A star is born... maybe

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Jul 13, 2003 Source: The Louisville Courier-Journal Submitted By: Gina Backstreet Boy goes to Main Street to help launch music wannabes By MARK COOMES Behind every gold record is a tinny spool of tape that contains an artist's first attempt to record a real song. It's the ultimate "lost cut" — and Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys hopes his will stay lost forever. "It was recorded in the basement of some guy's house in Danville for, like, a hundred bucks," said Richardson, a Kentucky native who was 13 at the time. "He had no equipment and a piano that was out of tune. It was horrible. I mean horrible." A young artist's first demo needn't be a disaster, Richardson said, nor his first record contract or music publishing deal. Yet all too many gifted naifs plunge into the pitfalls that await anyone who dreams of breaking into the music industry. Predictable but avoidable, those pitfalls can be evaded with a little basic education. Richardson and former rapper Keith McGuffey are ready to provide it. The boyhood friends, both 31, are partners in a new venture they hope will make Louisville a minimecca for aspiring singers, songwriters, producers and engineers. Scheduled to open Aug. 1, The Music Workshop will offer seminars that teach music-biz basics in a way that shows wannabes how to boost their chances of becoming the next 50 Cent, P. Diddy or Avril Lavigne. "We're not making any promises," said McGuffey, who collaborated with Richardson on the Danville demo. "What we are going to do is educate you and give you the tools required to take your talent to the next level." There will be three four-week seminars, each costing about $500, McGuffey said. Recording Industry 101, and Music Publishing and Songwriting are 12-hour seminars (weekly sessions of about three hours apiece). Pro Tools 101 is a 24- to 30-hour seminar on how to operate the predominant software program for digital audio engineering. At the end of each seminar, every participant will have a personal consultation "about where they are and what they need to do to get where they want to be," said McGuffey, who will handle most of the consultations and all of The Music Workshop's day-to-day operations. "Our target audience is anyone in this state and surrounding states who is interested in the music industry," Richardson said. "You'll learn everything from how to make a demo, to how to shop a demo, to how to read a contract, to how to negotiate a contract, to what music publishing is, what production companies are, what points are — all the business-side things that a young artist can get lost in." Richardson knew little about the biz when he got his big break. He didn't need to. The Backstreet Boys were managed by the husband-and-wife team who handled New Kids on the Block. McGuffey, however, was involved in most every detail of his career. He learned on the job, as do most new artists. But McGuffey's friendship with Richardson opened a door that most wannabes have to break down on their own. "That's where these seminars can be a huge help," McGuffey said. "You can't just make a demo, send it to a record company and expect somebody to listen to it. You have to go about it in a certain way." "You can move to New York, L.A. or Nashville and try to learn the hard way," Richardson said, "but the music industry is full of sharks and dead ends. I wish there was somebody who could have showed us the ropes back when. But there was nothing like this in Kentucky 10 or 15 years ago, and there's nothing now. Well, not until right now." Opening The Music Workshop marks a homecoming of sorts for Richardson and McGuffey. The two met in 1985 when McGuffey, a Danville native, attended a summer camp that Richardson's father ran for the Episcopal Church in Daniel Boone National Forest near Beattyville, Ky. The boys discovered their mutual love of music after a contemporary Christian rock concert at the camp one day. "They had a keyboard called a Yamaha DX7," Richardson said. "I'd never seen one except on MTV. Me and Keith both ran up there and asked the guy if we could look at it. "Keith starts playing Van Halen's `Jump,' and I was like, `Wow! You know that, too?' and I joined right in. We became real good friends and eventually started writing music together." McGuffey graduated from Danville High School in 1990, then enlisted in the Navy. After graduating from Estill County High in 1989, Richardson moved to Orlando, where he spent three years acting, singing and masquerading as Disney characters before hooking up with the Backstreet Boys in 1993. In 1995, after inviting Richardson's cousin, Brian Littrell of Lexington, to join, the Boys shipped to Europe to earn their bones abroad. McGuffey went, too, working first as a security guard and later as Trey D, whose raps and rhymes landed him a deal with a German record company. "I did pretty well over there, but back home, well, it just wasn't a good time to be a white rapper," said McGuffey, who opened for the Backstreet Boys at Freedom Hall in 1998. "This was pre-Eminem, of course, and with all the backlash from Vanilla Ice, it was hard for a white rapper to get any credibility." In 1998, after charting a string of top 20 hits in Europe, the Backstreet Boys went supernova with the single "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)," which reached No. 4 in the United States. During the next four years, girls screamed , critics sneered and the Backstreet Boys soared. With three platinum albums and a succession of sold-out concerts, the quintet made fans and dollars by the millions. They carved a bit of a legacy for themselves as well. According to VH1 surveys, the Backstreet Boys rank among America's 50 greatest teen idols, and their song "I Want It That Way" is one of the top 100 tunes of the past 25 years. After eight grueling years of touring, recording and generally living la vida loca, the Backstreet Boys decided last year to go on indefinite hiatus. Richardson was based in Los Angeles; McGuffey was living in Boston. But when he told Richardson about his idea for The Music Workshop, there was no doubt that it would be based in Kentucky. "This is our home," McGuffey said. "We see this as an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the area." Having grown up in central and eastern Kentucky, the friends were partial to Lexington, but after weighing the pros and cons, they agreed that Louisville was "in a class by itself," said McGuffey, who likes Louisville's proximity to other mid-sized metropolises, its international airport and its thriving cultural scene. Their decision to set up shop downtown, in the Meyer Building at 624 W. Main St., was purposeful, too. "Downtown belongs to the whole community, and it's easy to get to from any part of town," McGuffey said. "We were afraid that if we set up in the Highlands or something that people would regard it as an East End thing. It's not." It's not just a Louisville thing or a pop/rap/hip-hop thing, either. The Music Workshop is open to anybody from any place and any musical genre. All you need is some talent, a dream and, oh yeah, about $500. Realizing that the tuition might be beyond the means of some gifted kids — like the pair who made that awful demo in Danville — The Music Workshop plans to give scholarships to a select number of uncommonly talented high school students. "There's a lot of talent here in Kentucky — a lot of talent," Richardson said. "We just want to cultivate the talent and help people achieve their dreams. Because if an old redneck like me can make it, anybody can. Believe me on that." For more information on The Music Workshop, call (502) 587-9898. Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: Edward Submitted by: Dirk Submitted by: William Submitted by: Louise Submitted by: Monika Submitted by: William Submitted by: Greg Guepy Submitted by: Edd Submitted by: Edd Submitted by: John Click here to see more comments. Comment on this item. Next Item: "Backstreet Boy" to Join Chicago Tour Prev Item: 'Boy' hopes to return to old Kentucky home