MEMBER FOCUS: Stratton Tingle
75 YEARS AGO, “THE CHATTANOOGA CHOO CHOO” by The Glenn Miller Orchestra Band went gold, putting Chattanooga on the map as one of America’s Great Musical Cities. Over time though, a problem became transparent. Chattanooga has always been home to a dynamic class of bluegrass, Appalachian, soul, and R&B musicians, including the legendary Bessie Smith. However, up until six years ago, there wasn’t a strong infrastructure in place for artists and industry professionals to build their careers, so many migrated to other creative hotspots like Nashville, Atlanta, and Chicago. Tides began to shift in the early 2000s when Chattanoogans came together and asked: How do we retain our local talent?
“The genesis of SoundCorps really came out of that conversation,” explains the organization’s Executive Director, Stratton Tingle. “It eventually reached the ears of community leaders who said, ‘Yes, we do need to do something about growing the musical economy here.’” At the time, Stratton was performing regularly around town with bands such as soCro, Prophets and Kings, and Summer Dregs, while simultaneously balancing a full-time job at Chattanooga’s Chamber of Commerce. A guitar player since age 11, he's always had an indelible love for music, especially live music, mentioning how there’s a magic that exists in air during a live set that can’t be reproduced any way else. His prodigious music abilities coupled with six years’ worth of business experience made Stratton the ideal frontman to grow and give voice to Chattanooga’s music economy. In 2015, he was hired to found SoundCorps.
Under non-pandemic circumstances, SoundCorps has one core mission: expansion. “Economic development is absolutely at the heart of what we do.” Stratton—alongside a small but mighty team—has helped musicians, record label executives, venue owners, merchandisers, publicists, recording engineers, and many other industry professionals start and advance their careers. SoundCorps’ programming is a vital catalyst for that objective. Craft Masters (a concept-to-launch entrepreneurial intensive), TakeNote (a quarterly networking series), and Sidewalk Stage (outdoor concerts) are among the many offerings available for people to kick start their businesses, build their brands, and increase their visibility. When COVID-19 hit though, as Stratton describes, plans of expansion were temporarily paused. Programs transitioned to digital platforms. Live performances turned into online ones. And SoundCorps became an important backstop organization, providing funding and resources to those who need them most.
“During this time, musicians have been hit indiscriminately hard,” Stratton states. The financial and emotional toll has been particularly devastating for those who do live shows and gig work. However, through the Tennessee Cares Act and community partnerships, Stratton was able to secure grant funding and has written over $108K in direct assistance checks to local musicians and industry professionals. He’s also connected folks to resources for physical and mental health. (Check out their ongoing list of COVID-19 resources). As a performer himself, Stratton speaks to the compounding sadness and grief he and many musicians face in being separated from others: “It has been extra challenging for us to not be in the same physical vicinity as our audiences to create and share what can only be shared when people are in the same room together. There is something in the ether—a spirituality almost—that gets lost in translation online.”
Musicians aren’t immune to hardship. As Stratton points out, they are leaned on not only while celebrating happy times but also during times of challenge: “we are used to playing at both funerals as well as weddings.” With a cascade of crises on the rise—political, social, and economic—he stresses that it is important not to gloss over suffering that is real and ever-present. Still, he wants to offer a beacon of hope to an industry that has been deeply impacted by the pandemic. “We do have the Save Our Stages Act heading down the pipeline, which will provide relief to independent venues and promoters.” Stratton mentions how additional legislation and grants are being written in benefit of artists and industry professionals. In order to qualify for assistance, he encourages working musicians to take the time to ensure they are operating their projects as businesses and to stay on top of record keeping in order to prove a source of income. (See Tax Prep Help by SoundCorps). For those who are not musicians, Stratton sheds light on simple ways to invest in Chattanooga's music economy: “Donate to your favorite artist. Buy an album or t-shirt. Tune into a live stream. Click that PayPal Me button. However you can, support local music." What would this past year have been like if not for songs that express pain, loss, faith, and hope in a way that words alone cannot? Music soothes us. Music unites us, creating a soundtrack of solidarity, an anthem of our collective history, that starts with the very voices in our community.