This weekend is the grand opening of Rocketown’s newer, and better location at 601 4th Ave. South. For anyone who is remotely interested in local music, this is actually important, because it’s Rocketown that has been, and continues to teach Nashville’s youth how to run a music scene. It’s almost shocking just how strongly Rocketown’s presence and influence permeates throughout Nashville in the form of some of our most prominent bands, (i.e. PUJOL, Meemaw, Marj, Put’er There, Modern Hell, The Industry, etc), but many people never realize this because their opinions of Rocketown are oftentimes based on the stigmas that seem to be attached to it. Don’t act like you haven’t heard someone say things like, “That venue only has Christian metalcore bands play there,” or, “I can’t get roaring drunk at Rocketown because they don’t allow alcohol and they’ll take my cigarettes…Probably ‘cause they’re Christian…” Lucky for you, those stereotypes and stigmas are only partially true—(it is indeed an alcohol and tobacco-free zone, but deal with it)—and they are also only a miniscule part of the purpose and actual Rocketown experience.
I recently sat down with Rocketown entertainment manager, Reagan Thomas, and venue staff supervisor, Daniel Pujol, to speak more in-depth about what Rocketown does for the Nashville community and music scene. It’s a lot more than you would expect, because it isn’t just a music venue, or a skate park; it’s a community for youth from all walks of life.
“Rocketown is there to serve as a safe place for anyone who needs it. The point is not to tell people what to do, or act as anybody’s parents, but to provide kids with an outlet, or the option of going there if they need anything,” said Thomas. Original founder, Michael W. Smith’s idea of a safe place just happened to be associated with Christianity, (as well as the board of directors, who provide a portion of Rocketown’s financial support), which is where the faith-based principles found in its mission statement come from.
But there are different ideas of a safe place or a community for different people, which is why Rocketown serves to enhance the lives of over 400,000 kids each year, through their various internships, programs, and services. Many of these are provided for free, or a very minimal price, including after-school programming, where classes are offered on everything from video editing and graphic design, to tutoring and art classes. You can learn how to do things like break dance, skateboard, play an instrument, or book a show through one of their many different clubs, or have band practice and hang out at the skate park or the coffee bar. The new location will offer a recording studio for bands and artists, as well as a small, local music store that will be kid-driven, and kid-run.
In addition, the new location will offer: a dance studio, an auto garage/bicycle kitchen for anyone wanting to learn about auto/bike mechanics; a bigger skate park; a new coffee bar; a green room and shower area for travelling bands; free, temporary living space for people who need help getting on their feet, PLUS all the stuff the old Rocketown had. Badass, huh?
By providing a consequence-free environment/giving kids a chance to mess up, Rocketown attracts open-minded youth, and is able to bring different communities of people and music together.
“We’ve got travelers and foster kids hanging out with kids from Brentwood and Franklin, and the J.C. Napier Lafayette projects collaborating with metalheads on music,” according to Thomas.
“It’s all about inclusion,” said Pujol. “[Kids are] raised on the internet; they’re smart…George W. Bush isn’t president now…It’s all about diversity…What they have in common is they’re all different. But the way the building is presented in public has to change…Being a faith-based organization doesn’t need to be a focal point, because that’s not the only thing about the building.” All you dudes and dudettes need to realize that Rocketown is less about ideological consistency and more about working with kids—encouraging, teaching, and enabling them to run their own music scene and be as inclusive as possible. This means no specific genres, (aka the superficial Rocketown Christian metal identity).
This also means that anyone can play a show there where they don’t have to pay to use a real sound system, and an engineer who will actually care about making an unknown local band sound good. That’s hard to find in Nashville, so you should try and find a way to support Rocketown so that they can continue to make all of the kiddies’ dreams come true. You can do this in one of two ways:
1) Volunteer! Nothin’ like some good’ol hands-on help.
2) Make a donation!
Let’s all say thanks to Rocketown this weekend at their grand opening festivities. They deserve it!—Erin Manning