I want to expand Mobile’s musical horizons and make us more open-minded

March 20, 2017

“I grew up on jam music. I was a dready, hippie kid and toured with Sound Tribe. I also listened to hip hop and rap. I grew up in Brookhaven, Mississippi and my family was into music. My siblings are older than me and were into Panic, Phish, and Tool. My sister was into Frank Zappa and the Talking Heads. My dad was into Zeppelin. North Mississippi Allstars is the first band I saw when I was 8. I was the first person to have a CD burner and when Napster came out all of the cool kids came to my house to burn CDs. I recently had my gallbladder out and was freaking out until my dad came in with soul music from Stax. Soul music is my heart. He brought a blue tooth speaker in and we played name that tune and that got me through it.”

“I went to school at Springhill and fell in love with Mobile. I was a far eastern theology and philosophy major and was going to teach world religions. I think the basic principals of religions are alike and I loved learning about Buddhism and philosophy. My dad called it a looking for a husband degree.”

“I started at Soul Kitchen as the door girl and the runner when I was 20 and worked for two years for free. I was the do it all girl and took care of anything the bands needed. I worked at the Music Box too. I used to have a bad drinking problem and had to get treatment for it and came back when I was 23. I don’t drink now. When I was 24, Brad Young made me his partner at Soul Kitchen. I still don’t know why he took a chance on me, but I have learned so much from him. He tells me I will become jaded by the music business one day, but he told me the other day that maybe I won’t. I love my job, but I love my business partner even more. Brad is my best friend.”

“My favorite musician to play at the Soul Kitchen is Reed Mathis, he was in the band Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey. He is a bass player and I saw him when I was 17 and he completely changed everything I thought about music. He made an album with some of my favorite musicians and they never released it, but he sent it to me to listen to.”

“2017 is going to be a good year. We have a bit of everything right now and we have country acts from here who are doing well, too. Muscadine Bloodline, from Mobile, had 900 people when they played. They started on the small stage a few years ago and I was in tears to see them playing on the big stage at the Soul Kitchen. It was a big deal. 92Zew is doing great and I am growing into hosting 92 New. Turning people onto new music makes me happier than anything. I want to expand Mobile’s musical horizons and make us more open-minded. I want to bridge the gap between west Mobile and downtown because there is a huge gap between the colleges and downtown. I want to influence college kids with good music.”

“I lost a lot of money when I started booking bands because I was booking things that I liked and not what would work in Mobile. It is hard to book and negotiate — it is legal gambling and rolling the dice every day. I have won big and lost big. Mom and pop music venues don’t exist anymore, they are all Live Nation or AG. I work all of the time. I get calls from rap promoters at 4 in the morning and I have to take them.”

“We had 13 people at Leon Bridges the first time he came to the Soul Kitchen, but he was amazing. The Avett Brothers played at the small stage on the Soul Kitchen and had 50 people there. ‘I told you so’ is my favorite thing to say.”

“It is a cutthroat business, but Mobile is good because there is enough for each venue and we try not to compete with each other. There is room for everything here. The Peavys are great people to have in Mobile and they want good things here. The Peavys and Trina Shoemaker have filled a much-needed hole in Mobile. The city is changing. Jeff Marcus and Jeff Carter have the vision. Everyone is working together. Ben Jernigan is bringing people in from out of town. There is 1065 and SouthSounds and Gabe Fleet who wants more for the city. And then there is The Steeple and JT at Callaghan’s who loves music and people show up because JT books them. When we all work together, cool things happen. It is a small town, but people come here and freak out over Mobile. Mobile is getting on the map.”

“My goals in life were to own a music venue, be on the radio, and own a record store and I have done two of those. I want to put The Kitchenette next to the Soul Kitchen where we could sell merch and have a small bar. I have turned down offers for bigger venues but I don’t want that. I want to make Soul Kitchen bigger better. I don’t want to ever leave Mobile. I also want to make more festivals that are good for people with kids and older people. One day I am going to be a mom and it will be time to transition into family.”

2 Comments

  1. Maggie Mosteller

    Thanks for coming to the Hope Community Meeting last week Lynn. It was also nice to meet your son Jake. We have lots to do and need your energy and enthusiasm. Just so you know I am also a “Friend” of Bill W. Best of Luck with all your endeavors.
    Maggie

    Reply
  2. Nikki Diamond

    Awesome blog! We are Joshua Moore’s management team, and would love you to feature Joshua on your site. Thanks for your consideration.

    Nikki

    Reply

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