From Elvis Presley to Nashville’s Music Row, Tennessee’s rich musical history and influence on artists of all kinds were the inspiration for a recent compilation album made up of songs from 11 independent bands from across the Volunteer State.
Funded by a CreateHere MakeWork grant, local music aficionado and former New York music business insider Margaret Pate brought the concept to life through the album titled “Tennesthesia.”
The title is a blending of the words Tennessee and synesthesia, “the neurological trait which provided the inspiration for the project,” she said, explaining that “synesthesia causes certain sensory inputs to trigger perceptions across several of the senses, causing numbers, days of the week or sounds to carry shades of color, smells or shapes and forms.”
Featuring bands from Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville, the album is designed to highlight the “bizarre cross-section of absurdly talented, divinely curious and melodiously inspired new artists,” according to Pate. The two-disc album includes two songs from each band and attempts to address the artistic process that brought them to their final product, she said.
In addition to the compilation album, the project was expanded to include a separate vinyl 7-inch release for each of the bands involved, which effectively created an initial catalog for her fledgling record label, Memetic Society, said Pate. The compilation album and the seven-inch releases are available for sale at Leo Handmade Gallery, located at 22 Frazier Ave. on the North Shore, or online at www.memeticsociety.com.