
you do that anyway? Because it's the best way to
(11:10):
remember things and you remember experiences. And so that's sort
of how I look at what we do that everybody
should be doing it, and the students who are their
chances of moving forward, their chances of you know, it's
(11:31):
once you get in school and you think at that age, oh, yeah,
I can do this without going to school.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
What do I need to go to school for? There's
somebody's talking.
Speaker 5 (11:39):
To you about it and helping you come up with
a plan, and your family is involved in that. So
it's no use for a student to go to a
school that's halfway across the country and their family is
worried about, well, how do I get them home in
an emergency or how do I Let's talk through those things,
because the better fit for school, the better your.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Chances of completing of in four years.
Speaker 5 (12:06):
Let's do the four years and not be stuck there
six years still trying to finish their education.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
And so that is.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
A lot of our work goes to building them up
and helping prepare them for lifelong success. It's just like
we're trying to, you know, speak to the curiosity. We're
trying to speak to the the just like why why are.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Things this way?
Speaker 5 (12:38):
And the critical thinking pieces. So I enjoy that side
of education, but it still all goes back to the
Stax Record story. It still goes back to what we
call the tenets of the Sax Record story.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
When you think of Stax Records, what do you think about?
Speaker 5 (12:54):
You think about creativity, think about excellence, You think about
the women and minorities as business owners, you think about entrepreneurship.
All of those things are encouraged and pushed on our
campus still to this day. So Providing opportunity is what
we do. Giving them exposure, it's what we do. And
(13:19):
so I think that I'm very proud of the work
that we do because I see the impact all the time,
and I have students that still, you know, text me
and I've got a list of students that I send
pizza money to, Pizza speaks to college students.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
You know, they're like, we're starving college students. Yeah, can
we get a pizza as bad?
Speaker 5 (13:48):
But it's anything I can do to encourage them. And
that's how our entire staff thinks like that. It's just
like we've got to keep them focus. Because I'm not
going on I'm not getting in a soapbox as I
say this, but really I am.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
We like soapboxes.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
Powers that are working for evil are working over time,
and they are trying to attract young people to things
that are not going to build them up, that are
not going to be good for them in the long run, that.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Are not in their best interests.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
And those of us that care about young people, we've
got to be just as diligent in showing them the good,
pushing them towards a good. I didn't raise myself, you know,
I wasn't raised in a cave and just figured it
out by myself. People took time, people like helped me,
even though I, you know, I just thought I knew everything.
(14:51):
But there were people that were mentors, there were people
that encouraged, and.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
We've got to do that work.
Speaker 5 (15:00):
And I think that sometimes we get discouraged, you know,
and because something we say or we do isn't taking
the right way. But it just to do it out
of love, it'll be you'll be amazed at how it
fixes itself. And I think that there is an opportunity
(15:25):
for all of us to make sure what young people's
lives are you speaking to?
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Are you talking to? Are you working with?
Speaker 5 (15:32):
Because it's if you're waiting for somebody else to do it,
then we're missing the boat. Because we have in all
of our hot little hands. We have got this supercomputer
that allows us to speak to people around the world.
And there are so many negative images. There's so many
negative words, so many things that just pull people apart,
(15:56):
and we're seeing it in our divisive culture, and.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
So what what are we doing?
Speaker 5 (16:02):
Sometimes my daughter told me that she's a freshman in college,
and she said that she went to a great high school.
She loved her high school. And she said, you know
one thing they didn't teach us in high school. They
taught us about our voice and how important it was
to use our voice. And she said, but nobody talked
(16:25):
about the fact that sometimes.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
You have to know when to use your voice.
Speaker 5 (16:31):
You have to know when to say something when you're contributing,
or when you're being a distraction, or when you are
just adding fire to something that isn't needed. And so
I was very proud of her for having that moment.
But that's all of us, is that sometimes you know,
(16:53):
you might be the voice of many, but sometimes it's
just the voice of you and live truth. And that
doesn't mean everybody else has to live that may not
be their truth. So I'm off the soaper, okay, okay,
But it's it's.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Really been something that.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
We've had a We have a lot of conversations with
young people about in because they're trying to they're trying
to figure it out, so they ask questions and to
be able to have honest conversations and explain that everybody's
not going to believe what you believe, everybody's not going
(17:35):
to feel the same way you feel.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
And that's okay, that's okay, it's like that.
Speaker 5 (17:40):
That doesn't mean in some cases it doesn't make them
bad if they're not threatening bodily harm, violence or well,
we won't get into policies that work against you. But
at the end of the day, people believe the things
that they believe. And also at the core, all of
(18:04):
us just want to be happy with our family, with
our friends. We want to see our kids grow up.
We want to see our parents, you know, do well
and be and be the best version of us that
we can be. Of course, I'm fifty five, so now
I think I think that way. But if you ask
forty year old me or thirty year old me, I
(18:26):
probably wouldn't say any of this. And because you have
to get there, yeah, you know, you have to get
there where you're going. Yeah, so and say, you know,
the student And I've always pat heard good things about
the charter school and the academy. So the charter school,
it begins at first grade or grade they start at
(18:49):
they start a sixth grade and it goes six through twelve,
six through twelve, and there are around six hundred and
seventy students at the charter school.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Oh that's good.
Speaker 5 (18:59):
And then the Music Academy has around one hundred students.
They start in sixth grade, although there has been a
number of students who've come in in like fourth grade
who are determined to play.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yes, we don't turn them away.
Speaker 5 (19:14):
Now, any student that even in you know, the Music
Academy has a tuition, but we never turn a student
away because of inability to play if they have the.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Desire to do it.
Speaker 5 (19:26):
And it is, you know, a craft requires that you
put time.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
So at the Music Academy, they if a student comes
in and does not know how to play any interest instrument,
do they learn that.
Speaker 5 (19:39):
We have one on one classes. Now, okay, so that
is that has been it's you know, progressed over the years.
But we are seeing more students who don't know how
to play at all, but they want they want a
buy or to learn and so if they're willing to
put the time and put the practice into it, then
(20:01):
we are all about teaching them. And so as a
you know, as a as an arts fan, everything that
if I had to sum up what taught me the
most in my life, I would I would say it
was the arts and my mother putting me in the
(20:21):
arts and forcing me to go to arts programming and
all of that.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
And I was a theater.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
Kid and so me too, I can get up and
talk to anybody, you know, That's what they taught me.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
I was a theater kid too. And so these kids
who play music they learn how to.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
I mean, I've seen it happen. When I first started there,
I thought that, you know, are you joking? They would
talk about how the student will come in, they'll barely
talk to you, and then you see them grow up
in front of you. And we have one student now
he could he wouldn't look you in the eye, he
wouldn't mumble. Is think he came up to me at
(21:00):
the beginning, so hey, it's pat, how are you doing today?
Speaker 1 (21:03):
What do you have on your plate? Just like wait what?
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Yeah? Right?
Speaker 5 (21:08):
And so it builds their confidence and teaches them how
to stand proudly in front of people and give what
they're you know, what they're good at, what they've worked on.
And I think that playing an instrument, the skill that
it requires just to be good is amazing.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
And I can't play anything.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
I was the student that they put me in piano class,
and I was like, what Saturday morning?
Speaker 1 (21:39):
What that ladies mean, you know.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Or like me, pad, I took pans. I couldn't get
my left hand to go. I said, forget this. The
right hand was going, but that couldn't get that left hand.
I said, forget this. Yeah, it's like yeah, and then
my dad put me. I played the clarinet. The clarinet, yes, ma'am.
I I wanted to do flute, and my dad, uh uh,
(22:05):
I'm paying for this. You're gonna play clarinet. And so
I took clarinet lessons.
Speaker 5 (22:12):
So what was the difference between clarinet and flute for
your dad?
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Don't I don't know, but he said, pat, He said,
you know back then when my time you you didn't.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Disobey, you will did it. That's about it.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Because I and I, you know, it was hurt. I
wanted to play that flute. My dad, no, you're gonna
play the clarinet.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
I don't know. I took private clarinet lessons. There there
it is.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
I say, but, but, but, but, and again I get you.
I was an arts kid because a theater. I took
drama lessons. I was in drama play. So I get
what you're saying. Because the arts, I think it builds
a child's confidence, It helps them out. You know, whether
it's music, whether it's theater, whether it's painting.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
What the arts is it? And I believe that that schools.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Should have arts, that that curriculum should be there's it.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Really.
Speaker 5 (23:12):
There are statistics that show the day that arts programming
takes place, where child has an arts class, they're less
likely to miss school. It also gives you a different
way to think about things when you what we need
more than anything these days, with the rise of AI
and all the things that we're seeing.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
As the world changes, you've got to be creative. Yes,
and we have not been doing a good job. I
say we as a society have.
Speaker 5 (23:41):
Not been doing a good job of nurturing creativity. And
it is it's one of our greatest strengths as a country.
So many things, so many inventors. We're American and we
are we sort of treat creativity as though, oh, well,
(24:01):
that's not important.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
But there was.
Speaker 5 (24:05):
Any parent or grandparent can tell you you put a
box in front of a two year old and they
will play with that box and they will create their
own little world out of that box. But nowadays we
want to get them the house and we want to
get the interview. But I thought my parents were joking
with me when they said no, no, no, give her
(24:25):
box and see what happens.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
And so I did that to my daughter.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
And she even had a little she had We got
her a little kid size piano and she was three
and next thing I know, she was doing concerts with
us and she would tie a sheet around her neck
and she would do this whole performance that It's just
like those moments they matter as far as family goes,
(24:51):
in family bonding, but they also they also matter because
it's encouraging the child. You know, I think about all
the times of I'm I don't have a lot of rhythm.
I'm fine with the rhythm, it's just I can't keep it.
