Spirits were high and music was in the air August 8 at the Preston Taylor Boys & Girls Club, 915 38th Avenue North.
Members in the North Nashville venue at McKissack Middle School were surprised with a performance by country music star Hunter Hayes in its newly renovated recording studio designed for Club youth at 4 pm that afternoon.
Hayes helped to unveil a state-of-the-art music studio at the Preston Taylor Boys & Girls Club as part of the kick-off of Lowe’s ‘Renovation Across the Nation’ program. As part of a $3.5 million partnership between Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Lowe’s, the program awards $50,000 to 50 Clubs across the country.
The grants go towards making critical improve-ments to ensure Clubs provide safe spaces for after-school time.
The renovation gave the facility a fresh start and features a stage, recording booths, DJ platform and premium equipment similar to popular recording studios nationwide.
The youth, ages 6-18, will have the new studio to engage in musical expressions—in hopes it inspires a passion for the arts.
“Studios are a safe place to be creative and a safe place to discover a lot about your passions, about music, about yourself as a human,” said Hayes. “There’s a lot of growth that happens in the studio and so having access to something like this is just massive,” Hayes said. “I love that Lowe’s has kind of dedicated so much to make something like this so positive and so impactful, because this is impactful.”
The event marks the beginning of 50 additional Renovation Across the Nation grants and launches an in-store donation program benefitting Boys & Girls Clubs at Lowe’s stores nationwide. The Preston Taylor Club received a Lowe’s grant for their renovation and the Cleveland Park Club was the one Club selected for the state of Tennessee to receive a $50,000 grant and volunteer support from Lowe’s to ensure it remains a safe and inviting place for area youth who need it most.
“We got our volunteers out to these Boys & Girls clubs because this is our community, this is Metro Nashville, This is where we live and work and for some of our families, this is where their children come after school. So it’s great to be apart of that,” said Bruce Oechsel a store manager for Lowe’s.
Lowe’s provides hands-on support from a volunteer force of more than 1,000 employees to complete critical repairs at Renovation Across the Nation Clubs.
