Programs

Foundation establishes programs to gain membership
By Rachel High

Programs offered by Cheatham Street Music Foundation are what keeps this organization afloat. The board of directors works to preserve Texas music and the art of songwriting by passing on their knowledge to other people.


“The best way to recruit members is through programs, specifically summer camps,” said Sage Allen, the foundation’s treasurer and General Manager of the Warehouse. “People support that because they believe in the goodness of it.”

The music foundation will be partnering with the Texas State Writing Center in Summer 2012 to host a songwriting camp for aspiring musicians. This will give musicians the ability to develop their songs and, at the end of the camp, present the songs to an audience at the Warehouse.

“It’s a perfect partnership because we’ve been developing songwriters all this time,” said Kent Finlay, the foundation’s president. “Now they’re doing this in the summer, and when they approached us we thought that it was perfect.”

An ongoing program offered at Cheatham Street is the weekly Kent Finlay Songwriter’s Circle. There is also a songwriting circle on Monday nights exclusively for veterans. This program has been held by Finlay for years, and musicians are welcome to come and develop their music with other musicians. 

Above all, the goal of the foundation is to preserve Texas music and the property on which Cheatham Street Warehouse is standing, and the programs offered help greatly in this effort.

“The actual building belongs to the foundation with the stipulation that it will always be a place to develop, promote and preserve Texas music and the art of songwriting,” Finlay said.

The Warehouse hosts several speakers to hold seminars and teach about different aspects of the music industry. There is also a monthly panel held to speak about things relevant to songwriters. 

“We have copyright attorneys come in and speak about how to validate your songs,” Allen said.

The Foundation uses the money it receives through donations to fund all of the programs. Eventually, they hope to be able to fund something of extreme importance to their mission.

“We’re planning to have scholarship programs for our artists,” said Finlay. “We have plans of a cabin in the woods, selecting a songwriter to go do a Thoreau thing, rent free to sit in the woods and write and play songs, so they can concentrate a whole year on developing their songs.”

There is also a campaign in the works to honor George Strait, Todd Snider, Stevie Ray Vaughn and others who got their start at Cheatham Street Warehouse.

For more information on the programs at Cheatham Street, please visit their website or call 512-353-3777.