I'm being honest, And I remember all the times as
(25:15):
a child, and even still seeing it today when you're
at a family event and child starts dancing and everybody
starts cheering the child on, come on, go, go go,
you know that that's what you remember that makes you
feel supported. Those moments matter, and so we have just
tried to create within our space moments of support, moments
(25:39):
where we're cheering students on.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Yes, there are some moments to say, hey.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
You didn't practice, we can tell you we got a
problem here, let's figure out how to resolve this. And
those moments have to happen also. But more kids at
the music academy. I've heard it so many times where
a student comes and takes a tour and they go,
so I found my people, you know, because they feel welcome,
(26:03):
They feel like they can be they can be as
you know, weird and they can just not be the
status quo and it's okay. And so that is truly
a place where you can be yourself. And we just
don't find a lot of places like that, especially young
people in Memphis. They can't show up as themselves in
a lot of places. And so our big thing is
(26:26):
to create those spaces. But it still goes back to
the stack story. They would go to that satellite record store,
they dance, they some music, They could be themselves and
so it's it's really how we become our best selves
is when people give us space to be ourselves. And
(26:49):
there might be some correction along the way, sure, but
there is also a space. But you know, it's just
like your parents always tell you, I did this, you know,
the I did something wrong and they go, Okay, we're upset.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
That's the thing you did. That doesn't affect that. We
still love you.
Speaker 5 (27:09):
And so I think that that is a nurturing environment.
So I'm proud that we do that for young people
in this city because you know, we couldn't meet we
couldn't meet all the need that Memphis has. There are
other programs that are music programs that are doing great work.
There are other arts programs doing great work in this community.
(27:32):
And I hope that people find something to support because
the need. We got lots of kids in town, and
a lot of those kids, if you ask them, they
can't wait to leave Memphis. They can't wait to go
someplace else. And so it's up to us to change
their mind. You know, this is the greatest marketing campaign
of our generation because.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
We got somebody's got to take over for us.
Speaker 5 (27:54):
So you plan on working all the rest of your life,
somebody's got to take up.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
So somebody has to take over.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
If you just tuned in this morning, we're talking with
my sister friend, Miss pat Mitchell Worlie. She's the president
and the CEO of the Sacks Music Academy Soulsville, Charters School.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
We're talking.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
We're gonna talk about something that's coming up very important
this day. If you do have a question for miss
Pat today, we invite you to call nine zero one
five three five nine three four two eight hundred five
zero three nine three four two eight three three five
(28:35):
three five nine three four two will get you.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
In to us. You're listening to the heart and Soul
of Memphis. W d i A.
Speaker 6 (28:46):
Don't go away. The Bev Johnson Show returns after these messages.
Speaker 7 (28:50):
Have just show.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Wow m.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
Your mind.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
I'm telling you to just keep the fir around. Apt
enough bopping show.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
He goes.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
We got here and welcome back to w d i A.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
We're talking with Pat Mitchell Worley, the president CEO Stack's
Music Academy and Soulsville Charter School. Before we continue to
talk with Pad, go to our phone lines to talk
with you.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Thank you for waiting. Hi David, good.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Afternoon of my most beautiful asking violence. How are you
doing today? My sister?
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Good morning, brother, it's still morning.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Oh you always messed me up. I don't mess you up.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
I don't mess you up.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
And you turn the stand against me. He was talking
about how much Howard beat my Hampton pirates. I said
you this in the bed.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Good morning, Pat. How you doing today?
Speaker 1 (30:42):
I am wonderful. How are you?
Speaker 3 (30:44):
I'm doing well. I would say happy Taco Tuesday does
took taco away from us two bed. So I ain't
gonna say that.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
I know that's right. I know that's right, David Man.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
But anyway, let me say sometimes it's hard for me
to find joy with a lot of this going on
personal life, and it's the thing that's going on in
this country. But whenever I see people from your school plan,
(31:19):
it gives me joy.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Amenstely, That's it, That's what it is. Whoo.
Speaker 5 (31:26):
If we spent more time trying to bring joy to
other people's lives, imagine just what we could do. Unfortunately,
music is such a great you know, it's such a
great way to do that to speak to people without
even speaking to them. And uh so I thank you
for that. That is a that is a high compliment.
And our kids are they hate when I call them
(31:49):
kids are teenagers. They are they they know that they
can have that impact, that they as individuals can just
disrupt somebody's life with a positive vibe.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
Yeah, and I love the vibe I get of them
respecting the history of the music, of the David Porter's hand, Hayes,
the you know Aunt Rufus, Thomas's College, all of that.
I love that part of it because I think history,
and I'm a student of history, is very very important
(32:26):
and you can build upon something even you know, more
stronger from it. So I appreciate the presentation. You know
as well that you're teaching these young people, how they
present themselves. It's it's like I said, it's a total joy.
I also received a lot of joy when I saw
the Central High students. Yes, that was that was something
(32:53):
that I mean, I love. One of the things I
said on Bear Show years I can't remember how long
ago I think strictly was in office. I said, you know,
the only thing consistent about messis is his music before
said X before any organized for any business, Memphis music,
w c Andy. You know, they were there and and
(33:17):
it's it's sad to me, unfortunately that we do not
respected more from a professional standpoint. That's just my opinion.
One other thing I saw since me on the subject
of joy. Of course, I know who some some ow
joy is right, and there I happened to see her
(33:37):
on YouTube do I can't forgive me. I can't remember.
So it was a classic, and I have never heard
missus Gerald, miss miss Smiths Washington's holiday MSSON. I've never
heard anybody approach it the way she approached it. It
was out of other worldly. But that sense to me
(34:00):
that at twenty something years old, just like they're doing
it over there in South Mefis, they're doing it in
this country and we need to hear them and listen
to them. We need to have they need to have
the options. You know, I'm not an anti rap, but
I'm not a big proposent. I just don't like it
as much as I like that.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
So but I'm saying our children, we should have enough
confidence in our children that they can listen to everything
and decide just a little bit, just smart enough to
do that. And by the way, Beth, I got I
got Trio GP. I'm gonna be listening to that when
Bradford come in. So I listen to that. But but
(34:41):
but oh oh, I have one other question, and I
let you go. What what time is your over at
the Southern Herriton? What time is that your your what
you're doing?
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Who me?
Speaker 3 (34:54):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Oh it's a tailgating. Well they start at twelve o'clock.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
You know they're gonna until getting over but I will
be I will probably be there around two.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Okay, Yeah, I'll be there around.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
Yeah, I'll be there at two, but they all started yeah, noon,
but I'll get there around too.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
Okay. Great. And one question I hang out and listen pat,
what is what do you think? And I want your
opinion about the future of music and message and across
the world.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Thank you, yeah, wow, wow, thank you David.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
That is a that is a big question. Yeah. Well, uh,
first I'll say that I hope that.
Speaker 5 (35:47):
As as David said, that respecting professional musicians that comes
with them being able to be compensated for their creations.
And there are a lot of there's a lot of
legislation right now that is being pushed that protects the
creator and their work because if you write that great song,
(36:10):
you need to be able to make money off of it.
You need to be able to say, this is mine
and everybody's enjoying it, so I should get paid for it.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
And the you know, the.
Speaker 5 (36:20):
Rise of AI and being able to create music that
is created by the machine that you are just like
giving it some prompts and.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
That that's not music.
Speaker 5 (36:34):
The reason that art speaks to us is because it
comes from our humanity.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
And I think that.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
The artists that rise to the top, the artists that
are good, the artists that are even creating the best music,
they are going to continue because we as human beings,
there are only so many emotions. As David Porter talks
about that, you know, it's just like but you can
(37:07):
you can say it in so many ways. And so
it's the connection that people make to music that makes it,
you know, persevere, that makes it continue on. That means
that you can hear you can hear the beginning of
that Many Rippertson song and just be like yeah, you know, yeah,
(37:27):
and and and it's it's years later and it is.
I think that that's not going to change. There were
cave drawings, you know, and in prehistoric caves in France
because people were creating art on the wall. We're not
going to stop making art. The challenge is the ability
(37:48):
of the artists to make a living from what they're creating. Nowadays,
artists have to pull from a lot of different venue
at revenue streams in order to make a living, and
they have to understand what those revenue streams are. And
it's not just as simple as going out and performing,
because you go perform you only get paid once for
(38:10):
that performance, but you write the song, you get.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Paid over and over again.
Speaker 5 (38:15):
That's like my perfect In my perfect world, I would
just write songs and go to the mailbox and get that.
But I think that for the fan of music, it
means you've got to support it. It can only survive
and thrive if it is supported. That means everything from
(38:35):
I know some people are gonna get mad at me
when I say this. We teach our kids Stax classics.
We teach them Mythis music classics. They're that our curriculum
is based on that. They learn about minor scales through
a stack song, and that is, you know, that's what
(38:57):
We're the only youth program music program in the world
that does that.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
But the thing is you have got.
Speaker 5 (39:04):
To learn music and that requires you listening to what's
happened before you, and that is how you also learn
how to put your piece into it. There's not an artist,
you know, my people. I pushed on this is I
asked the question, so you mean to tell me when
(39:27):
the Barcays came out Isaac's came out that parents weren't saying.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Oh, that's too provocative. Don't tell me that because I
know that's not true.
Speaker 5 (39:36):
That's and all that, you know, Yeah, yeah, exactly, it's like,
don't say that.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (39:43):
So then even if you go back before that, you
look at Nat King Cole, people were going, oh, yeah,
he's such a good young man, go listen to him.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
You know.
Speaker 5 (39:52):
It was just like every generation has their music and
it's not you know, the generations before go oh well,
I don't know about the musical integrity of that, or
I don't know about this. And I think that that's
just part of being of getting of getting older, that
you feel like what you listened to.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
Before was better. And that's perfectly fine because we've done
it for centuries. We're not going to change on that.
