Apple is celebrating the Black Music Month and as part of the celebrations, one of the company’s stores in Tennessee is organizing sessions with music artists. The store located in downtown Nashville, Tennessee is partnering with Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) to bring the likes of Willie Jones and Valerie June to its sessions.
The country artists share the culture associated with music, the rich history of music, and the story behind it all. The sessions will be hosted by Apple Music’s own Rissi Palmer who hosts the country show Color Me Country Radio with Rissi Palmer. The artists Jones and June will take the attendees through the process of songwriting.
“We are thrilled to be collaborating with our next-door neighbor, the National Museum of African American Music, to celebrate Black Music Month and bring Today at Apple programming to the Nashville community,” said Apple’s senior vice president of Retail + People Deirdre O’Brien. “Our Today at Apple sessions aim to inspire creativity, and with sessions led by incredible artists like Willie Jones and Valerie June, we are excited to hear what our attendees create.”
On June 8, Jones shared his process of writing lyrics. He uses his iPhone for the process by opening the Voice Memos app to record the “spark” (melody) in the moment. He adds that once he is in the studio, he works on the voice memo he created earlier with some inspiration from the notes he writes from time to time in the Notes (by Apple) app.
“Here at NMAAM, our main focus is to educate the world, preserve the legacy, and celebrate the central role African Americans have played in creating the American Soundtrack,” said NMAAM VP of Brand & Partnerships Tuwisha Rogers-Simpson. “Today at Apple shares that focus of educating and inspiring others through the power of music and creativity, and we look forward to working together on many more sessions in the future.”
