SONG OF THE MONTH
About the Student(s):
Ruben Davis: Ruben is 15 years old and in the 10th grade. He is an upper level student and has previously been featured on one of Carolina Studios promotional videos. Ruben always shows excellent work ethic and enthusiasm while in the studio. Ruben also got to perform at the 2010 Carolina Studios Pro-Am-Jam in October in front of a large audience as the opening act for Mark Bryan and a very large number of famous musicians that joined Mark.
Courtney “CoCo” Jefferson: Courtney is 15 years old and in the 10th grade. She has a younger brother and sister who are also students of Carolina Studios. Courtney enjoys rapping and singing and has shown interest in playing the guitar. She says that she looks forward to meeting lots of famous celebrities throughout her illustrious music career.
About this song:
This groovy new track possesses clean, inspiring lyrics focused on positive thinking. Starting with some cool scratchy record sounds, synthesized orchestral and guitar sounds, this song stands out. The students used the Apple Logic Software to create some really cool dreamy effects that make up some of the overall feel of the song. They also used advanced vocal processing to add effects that speed up certain words that are heard in the background.
JANUARY SONG OF THE MONTH
“Follow Your Dreams” — by Communities In Schools Students
About the Student(s):
These students were part of a site visit that Carolina Studios made to Communities In Schools.
About this song:
The students assembled this track in one session, but had written the lyrics before walking on to the Mobile Studio. Having the Mobile Studio allows Carolina Studios to reach students like these all over the Charleston area. Look for more songs like this in the near future!
DECEMBER SONG OF THE MONTH
“Just Know That” — by Danasia, Chyil, Dapria, Te-Amonti, & Zyindia
About the Student(s):
These five students are new to our Shaw Center location on Mary Street. Largely thanks to Carolina Studios, they all have become close friends who wanted to collaborate. They now come to our Mary Street location regularly.
About this song:
From Josh Smoak, our lead instructor: “So far our biggest collaborative effort yet, ‘Just Know That’ has united the kids of the Shaw Center. Danasia, Chyil, Dapria, Te-Amoni, and Zyindia were all fairly new to the program this year, and through hours of studio time and practice, have come up with what I consider one of the best collaborative songs we have ever recorded. The kids spent about a month writing and editing, and with the help of our excellent staff, finalized it just in time for the Song of the Month deadline. Expect many more great things from this group.”
NOVEMBER SONG OF THE MONTH
“Kool Kidz” — by Ruben & Karima
About the Student(s):
Ruben Davis: Ruben is 15 years old and now in the 10th grade. He is an upper level student and has previously been featured on one of Carolina Studios promotional videos. Ruben always shows excellent work ethic and enthusiasm while in the studio.
Karima “Little Rema” Jenkins: Karima is 11 years old and is in the seventh grade at Charleston Progressive Academy. Karimah has four brothers. Two of her brothers are also students of Carolina Studios. She also likes to play sports, learn, rap, and sometimes sing.
About this song:
Ruben and Karima wrote and performed this song for the Pro Am Jam Concert that took place on October 25, 2011. They recorded it in a very short period of time so that they could perform it live at the concert.
Watching the two of them practice the song on the mobile studio twenty minutes before their live performance was a treat that a select few people got to see. Surprisingly, neither one of them were nervous at all, even though they were getting ready to perform in front of 1200 people, opening this epic concert jam featuring a boatload of famous musicians, including our board chairman Mark Bryan, Darious Rucker, Mike Mills, Johnny Lee, Colt Ford, Edwin McCain, Pat Green, Branford Marsalis, and more. Stay tuned for video footage of their performance! Where else can kids like this get to do things like this!!!!