But giving young people that space to create.
Speaker 5 (40:23):
And I do agree that, you know, we're seeing hip
hop right now as it is the most saturated genre
in the world, in the world and.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
It is.
Speaker 5 (40:41):
It speaks for and speaks to people, and I don't
think that's that's changing.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
Anytime soon.
Speaker 5 (40:52):
But I remember when the on the Super Bowl and
Doctor dre play and he sat down at that piano,
and the next day at the music academy, a couple
of students went, I didn't know doctor dre knew how
to play the piano. It's just like, yeah, what'd you think. Well,
he's a rapper, you know, he's making beats. He's so
(41:13):
and so I said, yeah, but you have to have
an understanding of how music works to be able to
make music that stands the test of time, that's how
it works. If you want the continuity, if you want
to be able to consistently give hits that stand the
test of time and speak to people, you've got to
(41:35):
know how music works. And so I think that for
us in Memphis, it's really important that we make sure
that kids continue to understand.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
How music works.
Speaker 5 (41:45):
And the reason Memphis music has been so great and
had such an impact is because people were learning at
the foot of their elder Because you know, kids went
to school and they had a band director who taught
the root style of blues and the precision of jazz
and put it together and created great musicians. It didn't
(42:08):
happen by chance. Yes, we have a natural talent that
is inside of us in this town for storytelling, we are.
It is who we are, and all you have to
do is go in a store and listen to the
people talking in front of you, and you will hear
a story.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
You're like in their story.
Speaker 5 (42:27):
You know you're listening to what they say because we Memphis.
It's part of who we are. So making that transfer
into music is a natural progression for us. And I
think that even if you look at where we came
from as a people, as people coming from the Mississippi Delta,
(42:48):
the Arkansas Delta, and how we made it through music
was how we made it at.
Speaker 1 (42:55):
A music and a church.
Speaker 5 (42:57):
If it wasn't for those two things, then you know
we would have given a long time ago. And so
I think that Memphis music is going to continue to
move forward as the world becomes smaller and people don't
have to live in Atlanta or la in order to
have a living. They still will be commuting, but they
(43:18):
can have a career and live wherever they want to live.
But I do think that it's up to us as
music fans to support music. If that means you go
see somebody. Not every show takes place at ten o'clock
at night. There's some early shows. Go see a band.
Hey to go see a band, you know, support an
(43:38):
artist who's an up and coming artist, because that's how
they get to do and make that great music.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Exactly. I'm so boxed again. That's okay, that's okay.
Speaker 2 (43:50):
So Pat, tell us, we know something fabulous is happening
this Thursday, September, September twenty fifth, which happens to be
the anniversary date of wd I their birthday, and you're
talking about the voice of the people.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
Tell us what's happening on Thursday? Okay.
Speaker 5 (44:10):
So in giving you where this whole idea came from,
you know, this year would have been the hundredth birthday
of BB King, right, and BB King has has been
a spokesperson for this city and for you know, his
hometown in Indiana, Mississippi. He took the blues around the
(44:32):
world and he is truly an icon and I will
I'm a big BB King fan because of what he
accomplished and how expressive his music was. So when we
decided that we were going to participate in the hundred
(44:55):
Years of Blues campaign, we put up an exhibit of
photos of BB King. They were they were taken in
nineteen eighty two. The opening weekend of Mud Island, and
it's a temporary exhibit in the Stax Museum, and so
when we put those photos up, we wanted to talk
(45:16):
about the things that were sort of surrounded the exhibit
and have some meaningful conversations. We had two photographers come
in and talk about being a photographer and how they look.
Speaker 1 (45:33):
At their art, how they look at.
Speaker 5 (45:35):
It in the you know, capturing people and their place
in history, and what their goals are. It was a
really great conversation of commercial commercialism versus art also, so
we did that We've for this panel, we wanted to
talk about the fact that one of the things that
(45:57):
made B. B. King is of course being on Bill Street,
but then also that moment that he stepped into w
d i A when he went from being this artist
who just played on the street.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
To an artist that was heard over the airwaves.
Speaker 5 (46:14):
And so we thought about that as DA and its
presence in community and not just in community, but of community,
and so we wanted to do a panel that just
talked about what does that, what does that look like
to have that history, and how is defining community, how
(46:39):
has it changed? You know, you guys are a lot
of people say oh, well, terrestrial radio.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
Is did No, it's not people. I still listen to
the radio.
Speaker 5 (46:50):
And so then people say, oh, well, you know they
everything is coming from another city.
Speaker 1 (46:56):
No, it's not. It's still community people.
Speaker 5 (46:59):
And da you were talking to people who you're going
to run into in the store that are going to
be at the same events that you're going to.
Speaker 1 (47:05):
And that's important to have media.
Speaker 5 (47:10):
That is of the community and it is it's how
you know that you can trust that source. And so
the conversation really gets into that, how have you changed
over the years, and what does the future look like?
What does what did those words mean for bringing in
(47:32):
and embracing the next generation? What does it look like
for you guys who are watching time past exactly, watching
things change?
Speaker 1 (47:44):
And you know, there are going to.
Speaker 5 (47:47):
Be observations that you've had that the average person just
doesn't have the purview or the perspective to see. And
so that's what we're going to talk about. Okay, And
so is this open to the public.
Speaker 1 (48:01):
It is free and open to the public.
Speaker 5 (48:03):
The moderator is Kristin Cheers, so she is I know
she's working on those questions, and I think that it's
gonna be.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
It's gonna be fun.
Speaker 5 (48:15):
Yeah, in the sense because y'all are funny. You gonna
throw jokes in there, you know it. But also it's
a chance to get together. It's a chance to be
amongst people. So much that we do is online, and
so often we don't get to talk because when we
(48:37):
talk for talking about superficial and.
Speaker 1 (48:39):
And and meeting face to face.
Speaker 5 (48:41):
Yeah, that's how you that's how you know somebody is
to look them in the eye and to have a
conversation with them. And so that's sort of the purpose
of a lot of the panel discussions that we do
at the Stax Museum. We don't try to make it
into this big academic experience. Yes, you're gonna get some knowledge,
(49:02):
you're going to learn some things that you didn't know before,
but you're gonna be with people, and y'all are gonna
you know, it always happens at one of our discussions
at the museum, the audience starts at, well, what do
you think about so and so? Well, what he said
was really true exactly. It's a conversation. It's never one sided,
(49:24):
and maybe maybe we can all learn to do that
a little bit better, have conversations with each other. So
I'm excited about the event, and I know the museum's museum.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
Staff is excited about it.
Speaker 5 (49:40):
And it's sort of it grew out of this temporary BB.
Speaker 1 (49:45):
King photo exhibit.
Speaker 5 (49:47):
So it uh, we like to we like to think
about everything that's in the museum. It was a piece
of somebody's life, yes it wasn't.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
And whether it.
Speaker 5 (50:01):
Was donated by their grandchild that later said oh maybe
you guys should have this, or it was restored like
the ISAA Kay's Cadillac at all of these pieces, though,
represent moments in time, and all of those individuals together
(50:24):
made an impact on the world.
Speaker 1 (50:26):
They didn't. It wasn't just one person, right, it was together.
Speaker 5 (50:30):
Yes, we have to work together as community, and so
that that's how it came about.
Speaker 1 (50:38):
Oh good, good.
Speaker 2 (50:38):
So this is all happening on Thursday, y'all, September twenty fifth,
at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. Now I
know that addressed by Hard nine, twenty six East McLamore.
Speaker 1 (50:50):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (50:51):
It's gonna start at six o'clock, compact. We're not gonna
be there all night.
Speaker 1 (50:54):
No, no, it's not.
Speaker 5 (50:57):
I'm a firm believer in getting in bed at a
decent time. And so I know that people don't like
to be out late. I'm just like, make it early
so it's easy for you to come right after work
and then if you want your your home and you're
done by eight o'clock, and then you're just like, oh
(51:18):
that was that was a nice night, exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (51:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (51:22):
Well, I hope that people will come in here from
you guys, because to have all of you is just exceptional.
And it is just thinking about I just think about
when I was in high school, stan Bell, I was
listening to stand Belle every night.
Speaker 1 (51:46):
It's like, it's like, you know, I was, I was
repping my hood.
Speaker 8 (51:55):
So I got excited to hear stan Bell and it
and I and I get what you're saying because I
think about growing up and listening to w d I
and then who my mentor was, Martha Jene Queen Yes Steinberg.
Speaker 1 (52:09):
But I listened to her on the radio, our little
girl in wd I. And then when I was in Michigan,
when she was in Detroit, I said she from and
I would listen to her on j l B and
w C h B. So I get it.
Speaker 5 (52:24):
I get it the impact that your voice has people's lives.
Is just it's it's immeasurable, and it is also again
it's a it's a trusted voice.
Speaker 1 (52:43):
And I think that the for D I A is
is a position.
Speaker 5 (52:50):
It is in a position that a lot of radio
stations are not in. You as historically have tried to
do what was right right and what was needed yes
for the city. And so I mean you you staked
your brand on it, you know, the Goodwill station, and
(53:10):
so that within itself in a time where we need
more goodwill. I'm excited to be able to talk to
the talk to the the from a historical standpoint on
what we need to do today and how do we
(53:32):
just get that same ground swell that existed before where
people were proud of where they were from and they
were proud of their neighborhood and it. Yeah, and I
think it's going to be a great conversation.
Speaker 1 (53:45):
And well, I'm excited to be there.
Speaker 2 (53:47):
And I'm also excited because I want to see some
of those photographs of BB King.
Speaker 1 (53:53):
Oh yeah, so that exhibit. I can't wait to see that.
