The anticipation leading up to GRAMMY\u00ae Museum Mississippi in Cleveland continues to bring life changing opportunities for students enrolled in the Delta Music Institute at Delta State University.<\/p>\n
For the second year in a row, the DMI All-Stars \u2014 a student band that covers songs of Mississippi GRAMMY-winning music \u2014 rocked the stage during the annual Mississippi Night at GRAMMY Week in Los Angeles on Jan. 23.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s group of students grew to six performing band members and four non-members who assisted with road management and tech. According to DMI Director Tricia Walker, the entire group put on a stellar show at the Clive Davis Theater inside the GRAMMY Museum.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year was a little different in that the DMI All-Stars were given a feature spot inside the theater,\u201d said Walker. \u201cThey put together a 30-minute show and knocked it out of the park.\u201d<\/p>\n
The audience was filled with a number of dignitaries, tourism leaders, politicians and special guests who gathered to listen to talented aspiring musicians and to honor the history and culture associated with the birthplace of American music.<\/p>\n
The Cleveland Music Foundation, the community-based organization partnering with GRAMMY to establish the new museum in Cleveland, first invited the All-Stars to perform at Mississippi Night in early 2013.<\/p>\n
Upon completion in the fall of 2015, GRAMMY Museum Mississippi will become only the second museum of its kind in the world. This unique partnership is already reaping benefits for DMI students.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a lot of firsts for me \u2014 my first airplane ride, first time over the mountains and my first time out West,\u201d said Louis Stewart, a DMI student who assisted with tech. \u201cIt was definitely an awesome experience. I\u2019m from Clarksdale and I\u2019ve spent my whole life in the Delta \u2014 we were right there a part of things you only see on TV.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really got to see how the sound guys in L.A. do things. And just to sit in on the GRAMMY rehearsal was amazing. This whole trip makes me want to strive even harder to get to where I want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recent DMI graduate Laeitta Wade also joined the crew to document everything as a videographer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an unbelievable experience that I never dreamed I would be part of,\u201d said Wade. \u201cI got to see the places where a lot of my role models started their careers. It\u2019s an epic feeling that they have these connections with the Delta. Being inside the original museum helps to imagine how it will look when they open the museum in Cleveland.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with the group\u2019s big performance, they also had the opportunity to watch the GRAMMY ceremony rehearsal, tour the museum, explore the city and beach, and visit Warner Bros. Studio.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I really hope our students get out of this is that it\u2019s possible to come from a small town and succeed in this industry,\u201d said Walker. \u201cYou can start anywhere, and after visiting Los Angeles, I think they\u2019re beginning to believe that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DMI All-Stars are great ambassadors for the DMI program and Delta State University. We look forward to developing more intern partnerships with some of the universities in Los Angeles via GRAMMY Museum Mississippi.\u201d<\/p>\n
President William N. LaForge, who also went on the trip, was blown away by the accomplishments of the students.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a grand opportunity it was for our students to be able to perform during GRAMMY Week,\u201d said LaForge. \u201cThey are incredibly talented, performed in a stellar manner and made us all very proud. It was a thrill to see them soar in another environment and it\u2019s a wonderful opportunity for a student from Delta State to have that chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Delta Music Institute offers unique, practical and cutting edge programming that affords our students the opportunity to learn technical and academic skill sets that will help them advance their careers. It’s all part of what a great university does.”<\/p>\n