Nashville, Tenn. — While their college counterparts spend spring break soaking up sun and shots of tequila, about 100 students have traveled to rainy Music City to soak up the music business.
Berklee College of Music student Chris Peterson who braved the cold and gloomy skies Tuesday to take part in a Music Row clinic featuring country superstar Wynonna Judd summed up his reasons for being in Nashville in three words.
"It was cheaper," said the 19-year-old performance major from Seattle, with a laugh. "And all my friends were going."
Peterson only had to shell out $185 for the trip, which was sponsored by the city's recording industry. Warner Bros. Records and BMI, an association that collects royalties for songwriters, paid for the students' bus transportation to Nashville, and other companies picked up the cost of the week's other events.
The staff at Berklee a Boston-based school for contemporary music that counts Melissa Etheridge (who grew up in Leavenworth, Kan.), Quincy Jones and Dixie Chick Natalie Maines as graduates thinks the students will bring home more knowledge from their week in Nashville than they ever would by clubbing in Cancun.
"This trip gives our students a first-hand look inside the industry they want to be a part of," said Melissa Brodsky, who heads the college's internship program. "They get to meet industry people, tour world-class studios and watch some of the best in the business work."
This marks the 14th year Berklee students have traveled to Nashville for the program, for which students get no credit.
During her Tuesday discussion, Judd advised her audience on the importance of being real, emphasizing that listeners understand passion not perfection.
"These days you can't even hear the real person singing anymore," she said. "Real music portrays emotion you have to let that shine through."
Erika Kimura, a 21-year-old songwriting and filmscoring major from Japan, said she came to Nashville for the experience. "I don't particularly like country music I actually sing in a heavy-metal band," she said. "But what I learned from Wynonna is that the passion in music, no matter what kind it is, comes through and reaches everyone who listens."
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