Speaker 5 (53:56):
It's you know, it's sort of funny because there was
a group that came through and they were from another city,
and I just happened to be walking through the museum
and all of them knew not only do they know
BB King, but we have assigned Lucille in the room,
and everybody knew the Lucille. They knew the story of
(54:18):
the Lucille. And I was just like, I thought, because
I'm a blues fan, that I that's why I knew it.
I didn't realize that that's just like common knowledge, you know.
Speaker 1 (54:32):
So it just it excited me.
Speaker 5 (54:35):
And in the we have a jukebox in that room
and it's playing the set list that he played that
night at mud Island. And I remember that weekend because
that was nineteen eighty two.
Speaker 1 (54:49):
It was like a big year.
Speaker 5 (54:51):
The mud Island opened, the Peabody reopened, there was all
this revitalization going on with downtown and it was it
was really a big year for Memphis. And so to
see the photos and my first comment.
Speaker 3 (55:07):
Was the kids.
Speaker 1 (55:09):
They laughed at me, and I said, you know, VV
King had phases.
Speaker 5 (55:13):
But it's sort of funny because all the blues guys
at that time, they all wore brown suits. I don't
know why originally know why the brown suit was so pervasive. Okay, okay,
but there were a lot of brown suits playing out
in a brown suit they all had and I don't know,
I guess that was the style, that was what was
in Yeah maybe so wow, Well this is exciting.
Speaker 2 (55:36):
It's called Panel Discussion the Voice of the People wd
I in the Power Community. It's happening again, y'all on Thursday.
Speaker 1 (55:44):
Patch it. The public is invited.
Speaker 2 (55:46):
Everybody, come on y'all, September twenty fifth, six o'clock. We're
starting and I can't wait. And I always love to
go over there to the museum pack because I love
that gift shop. I's spending my money. I get me
some that stuff. I got some stack stuff.
Speaker 1 (56:04):
Well I will ask for folks.
Speaker 5 (56:07):
If you go to Stax Museum Stax Museum dot org,
there's an event bright so you can r s v
p s and we know how many chairs to get
in there.
Speaker 1 (56:15):
Right, But I say that plan to go to the
gift shop afterwards. I am I've learned that.
Speaker 5 (56:23):
I'm I'm starting to question some of my family members
because they're there. I think that they're really just trying
to get this Stax merch.
Speaker 1 (56:32):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, even my parents.
Speaker 5 (56:34):
Everybody starts putting me in orders for Christmas right exactly exactly, like,
oh okay, but there's some really cool stuff in there.
We always know when it's gonna be a hot cellar
because all the Music Academy kids go in and start
buying it. Like there's an Isaacaye's shirt and it's a
picture of Isaac on the front shirtless of course, with
(56:57):
a big gold chain on.
Speaker 1 (56:59):
All the students have that. It's one of our most
popular sellers.
Speaker 5 (57:02):
Then there's a set of black satin jacket that has
the Stacks embroidered on it embroidered on the front and
then on the back it has the logo and that
is a huge seller.
Speaker 1 (57:15):
But the kids at the at the Music Academy called
it first.
Speaker 5 (57:18):
They started buying them, and they went even further, and
some of them have had their names stitch on the thing.
They were to every show. They're just like, oh, yeah,
this is who I am.
Speaker 1 (57:30):
You know that is simply fabulous.
Speaker 2 (57:33):
Well, Miss pat Mitchell Worlie, You've given us a lot
of history.
Speaker 1 (57:37):
We're excited and I'm just proud of you and what
you all are doing, and the and the.
Speaker 2 (57:44):
Staff over there at the Stax Music Academy in Soulsville
Charter School just fabulous.
Speaker 5 (57:51):
Well, thank you, but we don't we can't do it loan.
You know, we rely on the city to support us.
And we also and we've got volunteer opportunities. Somebody's interested
in volunteering. We have got so many ways that you
can get engaged. And I and I say that if this,
(58:14):
you know, get engaged somewhere, you don't come to us.
Go somewhere and get engaged. Give your time, give your time,
your treasure, your talent, one of the three and or
all three. And that's how we make our city better.
Speaker 1 (58:32):
It is. I love this, I love you. I can't
wait to be there Thursday night, Thursday. Oh you are.
Speaker 2 (58:40):
Quite welcome an any time, Miss Pat Mitchell Worley. And
you all said, y'all talk and call them that they
need some they need some money, they need volunteering.
Speaker 1 (58:50):
Over there, they need it all.
Speaker 2 (58:51):
Pat, don't we need Music Academy Soulsville Charter School again
the voice of the people, w d I in the
power of the community. We'd be there Thursday, September twenty fifth,
which is the birthdate of WDA. Yes, six o'clock we
will be there Mark Stormy stand and myself and also
again Pat you said people go on event by they
(59:13):
can register, so you know how many folks coming. Yes,
that helps greatly. Sounds good, sounds good. Thank you, sister,
Thank you. Be safe out there.
Speaker 1 (59:24):
I will, I will. Everybody have a wonderful day.
Speaker 2 (59:27):
All right, We're getting ready to go to the other
side of the Bev Johnson Show right here on doub
d IA.
Speaker 6 (59:37):
Whether you're in Arkansas, Tennessee, or Mississippi on Facebook, Twitter,
or Instagram. Thank you for listening to the Bev Johnson
Show on doub DA Memphis.
Speaker 7 (59:48):
The Bev Johnson Show.
Speaker 1 (01:00:29):
That's just a show Bell.
Speaker 7 (01:00:31):
Tumas time with this talking and home away.
Speaker 1 (01:00:36):
Help you go, you go.
Speaker 2 (01:00:39):
Don't getting ready?
Speaker 7 (01:00:42):
It's talk about just show.
Speaker 2 (01:00:47):
Joe.
Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
Let's go Bell just then? Will you'll make your day?
Right here?
Speaker 3 (01:00:53):
Wrong? Do you d.
Speaker 1 (01:00:57):
Listen to? Want to?
Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
You know?
Speaker 7 (01:01:00):
It's talking about of this show.
Speaker 1 (01:01:07):
Let's go. Well.
Speaker 4 (01:01:37):
The views and opinions discussed on the Bev Johnson Show
are that of the hosts and callers and not those
of the staff and sponsors of w d i A.
Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
We want to thank you callers, we want to thank
you listeners for joining us this day on the Bev
Johnson Show. We do, we really do appreciate you, so
until tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (01:02:19):
Please be saved.
Speaker 2 (01:02:21):
Keep a cool head, y'all, don't let anyone steal your joy.
Until tomorrow. I'm Bev Johnson, and y'all keep the faith.
W d I aint my bell got me a missed king.
(00:48):
Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome in to
w d I A the Bev Johnson Show. I'm Bev.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
It is indeed a pleasure to have you with us
once again on this Tuesday, September twenty third, twenty twenty five.
Enjoy this fabulous day to day. Get ready to put
your ears on as we spread the good news. And
(01:19):
good news is gonna come out of Solsville, USA.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Stick and stay for that. What at your turn to talk?
You know you can. All you need to do.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Is dial these numbers nine zero one, five three five,
nine three four two nine zero one five three five
nine three four two eight hundred five zero three nine
three four two eight hundred five zero three nine three
(01:51):
four two eight three three five three five nine three
four two will get you in to.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Me.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And if this day, this.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Day, Tuesday, September twenty third, twenty twenty five, is your birthday.
Happy birthday to each and every one of y'all out
there who may be celebrating a birthday on this day.
(02:34):
You know what we say, Go out, y'all, go out
and celebrate your life.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
You better, you better when we come back. We'll find out.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
What's going on in Soulsville. U s A there. We
will next with me Bev Johnson on the Bev Johnson
Show on the Hardened Soul of Memphis.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
W d I A.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
M H.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Good morning and welcome back to w d i A
The Bad Johnson Show. It is indeed a pleasure to
have you with us once again on this Tuesday, September
twenty third, twenty twenty five. Enjoyed this fabulous day to day. Well,
I had to start you off. I had to do
it with some music from Soulsville, USA, my favorite place, Soulsville, USA.
(04:22):
But this morning with me, I have the president on
the CEO of the Stax Music Academy.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Yay, Miss Pat Mitchell Whirly, Good morning, sister. How are you?
Speaker 5 (04:37):
I am wonderful. I am just absolutely pleased to be here.
The Lord woke me up this morning and everything's working. Hey,
you know, you gotta enjoy that everything's working. I don't
have a mystery pain in my knee or anything like that,
so I.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Figure today is an excellent day.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
It is, you know what, Pat, I'm glad you said it,
because a lot of people can get a dooming.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Glue Hey, you you are up and rolling.
Speaker 5 (05:02):
It's just like that is something to celebrate every day.
And I just don't, you know. I'm around kids a
lot at the music Academy, at the Soulsville Charter School,
kids that come into the Stacks Museum, and I see
these little youngins and I just think to myself, Oh,
I used to be like that.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
I used to be me.
Speaker 5 (05:25):
We were watching watching some kids dancing and they were
going down and they were bending their knees, and my
knees hurt watching them, and I'm just like, I remember,
I used to be able to do that, and now
I cannot.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
I cannot get back up as we as we age.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
Sister, that's right, but it's like it's a blessing to
have every day. It's a blessing to have no matter
what you can't do, just think about the things that
you can still do and celebrate that.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
I like that celebration.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Well, as I said, I had to start you off
with some Soulsville music booker t and MG. You know,
but I get so excited, Pat because I love that neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
I grew up. My grandmother mother lived in that neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Matter of fact, around the corner from from where it
was Stacks and now Stax Museum American Soul Music, and
the Stax Music Academy and the Sas Charter School. I
know about that area and I love I love it,
I love it, I love it.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
But pat for people who are listening. We know we're
gonna talk about some good stuff coming up. But people
who are listening and they're listening to you, pat across
the country. I tell them about the Stax Music Academy
and Soulsville Chartered School.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Well on this one campus that used to be Stax Records,
that college were college and Maclamoremon it used to be
apartments and yeah, there were apartments there after that and
the space as the home of Stax Records is. I
tell the story to people. Young people could come and
(07:08):
discover who they were. They could find that they could
do amazing things by writing a song, coming up with
lyrics and it would touch people, it would speak to them,
and they found out they were more powerful than they
thought they were. And that still happens on that campus today.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Wow. And so that.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
Is the that's the thing that gets me up in
the morning and I hop out of bed because there
are young people that are finding themselves, that are figuring
out what do I want to do for the rest
of my life?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
You know?
