On Feb. 15, approximately 250 Memphis-area high school students attended GRAMMY Career Day at the University of Memphis. High schools represented included Central, Cordova, Hillcrest, Houston, Kansas Career & Technology Center, MUS, Overton, Ridgeway, Whitehaven, White Station and Wooddale. The day began with a performance from Caye-Rio, a Memphis band comprised of Visible School students and faculty. After the opening ceremony, students began circulating between career workshops. Topics included touring and concert promotion, the creative side of the music business, Pro Tools demonstrations, studio engineering, audition preparation, and various performance master classes including horns, percussion, guitar, and voice. Additionally, one group of students had an opportunity to attend a recording engineering workshop with studio engineer Jeff Powell at Ardent Studios.
At the end of the day students reconvened to attend an Up Close & Personal event with songwriter and Chapter President Al Kapone and GRAMMY-nominated artist Kirk Whalum. The interview was conducted by entertainment attorney Tonya Butler and students were able to learn first hand about the careers of two influential Memphis-based artists.