What’s an ocean to a kid with an internet connection? Still an awful lot of water to cross.
Faraway places feel closer than ever in the streaming era. Demos and stems rocket through WhatsApp group chats and Dropbox servers, ignoring borders while chipping away at genre constructs. Homemade songs released from remote basements can (and do) spread to just about everywhere. But there’s still some magic reserved for the moments when worlds collide, when creators ditch FaceTime to trade ideas and stories in person.
6720 kilometers and a 12-hour plane ride separate London, England from Nashville, Tennessee. Together, the cities account for a staggering percentage of the most renowned artists, producers, and songwriters of all time. Both communities value the relentless hustle that goes into arranging a memorable record. Both are home to the budding talent we’ll be singing along to in 2030. When it comes to cross-pollination that touches every end of the earth, though, the traditional order of operations — start local, go regional, save up enough to take it from there — takes too long. We wanted to speed things up a bit. Cue rolled-up sleeves and vintage footage of bridge-building.
Aiming to make the Atlantic an afterthought, AWAL got together with our friends from The Other Nashville Society (TONS) and the City of Nashville for London Immersion Week, a nonstop marathon of co-writes, collabs, and good ol’ fashioned cultural exchange that dropped our UK A&Rs and emerging UK artists Millie Turner and Iyamah straight into Music City’s increasingly vibrant sonic melting pot. The pond-hopping adventure featured hot chicken courtesy of Hattie B’s, fireside chats with Lightning 100 WRLT, a mega-panel with Music Week, cocktail shenanigans, private chefs, and treehouse studio sessions with legendary song makers like Jim Jonsin (Beyonce, Lil Wayne, Eminem) and Audra Mae (Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion). Synopsis: It was a blast. Proof below.
The British Are Coming!
Iyamah in Nashville at London Immersion Week.
Millie Turner in Nashville at London Immersion Week.
What Went Down In Tennessee:
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