Speaker 5 (07:45):
And are they they're you know, on a quest for
like knowing themselves, but also what do they enjoy?
Speaker 1 (07:54):
What can they contribute?
Speaker 5 (07:55):
All those things are going through their little minds by
the time they hit twelve grade.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
All of the.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
Students at the charter school and the music Academy we
have one hundred percent college acceptance.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
We work to make sure that our.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
Students are We help them find scholarships to pay for college,
because if you can't pay for it doesn't matter where
you were accepted exactly. And so we also, as I
say that, we don't expect every student to go.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
They have to apply for school. But some students go, I.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
Want to be a fireman or I want to go
to trade school. Though you know, we don't discourage that
path anyone in any way. It's just like they get
to figure it out, but that college is an option, yes.
And then we asked this question on campus. I pick
it up from the teachers, what is the post secondary pathway?
(08:57):
And so, but one of my friends goes, people don't
know what post secondary means.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
That's some educator talk, and it's just like, what are
you going to do next?
Speaker 5 (09:06):
You have to have a plan of what you're going
to do next, because things don't just, you know, fall
in your lap. It is a combination of opportunity and
hard work that make things fall in your lap. And
so for us, we make sure that every student you
don't get to leave our campus without knowing what you're
doing next. Great we stay with our students till they're
(09:29):
twenty five years old, which you know, when you really
think about that, when you're you don't magically turn nineteen
and go I figured it out. No, no, no, you
do not not In nineteen you couldn't even figure out
how to get MLGNW. When I got my first apartment,
I was just like asking my parents, well, what do
(09:50):
I do and what I have to go down there?
Speaker 1 (09:52):
What exactly?
Speaker 5 (09:54):
And so for us, it's about them having a mentor
them having someone that they can call on for advice,
because it increases their chances of success, It increases their
being able to discern the good opportunity from the one
that's going to lead them astray because they can call
(10:15):
and they can talk to somebody about it and so
I think that that is one of the coolest things
about what happens on our campus, and there is, and
it's so you know, we have an office in the
charter school called College and Alumni Support Team, and we've
(10:36):
got an Office of Student Success in the Music Academy,
and to me, it's just like, well, everybody.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Should have this, every school should have this.
Speaker 5 (10:49):
It's just like when I was when my daughter was
in Clue when she was a little kid, and I asked,
you know, what's Clue looked like these days? And they said, oh,
they just make sure that they have experiential learning alongside
the learn And I was just like, well, why don't
you do that anyway? Because it's the best way to
(11:10):
remember things and you remember experiences. And so that's sort
of how I look at what we do that everybody
should be doing it, and the students who are their
chances of moving forward, their chances of you know, it's
(11:31):
once you get in school and you think at that age, oh, yeah,
I can do this without going to school.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
What do I need to go to school for? There's
somebody's talking.
Speaker 5 (11:39):
To you about it and helping you come up with
a plan, and your family is involved in that. So
it's no use for a student to go to a
school that's halfway across the country and their family is
worried about, well, how do I get them home in
an emergency or how do I Let's talk through those things,
because the better fit for school, the better your.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Chances of completing of in four years.
Speaker 5 (12:06):
Let's do the four years and not be stuck there
six years still trying to finish their education.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
And so that is.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
A lot of our work goes to building them up
and helping prepare them for lifelong success. It's just like
we're trying to, you know, speak to the curiosity. We're
trying to speak to the the just like why why are.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Things this way?
Speaker 5 (12:38):
And the critical thinking pieces. So I enjoy that side
of education, but it still all goes back to the
Stax Record story. It still goes back to what we
call the tenets of the Sax Record story.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
When you think of Stax Records, what do you think about?
Speaker 5 (12:54):
You think about creativity, think about excellence, You think about
the women and minorities as business owners, you think about entrepreneurship.
All of those things are encouraged and pushed on our
campus still to this day. So Providing opportunity is what
we do. Giving them exposure, it's what we do. And
(13:19):
so I think that I'm very proud of the work
that we do because I see the impact all the time,
and I have students that still, you know, text me
and I've got a list of students that I send
pizza money to, Pizza speaks to college students.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
You know, they're like, we're starving college students. Yeah, can
we get a pizza as bad?
Speaker 5 (13:48):
But it's anything I can do to encourage them. And
that's how our entire staff thinks like that. It's just
like we've got to keep them focus. Because I'm not
going on I'm not getting in a soapbox as I
say this, but really I am.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
We like soapboxes.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
Powers that are working for evil are working over time,
and they are trying to attract young people to things
that are not going to build them up, that are
not going to be good for them in the long run, that.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Are not in their best interests.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
And those of us that care about young people, we've
got to be just as diligent in showing them the good,
pushing them towards a good. I didn't raise myself, you know,
I wasn't raised in a cave and just figured it
out by myself. People took time, people like helped me,
even though I, you know, I just thought I knew everything.
(14:51):
But there were people that were mentors, there were people
that encouraged, and.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
We've got to do that work.
Speaker 5 (15:00):
And I think that sometimes we get discouraged, you know,
and because something we say or we do isn't taking
the right way. But it just to do it out
of love, it'll be you'll be amazed at how it
fixes itself. And I think that there is an opportunity
(15:25):
for all of us to make sure what young people's
lives are you speaking to?
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Are you talking to? Are you working with?
Speaker 5 (15:32):
Because it's if you're waiting for somebody else to do it,
then we're missing the boat. Because we have in all
of our hot little hands. We have got this supercomputer
that allows us to speak to people around the world.
And there are so many negative images. There's so many
negative words, so many things that just pull people apart,
(15:56):
and we're seeing it in our divisive culture, and.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
So what what are we doing?
Speaker 5 (16:02):
Sometimes my daughter told me that she's a freshman in college,
and she said that she went to a great high school.
She loved her high school. And she said, you know
one thing they didn't teach us in high school. They
taught us about our voice and how important it was
to use our voice. And she said, but nobody talked
(16:25):
about the fact that sometimes.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
You have to know when to use your voice.
Speaker 5 (16:31):
You have to know when to say something when you're contributing,
or when you're being a distraction, or when you are
just adding fire to something that isn't needed. And so
I was very proud of her for having that moment.
But that's all of us, is that sometimes you know,
(16:53):
you might be the voice of many, but sometimes it's
just the voice of you and live truth. And that
doesn't mean everybody else has to live that may not
be their truth. So I'm off the soaper, okay, okay,
But it's it's.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Really been something that.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
We've had a We have a lot of conversations with
young people about in because they're trying to they're trying
to figure it out, so they ask questions and to
be able to have honest conversations and explain that everybody's
not going to believe what you believe, everybody's not going
(17:35):
to feel the same way you feel.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
And that's okay, that's okay, it's like that.
Speaker 5 (17:40):
That doesn't mean in some cases it doesn't make them
bad if they're not threatening bodily harm, violence or well,
we won't get into policies that work against you. But
at the end of the day, people believe the things
that they believe. And also at the core, all of
(18:04):
us just want to be happy with our family, with
our friends. We want to see our kids grow up.
We want to see our parents, you know, do well
and be and be the best version of us that
we can be. Of course, I'm fifty five, so now
I think I think that way. But if you ask
forty year old me or thirty year old me, I
(18:26):
probably wouldn't say any of this. And because you have
to get there, yeah, you know, you have to get
there where you're going. Yeah, so and say, you know,
the student And I've always pat heard good things about
the charter school and the academy. So the charter school,
it begins at first grade or grade they start at
(18:49):
they start a sixth grade and it goes six through twelve,
six through twelve, and there are around six hundred and
seventy students at the charter school.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Oh that's good.
Speaker 5 (18:59):
And then the Music Academy has around one hundred students.
They start in sixth grade, although there has been a
number of students who've come in in like fourth grade
who are determined to play.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yes, we don't turn them away.
Speaker 5 (19:14):
Now, any student that even in you know, the Music
Academy has a tuition, but we never turn a student
away because of inability to play if they have the.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Desire to do it.
Speaker 5 (19:26):
And it is, you know, a craft requires that you
put time.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
So at the Music Academy, they if a student comes
in and does not know how to play any interest instrument,
do they learn that.
Speaker 5 (19:39):
We have one on one classes. Now, okay, so that
is that has been it's you know, progressed over the years.
But we are seeing more students who don't know how
to play at all, but they want they want a
buy or to learn and so if they're willing to
put the time and put the practice into it, then
(20:01):
we are all about teaching them. And so as a
you know, as a as an arts fan, everything that
if I had to sum up what taught me the
most in my life, I would I would say it
was the arts and my mother putting me in the
(20:21):
arts and forcing me to go to arts programming and
all of that.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
And I was a theater.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
Kid and so me too, I can get up and
talk to anybody, you know, That's what they taught me.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
I was a theater kid too. And so these kids
who play music they learn how to.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
I mean, I've seen it happen. When I first started there,
I thought that, you know, are you joking? They would
talk about how the student will come in, they'll barely
talk to you, and then you see them grow up
in front of you. And we have one student now
he could he wouldn't look you in the eye, he
wouldn't mumble. Is think he came up to me at
(21:00):
the beginning, so hey, it's pat, how are you doing today?
