On August 1, the Rhodes Mike Curb Institute for Music and Nashville Educational Cultural and Arts Television (NECAT) joined forces to launch the newly packaged and edited series The Audubon Sessions, a television show produced, filmed, and edited by Rhodes students. The series features intimate performances by a diverse lineup of rock, blues, jazz, roots, and alt-country artists in the living room of 1034 Audubon Drive—the first house bought by Elvis Presley, who used the proceeds from his first gold record (“Heartbreak Hotel,” RCA, 1956).
Each 30-minute episode features performances in front of a live audience seated in Elvis’ living room, dining room, and foyer inside the 2,800-square-foot mid-century ranch, fully restored to authentic 1950s period decor. Two of the show’s student producers, Alexandra Greenway ’17 and Ashley Dill ’17, spent the summer working in Nashville with an alumna mentor, NECAT CEO Trish Crist ’90, polishing and re-editing the web series for its television debut. Crist brought together a volunteer team of industry pros to serve as valuable resources as Dill and Greenway worked to prepare the show to broadcast around the country.
The Audubon Sessions will air on public television stations in a number of cities including Nashville, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.