Speaker 1 (21:03):
What do you have on your plate? Just like wait what?
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Yeah? Right?
Speaker 5 (21:08):
And so it builds their confidence and teaches them how
to stand proudly in front of people and give what
they're you know, what they're good at, what they've worked on.
And I think that playing an instrument, the skill that
it requires just to be good is amazing.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
And I can't play anything.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
I was the student that they put me in piano class,
and I was like, what Saturday morning?
Speaker 1 (21:39):
What that ladies mean, you know.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Or like me, pad, I took pans. I couldn't get
my left hand to go. I said, forget this. The
right hand was going, but that couldn't get that left hand.
I said, forget this. Yeah, it's like yeah, and then
my dad put me. I played the clarinet. The clarinet, yes, ma'am.
I I wanted to do flute, and my dad, uh uh,
(22:05):
I'm paying for this. You're gonna play clarinet. And so
I took clarinet lessons.
Speaker 5 (22:12):
So what was the difference between clarinet and flute for
your dad?
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Don't I don't know, but he said, pat, He said,
you know back then when my time you you didn't.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Disobey, you will did it. That's about it.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Because I and I, you know, it was hurt. I
wanted to play that flute. My dad, no, you're gonna
play the clarinet.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
I don't know. I took private clarinet lessons. There there
it is.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
I say, but, but, but, but, and again I get you.
I was an arts kid because a theater. I took
drama lessons. I was in drama play. So I get
what you're saying. Because the arts, I think it builds
a child's confidence, It helps them out. You know, whether
it's music, whether it's theater, whether it's painting.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
What the arts is it? And I believe that that schools.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Should have arts, that that curriculum should be there's it.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Really.
Speaker 5 (23:12):
There are statistics that show the day that arts programming
takes place, where child has an arts class, they're less
likely to miss school. It also gives you a different
way to think about things when you what we need
more than anything these days, with the rise of AI
and all the things that we're seeing.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
As the world changes, you've got to be creative. Yes,
and we have not been doing a good job. I
say we as a society have.
Speaker 5 (23:41):
Not been doing a good job of nurturing creativity. And
it is it's one of our greatest strengths as a country.
So many things, so many inventors. We're American and we
are we sort of treat creativity as though, oh, well,
(24:01):
that's not important.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
But there was.
Speaker 5 (24:05):
Any parent or grandparent can tell you you put a
box in front of a two year old and they
will play with that box and they will create their
own little world out of that box. But nowadays we
want to get them the house and we want to
get the interview. But I thought my parents were joking
with me when they said no, no, no, give her
(24:25):
box and see what happens.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
And so I did that to my daughter.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
And she even had a little she had We got
her a little kid size piano and she was three
and next thing I know, she was doing concerts with
us and she would tie a sheet around her neck
and she would do this whole performance that It's just
like those moments they matter as far as family goes,
(24:51):
in family bonding, but they also they also matter because
it's encouraging the child. You know, I think about all
the times of I'm I don't have a lot of rhythm.
I'm fine with the rhythm, it's just I can't keep it.
I'm being honest, And I remember all the times as
(25:15):
a child, and even still seeing it today when you're
at a family event and child starts dancing and everybody
starts cheering the child on, come on, go, go go,
you know that that's what you remember that makes you
feel supported. Those moments matter, and so we have just
tried to create within our space moments of support, moments
(25:39):
where we're cheering students on.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Yes, there are some moments to say, hey.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
You didn't practice, we can tell you we got a
problem here, let's figure out how to resolve this. And
those moments have to happen also. But more kids at
the music academy. I've heard it so many times where
a student comes and takes a tour and they go,
so I found my people, you know, because they feel welcome,
(26:03):
They feel like they can be they can be as
you know, weird and they can just not be the
status quo and it's okay. And so that is truly
a place where you can be yourself. And we just
don't find a lot of places like that, especially young
people in Memphis. They can't show up as themselves in
a lot of places. And so our big thing is
(26:26):
to create those spaces. But it still goes back to
the stack story. They would go to that satellite record store,
they dance, they some music, They could be themselves and
so it's it's really how we become our best selves
is when people give us space to be ourselves. And
(26:49):
there might be some correction along the way, sure, but
there is also a space. But you know, it's just
like your parents always tell you, I did this, you know,
the I did something wrong and they go, Okay, we're upset.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
That's the thing you did. That doesn't affect that. We
still love you.
Speaker 5 (27:09):
And so I think that that is a nurturing environment.
So I'm proud that we do that for young people
in this city because you know, we couldn't meet we
couldn't meet all the need that Memphis has. There are
other programs that are music programs that are doing great work.
There are other arts programs doing great work in this community.
(27:32):
And I hope that people find something to support because
the need. We got lots of kids in town, and
a lot of those kids, if you ask them, they
can't wait to leave Memphis. They can't wait to go
someplace else. And so it's up to us to change
their mind. You know, this is the greatest marketing campaign
of our generation because.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
We got somebody's got to take over for us.
Speaker 5 (27:54):
So you plan on working all the rest of your life,
somebody's got to take up.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
So somebody has to take over.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
If you just tuned in this morning, we're talking with
my sister friend, Miss pat Mitchell Worlie. She's the president
and the CEO of the Sacks Music Academy Soulsville, Charters School.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
We're talking.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
We're gonna talk about something that's coming up very important
this day. If you do have a question for miss
Pat today, we invite you to call nine zero one
five three five nine three four two eight hundred five
zero three nine three four two eight three three five
(28:35):
three five nine three four two will get you.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
In to us. You're listening to the heart and Soul
of Memphis. W d i A.
Speaker 6 (28:46):
Don't go away. The Bev Johnson Show returns after these messages.
Speaker 7 (28:50):
Have just show.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Wow m.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
Your mind.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
I'm telling you to just keep the fir around. Apt
enough bopping show.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
He goes.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
We got here and welcome back to w d i A.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
We're talking with Pat Mitchell Worley, the president CEO Stack's
Music Academy and Soulsville Charter School. Before we continue to
talk with Pad, go to our phone lines to talk
with you.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Thank you for waiting. Hi David, good.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Afternoon of my most beautiful asking violence. How are you
doing today? My sister?
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Good morning, brother, it's still morning.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Oh you always messed me up. I don't mess you up.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
I don't mess you up.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
And you turn the stand against me. He was talking
about how much Howard beat my Hampton pirates. I said
you this in the bed.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Good morning, Pat. How you doing today?
Speaker 1 (30:42):
I am wonderful. How are you?
Speaker 3 (30:44):
I'm doing well. I would say happy Taco Tuesday does
took taco away from us two bed. So I ain't
gonna say that.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
I know that's right. I know that's right, David Man.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
But anyway, let me say sometimes it's hard for me
to find joy with a lot of this going on
personal life, and it's the thing that's going on in
this country. But whenever I see people from your school plan,
(31:19):
it gives me joy.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Amenstely, That's it, That's what it is. Whoo.
Speaker 5 (31:26):
If we spent more time trying to bring joy to
other people's lives, imagine just what we could do. Unfortunately,
music is such a great you know, it's such a
great way to do that to speak to people without
even speaking to them. And uh so I thank you
for that. That is a that is a high compliment.
And our kids are they hate when I call them
(31:49):
kids are teenagers. They are they they know that they
can have that impact, that they as individuals can just
disrupt somebody's life with a positive vibe.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
Yeah, and I love the vibe I get of them
respecting the history of the music, of the David Porter's hand, Hayes,
the you know Aunt Rufus, Thomas's College, all of that.
I love that part of it because I think history,
and I'm a student of history, is very very important
(32:26):
and you can build upon something even you know, more
stronger from it. So I appreciate the presentation. You know
as well that you're teaching these young people, how they
present themselves. It's it's like I said, it's a total joy.
I also received a lot of joy when I saw
the Central High students. Yes, that was that was something
(32:53):
that I mean, I love. One of the things I
said on Bear Show years I can't remember how long
ago I think strictly was in office. I said, you know,
the only thing consistent about messis is his music before
said X before any organized for any business, Memphis music,
w c Andy. You know, they were there and and
(33:17):
it's it's sad to me, unfortunately that we do not
respected more from a professional standpoint. That's just my opinion.
One other thing I saw since me on the subject
of joy. Of course, I know who some some ow
joy is right, and there I happened to see her
(33:37):
on YouTube do I can't forgive me. I can't remember.
So it was a classic, and I have never heard
missus Gerald, miss miss Smiths Washington's holiday MSSON. I've never
heard anybody approach it the way she approached it. It
was out of other worldly. But that sense to me
(34:00):
that at twenty something years old, just like they're doing
it over there in South Mefis, they're doing it in
this country and we need to hear them and listen
to them. We need to have they need to have
the options. You know, I'm not an anti rap, but
I'm not a big proposent. I just don't like it
as much as I like that.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
So but I'm saying our children, we should have enough
confidence in our children that they can listen to everything
and decide just a little bit, just smart enough to
do that. And by the way, Beth, I got I
got Trio GP. I'm gonna be listening to that when
Bradford come in. So I listen to that. But but
(34:41):
but oh oh, I have one other question, and I
let you go. What what time is your over at
the Southern Herriton? What time is that your your what
you're doing?
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Who me?
Speaker 3 (34:54):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Oh it's a tailgating. Well they start at twelve o'clock.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
You know they're gonna until getting over but I will
be I will probably be there around two.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Okay, Yeah, I'll be there around.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
Yeah, I'll be there at two, but they all started yeah, noon,
but I'll get there around too.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
Okay. Great. And one question I hang out and listen pat,
what is what do you think? And I want your
opinion about the future of music and message and across
the world.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Thank you, yeah, wow, wow, thank you David.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
That is a that is a big question. Yeah. Well, uh,
first I'll say that I hope that.
Speaker 5 (35:47):
As as David said, that respecting professional musicians that comes
with them being able to be compensated for their creations.
And there are a lot of there's a lot of
legislation right now that is being pushed that protects the
creator and their work because if you write that great song,
(36:10):
you need to be able to make money off of it.
You need to be able to say, this is mine
and everybody's enjoying it, so I should get paid for it.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
And the you know, the.
Speaker 5 (36:20):
Rise of AI and being able to create music that
is created by the machine that you are just like
giving it some prompts and.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
That that's not music.
Speaker 5 (36:34):
The reason that art speaks to us is because it
comes from our humanity.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
And I think that.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
The artists that rise to the top, the artists that
are good, the artists that are even creating the best music,
they are going to continue because we as human beings,
there are only so many emotions. As David Porter talks
about that, you know, it's just like but you can
(37:07):
you can say it in so many ways. And so
it's the connection that people make to music that makes it,
you know, persevere, that makes it continue on. That means
that you can hear you can hear the beginning of
that Many Rippertson song and just be like yeah, you know, yeah,
(37:27):
and and and it's it's years later and it is.
I think that that's not going to change. There were
cave drawings, you know, and in prehistoric caves in France
because people were creating art on the wall. We're not
going to stop making art. The challenge is the ability
(37:48):
of the artists to make a living from what they're creating. Nowadays,
artists have to pull from a lot of different venue
at revenue streams in order to make a living, and
they have to understand what those revenue streams are. And
it's not just as simple as going out and performing,
because you go perform you only get paid once for
(38:10):
that performance, but you write the song, you get.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Paid over and over again.
Speaker 5 (38:15):
That's like my perfect In my perfect world, I would
just write songs and go to the mailbox and get that.
But I think that for the fan of music, it
means you've got to support it. It can only survive
and thrive if it is supported. That means everything from
(38:35):
I know some people are gonna get mad at me
when I say this. We teach our kids Stax classics.
We teach them Mythis music classics. They're that our curriculum
is based on that. They learn about minor scales through
a stack song, and that is, you know, that's what
(38:57):
We're the only youth program music program in the world
that does that.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
But the thing is you have got.
Speaker 5 (39:04):
To learn music and that requires you listening to what's
happened before you, and that is how you also learn
how to put your piece into it. There's not an artist,
you know, my people. I pushed on this is I
asked the question, so you mean to tell me when
(39:27):
the Barcays came out Isaac's came out that parents weren't saying.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Oh, that's too provocative. Don't tell me that because I
know that's not true.
Speaker 5 (39:36):
That's and all that, you know, Yeah, yeah, exactly, it's like,
don't say that.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (39:43):
So then even if you go back before that, you
look at Nat King Cole, people were going, oh, yeah,
he's such a good young man, go listen to him.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
You know.
Speaker 5 (39:52):
It was just like every generation has their music and
it's not you know, the generations before go oh well,
I don't know about the musical integrity of that, or
I don't know about this. And I think that that's
just part of being of getting of getting older, that
you feel like what you listened to.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
Before was better. And that's perfectly fine because we've done
it for centuries. We're not going to change on that.
But giving young people that space to create.
Speaker 5 (40:23):
And I do agree that, you know, we're seeing hip
hop right now as it is the most saturated genre
in the world, in the world and.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
It is.
Speaker 5 (40:41):
It speaks for and speaks to people, and I don't
think that's that's changing.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
Anytime soon.
Speaker 5 (40:52):
But I remember when the on the Super Bowl and
Doctor dre play and he sat down at that piano,
and the next day at the music academy, a couple
of students went, I didn't know doctor dre knew how
to play the piano. It's just like, yeah, what'd you think. Well,
he's a rapper, you know, he's making beats. He's so
(41:13):
and so I said, yeah, but you have to have
an understanding of how music works to be able to
make music that stands the test of time, that's how
it works. If you want the continuity, if you want
to be able to consistently give hits that stand the
test of time and speak to people, you've got to
(41:35):
know how music works. And so I think that for
us in Memphis, it's really important that we make sure
that kids continue to understand.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
How music works.
Speaker 5 (41:45):
And the reason Memphis music has been so great and
had such an impact is because people were learning at
the foot of their elder Because you know, kids went
to school and they had a band director who taught
the root style of blues and the precision of jazz
and put it together and created great musicians. It didn't
(42:08):
happen by chance. Yes, we have a natural talent that
is inside of us in this town for storytelling, we are.
It is who we are, and all you have to
do is go in a store and listen to the
people talking in front of you, and you will hear
a story.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
You're like in their story.
Speaker 5 (42:27):
You know you're listening to what they say because we Memphis.
It's part of who we are. So making that transfer
into music is a natural progression for us. And I
think that even if you look at where we came
from as a people, as people coming from the Mississippi Delta,
(42:48):
the Arkansas Delta, and how we made it through music
was how we made it at.
Speaker 1 (42:55):
A music and a church.
Speaker 5 (42:57):
If it wasn't for those two things, then you know
we would have given a long time ago. And so
I think that Memphis music is going to continue to
move forward as the world becomes smaller and people don't
have to live in Atlanta or la in order to
have a living. They still will be commuting, but they
(43:18):
can have a career and live wherever they want to live.
But I do think that it's up to us as
music fans to support music. If that means you go
see somebody. Not every show takes place at ten o'clock
at night. There's some early shows. Go see a band.
Hey to go see a band, you know, support an
(43:38):
artist who's an up and coming artist, because that's how
they get to do and make that great music.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Exactly. I'm so boxed again. That's okay, that's okay.
Speaker 2 (43:50):
So Pat, tell us, we know something fabulous is happening
this Thursday, September, September twenty fifth, which happens to be
the anniversary date of wd I their birthday, and you're
talking about the voice of the people.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
Tell us what's happening on Thursday? Okay.
Speaker 5 (44:10):
So in giving you where this whole idea came from,
you know, this year would have been the hundredth birthday
of BB King, right, and BB King has has been
a spokesperson for this city and for you know, his
hometown in Indiana, Mississippi. He took the blues around the
(44:32):
world and he is truly an icon and I will
I'm a big BB King fan because of what he
accomplished and how expressive his music was. So when we
decided that we were going to participate in the hundred
(44:55):
Years of Blues campaign, we put up an exhibit of
photos of BB King. They were they were taken in
nineteen eighty two. The opening weekend of Mud Island, and
it's a temporary exhibit in the Stax Museum, and so
when we put those photos up, we wanted to talk
(45:16):
about the things that were sort of surrounded the exhibit
and have some meaningful conversations. We had two photographers come
in and talk about being a photographer and how they look.
Speaker 1 (45:33):
At their art, how they look at.
Speaker 5 (45:35):
It in the you know, capturing people and their place
in history, and what their goals are. It was a
really great conversation of commercial commercialism versus art also, so
we did that We've for this panel, we wanted to
talk about the fact that one of the things that
(45:57):
made B. B. King is of course being on Bill Street,
but then also that moment that he stepped into w
d i A when he went from being this artist
who just played on the street.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
To an artist that was heard over the airwaves.
Speaker 5 (46:14):
And so we thought about that as DA and its
presence in community and not just in community, but of community,
and so we wanted to do a panel that just
talked about what does that, what does that look like
to have that history, and how is defining community, how
(46:39):
has it changed? You know, you guys are a lot
of people say oh, well, terrestrial radio.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
Is did No, it's not people. I still listen to
the radio.
Speaker 5 (46:50):
And so then people say, oh, well, you know they
everything is coming from another city.
Speaker 1 (46:56):
No, it's not. It's still community people.
Speaker 5 (46:59):
And da you were talking to people who you're going
to run into in the store that are going to
be at the same events that you're going to.
Speaker 1 (47:05):
And that's important to have media.
Speaker 5 (47:10):
That is of the community and it is it's how
you know that you can trust that source. And so
the conversation really gets into that, how have you changed
over the years, and what does the future look like?
What does what did those words mean for bringing in
(47:32):
and embracing the next generation? What does it look like
for you guys who are watching time past exactly, watching
things change?
Speaker 1 (47:44):
And you know, there are going to.
Speaker 5 (47:47):
Be observations that you've had that the average person just
doesn't have the purview or the perspective to see. And
so that's what we're going to talk about. Okay, And
so is this open to the public.
Speaker 1 (48:01):
It is free and open to the public.
Speaker 5 (48:03):
The moderator is Kristin Cheers, so she is I know
she's working on those questions, and I think that it's
gonna be.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
It's gonna be fun.
Speaker 5 (48:15):
Yeah, in the sense because y'all are funny. You gonna
throw jokes in there, you know it. But also it's
a chance to get together. It's a chance to be
amongst people. So much that we do is online, and
so often we don't get to talk because when we
(48:37):
talk for talking about superficial and.
Speaker 1 (48:39):
And and meeting face to face.
Speaker 5 (48:41):
Yeah, that's how you that's how you know somebody is
to look them in the eye and to have a
conversation with them. And so that's sort of the purpose
of a lot of the panel discussions that we do
at the Stax Museum. We don't try to make it
into this big academic experience. Yes, you're gonna get some knowledge,
(49:02):
you're going to learn some things that you didn't know before,
but you're gonna be with people, and y'all are gonna
you know, it always happens at one of our discussions
at the museum, the audience starts at, well, what do
you think about so and so? Well, what he said
was really true exactly. It's a conversation. It's never one sided,
(49:24):
and maybe maybe we can all learn to do that
a little bit better, have conversations with each other. So
I'm excited about the event, and I know the museum's museum.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
Staff is excited about it.
Speaker 5 (49:40):
And it's sort of it grew out of this temporary BB.
Speaker 1 (49:45):
King photo exhibit.
Speaker 5 (49:47):
So it uh, we like to we like to think
about everything that's in the museum. It was a piece
of somebody's life, yes it wasn't.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
And whether it.
Speaker 5 (50:01):
Was donated by their grandchild that later said oh maybe
you guys should have this, or it was restored like
the ISAA Kay's Cadillac at all of these pieces, though,
represent moments in time, and all of those individuals together
(50:24):
made an impact on the world.
Speaker 1 (50:26):
They didn't. It wasn't just one person, right, it was together.
Speaker 5 (50:30):
Yes, we have to work together as community, and so
that that's how it came about.
Speaker 1 (50:38):
Oh good, good.
Speaker 2 (50:38):
So this is all happening on Thursday, y'all, September twenty fifth,
at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. Now I
know that addressed by Hard nine, twenty six East McLamore.
Speaker 1 (50:50):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (50:51):
It's gonna start at six o'clock, compact. We're not gonna
be there all night.
Speaker 1 (50:54):
No, no, it's not.
Speaker 5 (50:57):
I'm a firm believer in getting in bed at a
decent time. And so I know that people don't like
to be out late. I'm just like, make it early
so it's easy for you to come right after work
and then if you want your your home and you're
done by eight o'clock, and then you're just like, oh
(51:18):
that was that was a nice night, exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (51:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (51:22):
Well, I hope that people will come in here from
you guys, because to have all of you is just exceptional.
And it is just thinking about I just think about
when I was in high school, stan Bell, I was
listening to stand Belle every night.
Speaker 1 (51:46):
It's like, it's like, you know, I was, I was
repping my hood.
Speaker 8 (51:55):
So I got excited to hear stan Bell and it
and I and I get what you're saying because I
think about growing up and listening to w d I
and then who my mentor was, Martha Jene Queen Yes Steinberg.
Speaker 1 (52:09):
But I listened to her on the radio, our little
girl in wd I. And then when I was in Michigan,
when she was in Detroit, I said she from and
I would listen to her on j l B and
w C h B. So I get it.
Speaker 5 (52:24):
I get it the impact that your voice has people's lives.
Is just it's it's immeasurable, and it is also again
it's a it's a trusted voice.
Speaker 1 (52:43):
And I think that the for D I A is
is a position.
Speaker 5 (52:50):
It is in a position that a lot of radio
stations are not in. You as historically have tried to
do what was right right and what was needed yes
for the city. And so I mean you you staked
your brand on it, you know, the Goodwill station, and
(53:10):
so that within itself in a time where we need
more goodwill. I'm excited to be able to talk to
the talk to the the from a historical standpoint on
what we need to do today and how do we
(53:32):
just get that same ground swell that existed before where
people were proud of where they were from and they
were proud of their neighborhood and it. Yeah, and I
think it's going to be a great conversation.
Speaker 1 (53:45):
And well, I'm excited to be there.
Speaker 2 (53:47):
And I'm also excited because I want to see some
of those photographs of BB King.
Speaker 1 (53:53):
Oh yeah, so that exhibit. I can't wait to see that.
Speaker 5 (53:56):
It's you know, it's sort of funny because there was
a group that came through and they were from another city,
and I just happened to be walking through the museum
and all of them knew not only do they know
BB King, but we have assigned Lucille in the room,
and everybody knew the Lucille. They knew the story of
(54:18):
the Lucille. And I was just like, I thought, because
I'm a blues fan, that I that's why I knew it.
I didn't realize that that's just like common knowledge, you know.
Speaker 1 (54:32):
So it just it excited me.
Speaker 5 (54:35):
And in the we have a jukebox in that room
and it's playing the set list that he played that
night at mud Island. And I remember that weekend because
that was nineteen eighty two.
Speaker 1 (54:49):
It was like a big year.
Speaker 5 (54:51):
The mud Island opened, the Peabody reopened, there was all
this revitalization going on with downtown and it was it
was really a big year for Memphis. And so to
see the photos and my first comment.
Speaker 3 (55:07):
Was the kids.
Speaker 1 (55:09):
They laughed at me, and I said, you know, VV
King had phases.
Speaker 5 (55:13):
But it's sort of funny because all the blues guys
at that time, they all wore brown suits. I don't
know why originally know why the brown suit was so pervasive. Okay, okay,
but there were a lot of brown suits playing out
in a brown suit they all had and I don't know,
I guess that was the style, that was what was
in Yeah maybe so wow, Well this is exciting.
Speaker 2 (55:36):
It's called Panel Discussion the Voice of the People wd
I in the Power Community. It's happening again, y'all on Thursday.
Speaker 1 (55:44):
Patch it. The public is invited.
Speaker 2 (55:46):
Everybody, come on y'all, September twenty fifth, six o'clock. We're
starting and I can't wait. And I always love to
go over there to the museum pack because I love
that gift shop. I's spending my money. I get me
some that stuff. I got some stack stuff.
Speaker 1 (56:04):
Well I will ask for folks.
Speaker 5 (56:07):
If you go to Stax Museum Stax Museum dot org,
there's an event bright so you can r s v
p s and we know how many chairs to get
in there.
Speaker 1 (56:15):
Right, But I say that plan to go to the
gift shop afterwards. I am I've learned that.
Speaker 5 (56:23):
I'm I'm starting to question some of my family members
because they're there. I think that they're really just trying
to get this Stax merch.
Speaker 1 (56:32):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, even my parents.
Speaker 5 (56:34):
Everybody starts putting me in orders for Christmas right exactly exactly, like,
oh okay, but there's some really cool stuff in there.
We always know when it's gonna be a hot cellar
because all the Music Academy kids go in and start
buying it. Like there's an Isaacaye's shirt and it's a
picture of Isaac on the front shirtless of course, with
(56:57):
a big gold chain on.
Speaker 1 (56:59):
All the students have that. It's one of our most
popular sellers.
Speaker 5 (57:02):
Then there's a set of black satin jacket that has
the Stacks embroidered on it embroidered on the front and
then on the back it has the logo and that
is a huge seller.
Speaker 1 (57:15):
But the kids at the at the Music Academy called
it first.
Speaker 5 (57:18):
They started buying them, and they went even further, and
some of them have had their names stitch on the thing.
They were to every show. They're just like, oh, yeah,
this is who I am.
Speaker 1 (57:30):
You know that is simply fabulous.
Speaker 2 (57:33):
Well, Miss pat Mitchell Worlie, You've given us a lot
of history.
Speaker 1 (57:37):
We're excited and I'm just proud of you and what
you all are doing, and the and the.
Speaker 2 (57:44):
Staff over there at the Stax Music Academy in Soulsville
Charter School just fabulous.
Speaker 5 (57:51):
Well, thank you, but we don't we can't do it loan.
You know, we rely on the city to support us.
And we also and we've got volunteer opportunities. Somebody's interested
in volunteering. We have got so many ways that you
can get engaged. And I and I say that if this,
(58:14):
you know, get engaged somewhere, you don't come to us.
Go somewhere and get engaged. Give your time, give your time,
your treasure, your talent, one of the three and or
all three. And that's how we make our city better.
Speaker 1 (58:32):
It is. I love this, I love you. I can't
wait to be there Thursday night, Thursday. Oh you are.
Speaker 2 (58:40):
Quite welcome an any time, Miss Pat Mitchell Worley. And
you all said, y'all talk and call them that they
need some they need some money, they need volunteering.
Speaker 1 (58:50):
Over there, they need it all.
Speaker 2 (58:51):
Pat, don't we need Music Academy Soulsville Charter School again
the voice of the people, w d I in the
power of the community. We'd be there Thursday, September twenty fifth,
which is the birthdate of WDA. Yes, six o'clock we
will be there Mark Stormy stand and myself and also
again Pat you said people go on event by they
(59:13):
can register, so you know how many folks coming. Yes,
that helps greatly. Sounds good, sounds good. Thank you, sister,
Thank you. Be safe out there.
Speaker 1 (59:24):
I will, I will. Everybody have a wonderful day.
Speaker 2 (59:27):
All right, We're getting ready to go to the other
side of the Bev Johnson Show right here on doub
d IA.
Speaker 6 (59:37):
Whether you're in Arkansas, Tennessee, or Mississippi on Facebook, Twitter,
or Instagram. Thank you for listening to the Bev Johnson
Show on doub DA Memphis.
Speaker 7 (59:48):
The Bev Johnson Show.
Speaker 1 (01:00:29):
That's just a show Bell.
Speaker 7 (01:00:31):
Tumas time with this talking and home away.
Speaker 1 (01:00:36):
Help you go, you go.
Speaker 2 (01:00:39):
Don't getting ready?
Speaker 7 (01:00:42):
It's talk about just show.
Speaker 2 (01:00:47):
Joe.
Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
Let's go Bell just then? Will you'll make your day?
Right here?
Speaker 3 (01:00:53):
Wrong? Do you d.
Speaker 1 (01:00:57):
Listen to? Want to?
Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
You know?
Speaker 7 (01:01:00):
It's talking about of this show.
Speaker 1 (01:01:07):
Let's go. Well.
Speaker 4 (01:01:37):
The views and opinions discussed on the Bev Johnson Show
are that of the hosts and callers and not those
of the staff and sponsors of w d i A.
Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
We want to thank you callers, we want to thank
you listeners for joining us this day on the Bev
Johnson Show. We do, we really do appreciate you, so
until tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (01:02:19):
Please be saved.
Speaker 2 (01:02:21):
Keep a cool head, y'all, don't let anyone steal your joy.
Until tomorrow. I'm Bev Johnson, and y'all keep the faith.
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Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.